The methodologies employed in comparative higher education and comparative education are briefly summarized and analyzed. Weaknesses of the following approaches used by scholars/researchers in the field are identified: (1) locating decision-making structures and relations in broadly differentiated aggregations of systems; (2) case study; (3)…

The function of research is to perfect the tools of education and to manufacture new ones. Research opens up perspectives and informs teachers. The whole of the education system and all its components should be investigated if research is to be comprehensive and successful. Highly qualified teams of researchers are essential, bringing a variety of…

This document reviews a number of recent studies written in French that investigate the nature of communication between 2-year-old infants and others. The review includes three parts. The first part focuses on studies aiming to constitute a behavioral catalog of the child. Characteristically, these studies offer a posteriori interpretations of…

In France the creation of Instituts Universitaires de Formation des Maitres (IUFMs), university institutes of teacher education, has revived the question of the role of research in teacher education. The IUFM is not part of a university and does not have the same status. It has to negotiate a contract with a university. The importance of research…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on characteristics orientation, needs, and expectations. "Characteristics Orientation of Emerging Professions: Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice of Continuing Professional Education" (William H. Young, Margot B. Weinstein) reports on a qualitative study that examined…