No. 40 (2022): (january - june): Creativity, curiosity and new thinking in Comparative Education for the new norms of the 21st century

            The  scholarly  community  calls for creativity and curiosity in epistemological approaches, and the engagement of innovative resources in moments when we seem to have arrived at a standstill from an ontological point of view. To overcome what Carney termed the ‘paralysis’ of Comparative Education (Carney, 2010, p. 126) such academic  attitudes are essential. For this reason many academics are proposing our commitment to  ‘a new and fresh thought in relation to what we study; the interpretative concepts, frames and theories that we develop in our work, the influences and contexts which mould the work we undertake as comparativists’ (Larsen, 2013), promoting, at the same time ‘the important task of creating a Comparative Education which addresses this complex intellectual predicament’ (Cowen, 2009). 

            Nevertheless, the current historical moments, in the beginning of the third decade of the XXIst century, also reveal paradoxes and dichotomies that make consensus and joint coexistence difficult. Thus, the greatly extended globalization enabled by the new technologies collides with the persisting and still current ‘culture of scholarship’ (Viñao, 2002) that is specific to and typical of each Nation-State. Postmodernism, with its virtues, such as the struggle against social injustice and defects like a tendency to sterile relativism, may well be stopped by the epistemological stances which insist on the continuing validity of the modern project.

            On the other hand, the understanding of the ‘new norms’ of functioning in the XXIst century must necessarily take into account the reading of the world in times of COVID 19. There are academics who attribute the deep and last responsibilities of this uncertain and serious pandemic to the ‘insufficient scientific research, the existence of inappropriate educational systems, and to the sanitary and human services being globally fragile’ (Escotet, 2020). Such academics assign, definitively, the root of the current economic, political and social crisis to the ‘worldwide absence of social ethics’ (idem).

            The discipline of Comparative Education, by means of its supranational as well as national resources,  multiple academic connections,  wide ranging publications in terms of articles by individuals, periodicals and handbooks, can be seen to be one of the most suitable fields of knowledge and  one with a deep responsibility for the development of a worldwide expert and authoritative educational response. It should aim to re-orient  global educational directions and contribute to solving the economic, political and social crises that can be seen worldwide.  This response must necessarily be creative and innovative, although those terms must never imply  denying the good elements in tradition. It is time for the establishment of a balance and continuing transition among Modernity and Postmodernity,  rather than a breakdown or selective  and narrow proposals for change.

            It is time, in short, not only for the progressive creative resolution of the intellectual vulnerabilities of Comparative Education, but also, very specially, for the achievement of a ‘postrelativistic phase in the discourse formation of our science’ (García Ruiz, 2019) and in our current world. Such achievement will only be accomplished in an accurate way if it is undertaken by means of  interdisciplinary work within the foundational social sciences that undergird education, such as  sociology, philosophy, history and theology, those which articulate in ways that are both fertile and stable  a future direction for  comparative education and of the rest of humanity. The theoretical basis of these foundational social sciences as they have been defined in  modern times has been shown to be still valid. The novelty which is called for in the current late-modern times is their practical engagement   (Smith & Wexler, 1995) and real embodiment   at all levels as the only possibility of overcoming the current crisis.

Bibliographical references

Carney, S. (2010). Reading the Global: Comparative Education at the End of an Era. En M. A. Larsen (Ed.), New Thinking in Comparative Education (125-142). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Cowen, R. (2009). Then and now: unit ideas and Comparative Education. In R. Cowen & A. M. Kazamias (Eds.), International handbook of Comparative Education (pp. 1277-1294). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Escotet, M. A. (2020). Pandemics, leadership and social ethics. Prospects, Springer.

García Ruiz, M. J. (2019). Educación Comparada, Teología y Postrelativismo, Revista Española de Educación Comparada, vol. 33, pp. 46-61.

Larsen, M. (2013). Pensamiento innovador en Educación Comparada. Madrid: UNED.

Smith, R. and Wexler, P. (1995). After Post-modernism. Education, Politics and Identity. London, The Falmer Press.

Viñao, A. (2002). Sistemas educativos, culturas escolares y reformas. Madrid: Morata.

Monographic Coordinators: Dr. Ruth Hayhoe, Dr. María José García Ruiz and Dr. María Jesús Martínez Usarralde

Reception of articles (máximum date) – 15/7/2021