Abstract
Insofar as there has been any coherent theoretical basis for orthodox comparative education during the 1970's, it has derived from American modernisation theories of the 1960's. The weak explanatory power of these theories and the inability of most Third World countries to solve their educational problems have led to a growing pessimism about educational planning and increasing attention to nonformal, lifelong and distance education programs concerned with literacy and rural development.
New intellectual currents during the 1970's created several alternatives to orthodox comparative education. The most important of these, based on dependency theory, has partly reduced the ethnocentrism of comparative research, but national traditions are still strongly entrenched. Comparative education based on either modernisation or dependency theories is still ill-equipped to provide Third World countries with either an understanding of the international context of their educational problems or an appropriate set of guidelines for educational planning.
Both orthodox and radical varieties of comparative education are forms of cultural imperialism, against which Third World countries need to develop their own, more appropriate, traditions of comparative research.
Résumé
Pour autant que l'éducation comparée orthodoxe ait eu une base théorique cohérente au cours des années 70, celle-ci dérivait des théories de modernisation américaines des années 60. La faible puissance explicative de ces théories ainsi que l'incapacité de la plupart des pays du Tiers Monde à résoudre leurs problèmes d'éducation, ont engendré un pessimisme croissant regardant la planification de l'éducation et l'attention accrue portée aux programmes d'éducation non formelle, permanente, et à distance touchant le développement rural aussi bien que l'alphabétisation.
Pendant les années 70, de nouveaux courants intellectuels ont ouvert plusiers alternatives à l'éducation comparée orthodoxe. La plus importante, basée sur la theorie de la dépendance, a partiellement réduit l'ethnocentrisme de la recherche comparative, mais les traditions nationales sont encore solidement retranchées. L'éducation comparée fondée sur la modernisation, ou bien sur les théories de la dépendance, est encore trop mal équipée pour fournir aux pays du Tiers Monde soit une compréhension du contexte international de leurs problèmes éducatifs, soit un jeu d'orientations appropriées pour la planification de l'éducation.
Les variétés orthodoxes de l'éducation comparée, comme les variétés radicales, sont des formes d'impérialisme culturel et il est nécessaire que les pays du Tiers Monde réagissent contre cet impérialisme en développant leurs propres traditions de recherche comparative qui sont plus appropriées.
Zusammenfassung
Insoweit es während der 70er Jahre überhaupt eine zusammenhängende theoretische Basis für die orthodoxe vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft gegeben hat, leitet sie sich aus den amerikanischen Modernisierungstheorien der 60er Jahre ab. Die schwache Erklärungskraft dieser Theorien und das Unvermögen der meisten Länder der Dritten Welt, ihre Bildungsprobleme zu lösen, haben zu wachsendem Pessimismus gegenüber der Bildungsplanung geführt und die Aufmerksamkeit zunehmend auf nicht-formelle, lebenslange und Fernbildungsprogramme gelenkt, welche die Beseitigung des Analphabetentums und ländliche Entwicklung zum Ziele haben.
Neue intellektuelle Strömungen in den 70er Jahren haben verschiedene Alternativen zu orthodoxer vergleichender Erziehungswissenschaft gezeitigt. Die wichtigste, auf der Abhängigkeitstheorie beruhende unter diesen Alternativen hat den Ethnozentrismus teilweise reduziert, doch sind nationale Traditionen noch tief verwurzelt. Noch immer ist die entweder auf Modernisierung oder auf Abhängigkeitstheorien gegründete vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft außerstande, den Ländern der Dritten Welt ein Verständnis der internationalen Zusammenhänge ihrer Bildungsprobleme zu vermitteln und ihnen brauchbare Richtlinien für Bildungsplanung zu liefern.
Sowohl die orthodoxen als auch die radikalen Varianten der vergleichenden Erziehungswissenschaft sind Formen von kulturellem Imperialismus, gegen den die Länder der Dritten Welt ihre eigenen, angemesseneren Traditionen für vergleichende Forschung entwickeln müssen.
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Simkin, K. Comparative and sociological perspectives on Third World development and education. Int Rev Educ 27, 427–447 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00598140
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00598140