Welcome to International Comparative Studies in Education. This course aims to develop professional educators' global perspectives so as to better understand the fluid environment in which we and our students operate. We can gain such new and valuable understandings of our own context, and therefore our own professional practices, when we analyse the ways in which others establish, operate and maintain their education and training systems.

This course has been designed to enable you to gain insights into the similarities and differences in education systems from a range of sectors including schooling, tertiary learning, further education, vocational education and training and alternative learning programs, in order to reflect on the future of the field from an international perspective.

 

The course will also develop your research and presentation skills.

I look forward to working with you in this course.

David Freesmith
Course Coordinator

 

David Freesmith - Course Coordinator

david.freesmith@unisa.edu.au

There are no prerequisite courses to be completed before this course can be undertaken.

There are no corequisite courses to be completed in conjunction with this course.

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

CO1. Demonstrate an awareness of the forces that impact on and shape educational systems internationally and in Australia

CO2. Identify major characteristics of selected national and international educational systems

CO3. Demonstrate an awareness of issues and trends inherent in international education systems

CO4. Develop the capacity to consider potential future directions and challenges in/for national and international educational systems.

Upon completion of this course, students will have achieved the following combination of Graduate Qualities and Course Objectives:

A graduate of UniSA:

GQ1. operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice

GQ2. is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice

GQ3. is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical, and creative thinking to a range of problems

GQ4. can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional

GQ5. is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a professional and citizen

GQ6. communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member of the community

GQ7. demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and as a citizen

Students will compare selected educational systems in Australia and internationally by conducting an investigation using comparative methodologies. Students will analyse trends, issues and challenges for education systems in the investigation.

4.5 units

This course will involve the production of audio and/or video recordings of UniSA students. To protect student privacy, you must not at any time disclose, reproduce or publish these recordings, or related material, in the public domain including online, unless the videoed students give consent for reproduction, disclosure or publication. This requirement is consistent with University statutes, by-laws, policies, rules and guidelines which you agreed to abide by when you signed the Student Enrolment Declaration.

You will need continual access to the following text(s) to complete this course. Where possible the Library will make the book available for student use. Please check the Library catalogue before purchasing the book(s). The Library will always seek to purchase resources that allow an unlimited number of concurrent users, however availability is dependent on license arrangements with book publishers and platforms. http://www.library.unisa.edu.au

Marshall, J (2019). Introduction to Comparative and International Education (2nd edition). SAGE.

The textbook for this course is Marshall, J (2019) Introduction to Comparative and International Education, SAGE, 2nd edition

 

Note that both editions (1st edition 2014 OR 2nd edition 2019) are acceptable for the purposes of this course.

 

For further reading see the list under the "Resources" tab on the learnonline page for this course.

All course related materials can be accessed through your learnonline course site which you will be able to access from the my Courses section in myUniSA.

All study related materials can be accessed through: https://my.unisa.edu.au

Details of assessment submission and return are listed under each assessment task. Assessment tasks will be returned to you within two to three weeks of submission.

 

Cover sheets

A cover sheet is not required for assessment tasks submitted via learnonline, as the system automatically generates one.

 

If the Course Coordinator allows submissions in hard copy format, you will be required to attach an Assignment Cover Sheet which is available on the learnonline student help (https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=1843&chapterid=567) and in myUniSA.

 

The feedback proforma is available on your course site.

Assessment 1
(1500 words)
Write an essay in three parts in which you:

a) describe, analyse and evaluate comparative education as an educational research approach;

b) describe, analyse and evaluate a comparative international educational study from the literature; and

c) describe and reflect on your process so far in developing and researching your topic for Assessment 2.
You are required to read widely and to make reference to the literature in your assignment.
Use Harvard referencing.  

See learnonline under the "Assessment 1" tab for further details.

Assessment 2

(20 minute presentation plus 500 word summary)

Make a research presentation to the class in which you compare a particular aspect (or aspects) of two educational systems.

In your presentation:
- Compare and contrast an aspect (or aspects) of educational systems in two countries, one of which may be Australia. Use a comparative analysis framework. Provide details of any similarities and differences between the two systems, and how these have been measured or determined.
- Offer key contextual factors (cultural, social, historical, political, economic etc.) that account for the differences to which you refer.
- Highlight tensions and challenges within the two systems and offer comparative analysis.
- Suggest possible future directions and challenges for the systems that you have selected in these two countries.

