Exploring issues in international context (2): Theory

Chapter 2. Theory in Comparative Education

I. Modernist theories (influenced by Enlightenment rationalism; the theories favor predictability and logical sequencing of events, and view human conditions as manageable and perfectible)

1. Structural-functionalism (a consensus perspective; sees stability as natural and desirable; characteristics: unitary, coherent, stable; purpose: maintain equilibrium, p. 37)
   
   • Modernization theory
     
     • View: human nature as variable, malleable, and therefore subject to refinement - role of education within societies seeking to modernize
     • Value: the industrialized West as most desirable model
     • A chain of functional steps: modern institutions - modern values - modern behaviors - economic development
     • Criticism: 1. the ideological and cultural biases; 2. individual level - society-wide change?
     • Application: litracy, readiness, "lifelong learners"
       
   • Human capital formation theory
     
     • capitalist progress: traditional society - transitional stage - take off phase - drive to maturity - high mass consumption
     • View: "the improvement of the human workforces as a form of capital investment" (Fagerlind & Saha, 1989, p. 18) - economic liberalism
       
     • Critique: ignore or underplay cultural origins and meanings; measurability; diploma disease
     • Application: "Yet in the United States at least, the notion of investment in education is often treated with skepticism. It can be seen as inconsistent, therefore, that investment in education is routinely heralded as an essential prescription for developing nations seeking U.S. foreign aid and assistance while at the same time the remedy of educational investment is regularly discredited on the American domestic home front.
       
2. Marxism (a conflict perspective; skeptical of the means by which the status quo is maintained)
   
   • Dependency theory
     
     • Definitions: examines relationships (social, cultural, political, and economic) between privileged core and exploited periphery countries, exploring also exploitative relations that result within peripheral nations; education reinforces the dependent condition of less developed societies or of the poor within a nation
     • Assumptions
       
       • Links underdevelopment of region/society to development in another region/society
       • Sees creation of dependent relationship: Progress in "core" nations is related to underdevelopment of "peripheral" nations
       • Favors consideration of external factors
       • Sees rich nations dominating poor nations
       • Sees elites of poor nations dominating poor nations
       • Views elites, therefore, as obstacles to real development
       • Questions the capacity of "modernization" to promote autonomous national development
     • Application: compensatory education (e.g., Head Start) for the disadvantaged
       
   • Liberation theory
     
     • Definition: drastic, radical change in the structure of society is necessary for just conditions to take root. Broader changes in the socioeconomic, political, and cultural world order are similarly required for equitable and just conditions to emerge; education can be used to help the oppressed of a society become aware of their condition to push for social change
     • Assumptions
       
       • Sees members of underdeveloped societies as oppressed by powerholders in their own societies
       • Equates liberation with development
       • Views development more in terms of justice than in terms of wealth
       • Sees literacy as essential for economic development
         
     • Application: reject a "banking" approach to teaching (Freire)
       

II. Postmodernist and poststructuralist theories (deny rationalist explanations; question the possibility of "master narratives" or encompassing theoretical arguments; focus on otherwise marginalized alternative perspectives; reject predictability as goal for theory)

1. Feminist theories
2. Critical theories
3. Ecological theories
4. Deconstruction
5. Particularist perspectives derived from cultural viewpoints
6. Adaptations of "post-"thought

Summary: Postmodernists do hold that the curriculum should not be viewed as discrete subjects and disciplines, but instead should include issues of power, history, personal and group identities, and social criticism leading to collective action