In this paper, "Teaching Expertise in Three Countries" project is used as an example to show the significance and contribution of international comparative research and to think about the possible implications for policy in early childhood education. The project studied the development of expertise in preschool teaching in Japan, China,…

International comparative ethnographic studies of ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) are difficult to conduct but worth the effort. Comparative studies featuring thick description and polysemic interpretations can challenge taken-for-granted assumptions, expand the menu of the possible, expose the provincialism of national approaches, and…

The Japan Comparative Education Society (JCES) was founded in 1965 with its flagship Japanese-language journal "Hikakukyoikukenkyu" ("Comparative Education Research") first published in 1975. The organisation currently has around 1000 members, making it the second largest comparative education society in the world. Though JCES…

In this paper I argue that when a researcher is a research instrument, it is likely that the researcher would develop a heightened awareness of his/her own cultural conditioning, especially in the case of cross-cultural studies. And that such awareness would make him/her realise that one's own cultural background may indeed have an influence on…

Traces the development of U.S. interest in Japanese education. Lists myths, exaggerations, and cautiously acknowledged strengths of Japanese education in American commentaries. Suggests that Japanese educational practices have had little impact on American education, partly because of a lack of truly comparative studies. Contains 19 references.…

Surveys of outstanding secondary school principals in the United States and Japan examined career paths, career goals, roles and responsibilities, and attitudes about qualities of educational leadership and the principal's role in producing an effective school. Japanese and U.S. principals had remarkably similar values. Contains 44 references. (SV)

Focuses on Australian educational policy-making, arguing that economic and employment considerations have dominated traditional education concerns. Examines reasons why Australian cultural borrowing has been unsuccessful. Suggests cultural successes in Sweden might be better models for education reform than those from economically successful…