Disparate ladders : why school and university policies differ in Germany, Japan, and Switzerland
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Disparate ladders : why school and university policies differ in Germany, Japan, and Switzerland
Transaction Publishers, c1997
Available at 46 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 341-370) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This study breaks new ground in examining how political factors helped lead three countries with highly regarded education systems to evolve quite different structures and processes in their secondary and higher education sectors. Their educational "ladders" are disparate because the techniques and timing for selecting students for further educational opportunities vary both among the three nations, and within the German and Swiss federal systems. The comparative analysis seeks to place the Japanese trajectory with reference to European developments, and to account for some of its unique aspects. Building on an extensive record of publication on comparative education policies and welfare state development, Heidenheimer places special emphasis on exploring the network of relationships between the various levels of the educational system and tiers of government.Following a strategy of integrated comparative analysis, the various national school and university types are directly compared as to their permeability, nature of administrative supervision, curricula, and examination practices. Contrasting the ways in which political parties and bureaucracies have made and adapted policies helps clarify how and why specific innovations became political issues, at the national and regional levels. Through close contextual case analysis, the study probes why, despite great differences hi political institutions, some secondary school policies became especially embattled in all three countries.Heidenheimer explains why the German Lander have maintained a monopoly in the university sector, whereas in both "centralized" Japan and "decentralized" Switzerland national governments operate and finance key parts of the university sector. Also analyzed is the impact of post-unification developments on East German university expansion. Whereas many Swiss schools have no principal, German courts have ruled that principals have tenure in their jobs. This comparative treatment by a political scientist complements studies of education by sociologists and economists analyzing how differences in political institutions have helped shape some distinctive policy emphases. Based on original research and a broad command of the literature, Disparate Ladders will appeal to school administrators, educators, political scientists, social historians, sociologists, and multiculturalists.
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