Does context still matter? The dialectics of comparative education

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Citation
Lee, W. O., Napier, D. B., & Manzon, M. (2014). Does context still matter? The dialectics of comparative education. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 34(2), 139-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2014.887989
Author
Lee, W. O.
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Napier, Diane B.
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Manzon, Maria
Abstract
This introductory article serves as a hermeneutical tool for interpreting the subsequent articles in this special issue, which explores the nature and roles of comparative education in the 21st century within the context of a changing world order and the growing prominence of comparative education in the Asia-Pacific region. A review of the evolution of different genres of comparative educations reveals the importance of contextual considerations as a constant ritornello (a refrain or instrumental interlude) in comparative education research. Reflections on comparative education in dialectical perspectives in this article provide new impetus and enlightenment on contemporary issues in education and society. Seeing comparative education as a dialectic process enhances the openness of comparative education to challenge the status quo perception of issues, and provides a compare-and-contrast perspective to identify polemic interpretations, such as empirical epistemology which can be viewed as a subjectivity that rejects the transcendental sources of knowledge. Dynamic secularism can be a friend of, and coexist with, religion as it ironically provides more opportunities for more religions to co-exist harmoniously under secularism than many countries that adopt a national religion. The dialectics of comparative education opens up a new role for comparative education to accommodate polemic perspectives to co-exist and to recognize the equal importance of universality and particularity.
Date Issued
2014
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Journal
Asia Pacific Journal of Education
DOI
10.1080/02188791.2014.887989
Description
This is the final draft, after peer-review, of a manuscript published in Asia Pacific Journal of Education. The published version is available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02188791.2014.887989