The University and the Teachers: France, the United States, England
Harry Judge, Michel Lemosse, Lynn Paine & Michael Sedlak (1994)

Oxford Studies in Comparative Education Volume 4

This volume (286 pages) in the Oxford Studies in Comparative Education series explores a cross-national theme: the relationship between the university in each of the three countries and the education of teachers. It does so in a contrastive manner and by placing the central theme within the context of the history, politics, social structures and educational policies of France, the United States and Britain (with a particular emphasis on England).

The comparative methodology is original in two ways. Most comparative studies do not sufficiently exploit the particular insights of the outsider. For that reason, in this volume the English observer writes about France, the French observer about America, and the pair of American observers about England. They do so with common themes in mind but without attempting to abandon their own national perspectives. A second special feature of these integrated chapters relates to their historical analysis. It is argued that while present circumstances can be understood only in terms of their history, the rapidity of change over the past thirty years has obscured many of the deeper continuities. Each of the three studies therefore begins with a description of the situation as it was in 1963, followed by a discussion of how that situation had been produced, and only then by an analysis of changes since 1963. History is often written backwards rather than forwards: in these pages it is deliberately written from the middle.

The volume is completed by a chapter drawing together reflections on the studies and suggesting ways in which they together illuminate the nature of policy choices in the present and future. The work was been prepared over four years, with support from the Spencer Foundation of Chicago and under the direction of Harry Judge of Oxford University. (Description from the book cover)