Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should be able to demonstrate library research skills based on synopsis writing on educational institutions, policies or practices in two countries drawn from two of the three categories - Australia, Asia, the Pacific; a familiarity with the different ways Australian, Asian and Pacific educational institutions and practices may be compared; a capacity to trace the implications of a comparison between two countries drawn from two of the three categories (Australia; Asia; the Pacific) for either educational practices in cross cultural settings, or policy analysis and evaluation; an understanding of the difficulties of eurocentric and relativist forms of interpretation.
Synopsis The subject focuses on the ways education is shaped by, and comes to be understood by, local, regional and global social forces. The approach is comparative in two senses. First, students are required to develop a good knowledge of at least two countries. The countries must be chosen from two of the three categories - Australia, Asia and the Pacific Islands. Second, students are required to make a comparison of local and external interpretations of education and society.
Assessment Library project (1000 words): 15% + Seminar project (2000 words): 15% + Synopsis writing or library research task (1000 words): 20% + Research paper (5000 words): 50%