Educational Transfer

The study of policies that have been transplanted from one cultural context to another occupies a prominent place in comparative education research. To some extent, educational borrowing and lending implies artificially isolating education from its political, economic, and cultural context. Consequently, numerous warnings have been made about this kind of educational transfer, whether it is wholesale, selective, or eclectic.

Comparative research on policy borrowing has undergone several major discursive shifts in the past twenty years. Arguably, the largest shift was the move from normative to analytical studies; the first being concerned with what could and should be borrowed and the latter interested in understanding why and how references are made to experiences from elsewhere. Jürgen Schriewer, noted German comparative education researcher, needs to be credited ...