Abstract [cited in the book, pp.1-2.]

Education can promote national development and hinder it as well. The mission of comparative education is closely bound up with educational development, and thus with national development. In the 19th century, the great progress and modernization of modern capitalist national states of Europe and America led to the development of their national education, which was followed by the economic prosperity of developed countries in 1950s and 1960s. The relationship between education and national development has not been one of the main themes of comparative education research. Geared to the 21st century, the large, interdependent global family makes internationalization an important object of educational reform. Education internationalization will be an essential topic in comparative education research.

The book has three sections. The first section expounds the development and methodologies of comparative education, discusses the status and trend of comparative education by analyzing its academic community, institutions, objects, methods and achievements, in order to understand the nature of comparative education. The second section approaches the relationship between education and national development, introduces the theories of modernization, human capital dependency and world systems which are closely connected with comparative education research, and explores the significant role of education in national development and the modernization of education itself. The third section analyzes the issues and developing trends of education in the contemporary world from the perspectives of personnel, finance, structure and information in the education system. Finally, it discusses internationalization of comparative education and education.

Background of the authors:

Prof. Gu Ming-yuan is a distinguished leading figure in the field of comparative education in Mainland China and is currently working at Beijing Normal University. He is the president of China Comparative Education Society (CCES), leading Chinese colleagues in various types of comparative education research in cross-national, cross-cultural and international perspectives at the University. He is an expert in Russian education, a committee member or the chairman in some departments of the Ministry of Education at national / provincial levels, and a chief editor of several encyclopedia of education, journals and periodicals on comparative education in Mainland China. He has rich experience in organizing local and international conferences on comparative and international education.

With a bachelor degree and a master degree in engineering, Dr. Xue Li-yin also obtained a doctoral degree in the field of comparative education at Beijing Normal University with Prof. Edmund King as one of his panel examiners in 1992. He currently works in the Dept. of Electrical Engineering at Beijing Normal University, undertaking various research projects and teaching including research methodologies, historical development of educational subjects, economics of education, educational technology and distance education.

Back to Book Reviews