About

America's blueprint for mass education has been followed across the globe-yet international student assessments show achievement varies sharply, with the U.S. and much of Europe typically scoring average, at best. Not surprisingly, this state of affairs has sparked anxieties about an educational crisis. In these 24 thought-provoking lectures led by an Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education, you'll take a meaningful look at education around the world to understand why.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1. The Global Challenge to Educate

30m

Borrowing or benchmarking one national education system against another is not necessarily a remedy or the most useful analytical tool for educational reform, yet these are among the most common approaches. Begin to understand why this approach falls short as Professor Wiseman lays out his general thesis for the course.

2. Sputnik Launches the Science-Math Race

30m

Dating back to Sputnik in the 1950s, education culture has been driven by anxiety. Learn about the history of crisis" in U.S. education before investigating how America's educational system compares with schools and students in other countries. Focus on TIMSS in particular, which tracks mathematics and science achievement in about 70 countries.

3. Education Is Life

30m

Which is more important-gaining knowledge or new skills? Is standardized testing the best measure of what someone knows? What is the purpose of going to school-to prepare for college or a career? Address such questions as you probe Americans' views on education and how it can be improved using internationally comparable information.

4. Evidence-Based Policy Making in Education

30m

Delve into the question of why evidence-based educational policymaking has become a global phenomenon by looking at the way data is used to shape what teachers and students do in the classroom. See how governing bodies can bureaucratize the ways data is collected, presented, and interpreted-or manipulated.

5. What Should We Compare about Education?

30m

Do the achievement rankings paint an accurate picture of what's happening in schools, or is the crisis politically manufactured? Get answers as you analyze common criticisms of national education systems through the lens of three recurring phenomena-achievement envy, the accountability expectation, and access entitlement-and look at approaches to shifting school culture.

6. The World Learns from Horace Mann

30m

Trace how the ideologies of mass education emerged in the U.S. and became central tenets of education around the world. Survey the ideas of key educational thinkers such as Horace Mann and James Bryant Conant, then consider why, despite its strengths, the U.S. might be ranked low relative to international standards.

7. When Culture Invades the Classroom

30m

Investigate the idea that non-school factors such as student poverty are among the strongest predictors of learning. Examine how two of the largest of these factors-culture and economics-play out in South Africa, which is experiencing an HIV/AIDS crisis, and in China, where test scores and national economics are thought to go hand-in-hand.

8. Germany and Japan's Shattered Expectations

30m

Thanks to the PISA and other internationally comparative data, each nation's policymakers, educators, and the public know exactly how well their students perform compared to their peers. Consider why Finland sits at the top of these rankings, and examine reforms countries such as Indonesia and Japan have implemented in response to their results.

9. Borrowing Foreign School Cultures

30m

Why are educational comparisons so popular? Should educational reform be driven by economic competition? Think critically about these questions as you examine which countries and cultures are and aren't comparable, and consider the United Arab Emirates' unique strategy of importing 50 Finnish teachers to reform two schools based on the Finnish model.

10. The Value in Linking School to Jobs

30m

Many business and industry leaders say there is no connection between formal school education-which teaches information, but not skills-and what is needed in the world of work. Investigate renewed global efforts to test whether vocational training can better prepare youth to participate in the emerging technology-driven knowledge economy.

Extended Details

SeriesGreat Courses

Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

Alexander W. WisemanActor

How the World Learns: Comparative Educational Systems

About

Related Subjects

Episodes

Extended Details

Artists