This paper was invited as a commentary on the keynote paper for this special issue by Simon Marginson and Lili Yang. The paper begins by noting the importance of a fully balanced approach to comparison in higher education, that gives equal value and weight to Sinic and Anglo-American views by adopting a transpositional approach and also…

Recently Professor Noam Chomsky--an outstanding scholar, linguist, the lifelong professor of MIT, USA, accepted the interview from the author and talked about a wide range of topics which involved academic research, education, innovation, building a first-rate university and some hot international issues. Importantly, Professor Chomsky gave his…

E. A. Hanushek points out in this commentary that applied researchers in education have only recently begun to appreciate the value of international assessments, even though there are now 50 years of experience with these. Until recently, these assessments have been stand-alone surveys that have not been linked, and analysis has largely focused on…

The concluding commentary summarizes the contributions to the special issue, identifies a number of transversal themes and specifies their empirical and theoretical contributions. The interplay between international, European and domestic influences on national policy changes and university adaptation is highlighted. This is used as the basis for…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of principals in light of public management reforms taking place in the German educational system and in reference to the empirical patterns uncovered by the papers contained in the Special Issue. Policy makers have created new expectations and new technologies that seem to suggest to…

In her teaching, research, and community activities in Canada, the author has repeatedly confronted questions regarding equality, diversity, and power. In this article, the author discusses diversity and equal opportunity to achieve excellence in education. Reflecting on these issues should help everyone to understand the complexities involved in…

This article attempts a contrast to the contribution by Hugh Starkey. Rather than his account of the inexorable rise of human rights discourse, and of the implementation of human rights standards, human rights are here presented as always and necessarily scandalous and highly contested. First, I explain why the UK has lagged so far behind its…

This author feels that how one views NGOs (non-government organizations) depends on one's perspective, and thus his reflections in this article focus more on extending his earlier analysis, rather than revising it. The author does this by considering three relatively recent developments, which in different ways have provoked him to keep wrestling…

Sustainability strategies are closely tied to the logic of the donor in every institution. Philanthropies that are set up with a limited time-span tend to scale up their impact differently. The educational programs of the Open Society Institute, for example, prioritize institutionalization over any other sustainability strategy. This is how it…

In a post-9/11 world, where the politics of "us" versus "them" has reemerged under the umbrella of terrorism, especially in the United States, can we still envision an "education sans frontires": a globalized and critical praxis of citizenship education in which there are no borders? If it is possible to conceive it,…

This essay focuses on the use of ideal types within different theoretical frameworks for the comparative analysis of culture and values. It emphasizes the importance of cultural agency, and the potential for enhanced understanding and the anticipation of future developments through exploring deep-level cultural patterns. The essay is written as a…

Understanding how various aspects of mathematics education work together is necessary if reform efforts are to succeed, Ms. Newton argues. She compares U.S. and Chinese mathematics education to provide perspectives that might further such understanding. She highlights the Chinese emphasis on thinking systematically about teaching, curriculum, and…

International governments are increasingly comparing their educational outcomes to the best in the world, not just to see how they rank, but to identify and learn from top performers and rapid improvers. This process, known as "international benchmarking," has become an important tool for governments striving to create world-class…

Nearly every country suffers from dynamic inequality, since certain features of virtually all societies are responsible: variation in family background; variation in the quality of schooling; sometimes sharp differences in the treatment of boys and girls, or of racial and ethnic minorities, or of urban and rural residents. In addition, many…

The author asks to what extent peace and human-rights education programs for Israeli and Palestinian children have fostered peaceful solutions to the differences between the Israeli and Palestinian people. He concludes that the programs are very limited and have made little impact in reversing the long educational legacy of mutual distrust and…