Contemporary Issues in Comparative Education: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Emeritus Vernon Mallinson(Routledge Library Editions: Comparative Education)

Originally published in 1985. In the last two decades education in the Third World has greatly expanded, raising many important issues. Some less developed countries have emulated the West in the style and organisation of their academic systems, hence, it could be said, increasing their dependence. Others have deliberately avoided this path, experimenting with systems more relevant to development and often in a radical way. At a theoretical level, Marxist and neo-Marxist development theorists argue that education systems dependent on the West are evidence of economic dependency and of the correctness of Marxist development theories; while others argue that the evidence points to an interdependent world and that dependency theories do not apply to education. Interestingly two key Marxist Third World Countries, China and Cuba, have very conservative education systems. This book discusses the problems of dependence and interdependence in education throughout the world.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Keith Watson and Raymond Wilson 1. An English Education for England J. H. Higginson 2. National Character Concept, Scope and Uses William K. Kay 3. The Problem (Solving) Approach and National Character Brian Holmes 4. Comparative Education and Literature Margaret Sutherland 5. Choice and Reform in Belgian Education John Owen 6. The State. A Major Element of West German Education Kenneth Smart 7. The Western European Idea in Education Sixten Markland 8. A Comparative Political and Sociological Analysis of Educational Opportunity in Western Europe 1960-80 W. D. Halls 9. Higher Education in the United States: Some Possible Lessons for the United Kingdom Nigel Grant 10. Comparative Education and the Geographical Factor Colin Brock 11. The Impact of External Changes on Educational Developments in the 1980s Keith Watson 12. 'Practical Bias" in Comparative Studies with Special Reference to Curriculum Development and INSET Paul Mercier 13. Comparative Studies and Educational Reform Edmund King 14. Vernon Mallinson's Publications Graham Geoghegan