The theoretical and empirical foundations of research on trust in education are still weak. To contribute to a better understanding of the role of trust in educational systems, this final article of the special issue "Trust in educational settings. European perspectives" highlights the findings from the contributions in this special…

Evidence-informed policy and practice has been a trend as part of an effort to increase the use of research to improve education at all levels. In many countries, knowledge-brokering initiatives were established to stimulate links between research, policy, and practice. Drawing on a mapping of initiatives in seven countries, this article describes…

Using the critical work of Andreas Kazamias on the history and methods of comparative education as conceptual framework, we investigate the education (over a 200-year period) of the Slovak Roma. We position our story as paradigmatic of the dual processes of enlightenment and obscurantism with which we are familiar in thinking about the history of…

This article attempts a reading of Andreas M. Kazamias's work and method as a persistent and firmly grounded attempt to "go against the tide" of an empirical/instrumentalist comparative education and toward a "modernist 'episteme.'" Kazamias has been explicitly critical of the social-scientific-cum-positivist comparative…

This article introduces a specific concept of consumer culture into the international and European discussion about new concepts and categories in comparative education. Basic meanings of consumer culture are presented in reference to consumer research, consumer culture theory, and a revisited concept of world polity. In addition to general…

International education is seen as an effective form of soft power. This article reviews one of history's largest and most ambitious attempts to achieve global influence through university education, and to reshape the world--the Soviet university aid program, 1956-91. Drawing on existing research and Soviet archival materials, we lay out and…

The article describes and critically analyzes how Russian education researchers approached the topic of quality evaluation in education between 1990 and 2014. Evaluation and quality have grown into major policy issues in education across the world, simultaneously acting as powerful steering mechanisms on national and transnational levels. Russia…

With the processes of migration, globalization and (in our research context: especially) European unification, not only territorial borders but also cultural traditions become fragile (Eberhard et al., 2009). The daily challenges, as well as the opportunities afforded by crossing national, cultural, and linguistic borders, are growing (Beyer &…

In this article we argue for the spatialization of research on educational transfer in the field of comparative education within a theoretical framework that focuses on networks, connections, and flows. We present what we call a "spatial empire of the mind," which is comprised of a set of taken-for-granted "truths" about space…

The Danish higher education system was until recent years characterized by local diversity. It comprised, in relation to the population size, a large number of rather small institutions and a large number of universities and other research institutions. Since 1990, the Danish higher education system has changed dramatically: The number of…

Educational study is always a matter of choice between different theoretical paradigms, however, it also runs the risk of taking a dichotomized and ideological stance. Comparative education is an emblematic case in point, especially the excessively ideologized versions of comparative thinking inspired by the cold war. The choice to interpret…

During the past thirty years there has been a worldwide shift toward neoliberal views of the role of national governments that has resulted in further globalization, privatization, and marketization of many formerly government provided services and activities. The effects of this global shift have been particularly felt in the areas of education…

An examination of American research on Yugoslav education in the 1950s and 1960s shows U.S. comparative education research to have been no less shaped by cold war concerns and modernization theories than other academic disciplines. The purpose of this article is not to specify what research questions should have been asked in the first two decades…

In this article, the authors argue that if pupils are to make educated choices about their roles in Europe, it is important that a European dimension be included within education. These authors see three concepts as integral to a European dimension--identity, cooperation, and integration--and suggest that for the full potential of European…

This article presents an interview with Harold J. Noah, Gardner Cowles Professor Emeritus of Economics and Education and former dean at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. He edited the "Comparative Education Review" from 1965 to 1971, was president of the U.S. Comparative and International Education Society in 1973, and is…