Comparative International Education: Independent Country Project Guidelines.
Comparative International Education: Independent Country Project Guidelines.
For this final project (and in lieu of a traditional final exam), you’ll be asked to apply what you’ve learned about Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, the OECD’s PISA exam, as well as any additional primary and secondary source material you choose (including an interview) to create a written document and a preliminary comparative analysis. Please read the guidelines below carefully and let us know if you have any questions.
- Choose a Country to Examine
After exploring the education systems in Finland, South Korea, Poland, United States, China, India, Kuwait, Argentina, Nigeria, and New Zealand this quarter, identify a country of interest to you that is not on this list.
- Research
- Read: Locate and read at least two articles about your country’s education system and at least one other supplemental material (articles, podcasts, films, etc.). Read through the six for this country as well as their latest from the OECD website. If your chosen country is not part of the OECD or has not taken the PISA, find a country that is geographically and demographically close enough to review.
- Interview: Reach out to at least one person with experience as either an educator (teacher or administrator at the national, state, district or school level) or as a student from this country’s school system. Conduct an interview with them using your own set of questions. I recommend using social media to connect with people or networks and
- Compare: Choose at least three features* to compare between your country’s education system and at least five of the countries we’ve examined this quarter. How do Cultural Dimensions, Ecological Systems theory, the readings, and/or your interview(s) explain these outcomes?
*For example: PISA scores, national spending on education, , % of students who graduate from high school or college, special education provisions, etc.
- Write Your Report
- Provide an overview for your first two paragraph(s):
1) Why did you chose this particular country? Does it hold any significance in your life?
2) What was the research process like for you? Explain how you were able to locate resources, secure the interview, and organize your time.
- Promising Practices
In 2-3 paragraphs, share at least two “promising practices” this country’s education system has to share with the world (a promising practice is something that seems to be working well, whether it’s a piece of legislation or an ecological systems approach or even a cultural mindset). Explain how you arrived at this conclusion.
- Issues to Address
In the next 2-3 paragraphs, share at least two of the most important issues / problems this country needs to address to improve its education system. Again, explain how you reached this conclusion.
- Comparative Table and Analysis
Create a table that shows a side-by-side analysis of three educational features you compared with at least five of the countries we studied in class. You can choose to illustrate this in any way you’d like (numerically, stoplight colors, text, etc.). To accompany your table, please write 3-4 paragraphs that help explain the differences and similarities you’ve identified (through Cultural Dimensions, Ecological Systems, PISA scores, finance, population size, demographics, etc.)
- Bibliography
Create a bibliography written in MLA format and provide at the end of your report. You should have at least two research-based articles and one other source (this is in addition to your interview). You do NOT need to include Hofstede, Bronfenbrenner or the OECD PISA results information in your bibliography.
- Interview Questions
Provide the name and title of the person(s) you interviewed for this project and the list of questions you asked in an Appendix.
Comparative International Education: Independent Country Project Guidelines.