Draw on as wide a range of reading sources as possible, and demonstrate in your presentation and reference list that you have located and used them.
The study should move quickly from description to analysis and evaluation. Mere description should not be the focus.
Use Harvard referencing.

See further details under the "Assessment 2" tab in learnonline.

1. All assignment submissions are to be made through Learn on Line unless otherwise stated in the Course Outline.
2. Assignments submitted up to three exact days after the due date and time will be marked as a P2 maximum grade, or below.
3. Assignments submitted more than three exact days after the due date and time will NOT be marked.
4. All extension requests must be made to the Course Coordinator using Learn on Line.
5. Extensions must be requested at least 2 days prior to the submission date, and must be based on exceptional* circumstances. (*Exceptional circumstances will only be considered by the Course Coordinator if supporting evidence is provided.)
6. For additional information, refer to the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM), sections 7.3.1 and 7.8 to 7.11.

This course does not have an exam.

Variation to exam arrangements does not apply to this course.

Supplementary assessment or examination offers students an opportunity to gain a supplementary pass (SP) and is available to all students under the following conditions unless supplementary assessment or examination has not been approved for the course:

1. if the student has achieved a final grade between 45-49 per cent (F1) in a course
2. if a student who has successfully completed all of the courses within their program, with the exception of two courses in which they were enrolled in their final study period, a supplementary assessment or examination may be granted where the final grade in either or both of these courses, is less than 45 percent (F1 or F2) and all assessments in the courses were attempted by the student. Supplementary assessment will not be available for a course under investigation for academic integrity until the investigation is completed, and determined that it did not constitute academic misconduct.

More information about supplementary assessment is available in section 7.5 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual.
http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/

All students must adhere to the University of South Australia's policies about assessment:
http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/.

There are no additional assessment requirements identified for this course.

Students with disabilities or medical conditions or students who are carers of a person with a disability may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements.  See Section 7 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual (APPM) at:  http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/

 

Students who require variations or modifications to standard assessment arrangements should make contact with their Course Coordinator as early as possible in order to ensure that appropriate supports can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner.

 

Students can register for an Access Plan with UniSA Access & Inclusion Service. It is important to make contact early to ensure that appropriate support can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner. See the Disability Hub for more information:  http://www.unisa.edu.au/Disability/Current-students

Students are advised there is a deadline to finalise Access Plan arrangements for examinations. Further information is available at:  http://i.unisa.edu.au/campus-central/Exams_R/Before-the-Exam/Alternative-exam-arrangements/

Deferred assessment or examination is not available for this course. APPM 7.6.4

Special consideration is not available for this course. APPM 7.7.4

Variation to assessment methods, tasks and timelines may be provided in:

Unexpected or exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement, unexpected illness (details of unexpected or exceptional circumstances for which variation may be considered are discussed in clauses 7.8 - 7.10 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.

Special circumstances, for example religious observance grounds, or community services (details of special circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clause 7.11 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variations to assessment in expected circumstances must be requested within the first two weeks of the course (or equivalent for accelerated or intensive teaching).

 

Students with disabilities or medical conditions please refer to Students with disabilities or medical conditions.

Academic integrity is the foundation of university life and is fundamental to the reputation of UniSA and its staff and students. Academic integrity means a commitment by all staff and students to act with honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, respect and responsibility in all academic work.

An important part of practising integrity in academic work is showing respect for other people's ideas, and being honest about how they have contributed to your work. This means taking care not to represent the work of others as your own. Using another person's work without proper acknowledgement is considered Academic Misconduct, and the University takes this very seriously.

The University of South Australia expects students to demonstrate the highest standards of academic integrity so that its degrees are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. For example, work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be examined for copied and un-referenced text using the text comparison software Turnitin http://www.turnitin.com.

More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in Section 9 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM): http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/. The Academic Integrity Module explains in more detail how students can work with integrity at the University: https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=252142

Your feedback and course evaluations will be important in developing the course