This article revisits a topic central to the past and the present of comparative education: the theme of "transfer". It outlines four ideas. First, that comparative education as a field of study, having begun in the study of "mobilities", became diverted by other anxieties. Second, the article notes that the theme of…

Historians of comparative education have ordinarily viewed the development of that field as having progressed in stages, from impressionistic traveller tales to systematic investigations, with each stage eclipsing the previous one in rigour and acceptability. In this essay, I show that this common "Darwinian" view is simplistic and distorts the…

Examines the World Bank's 1995 policy statement, "Priorities and Strategies for Education: A World Bank Review." Reviews the bank's evolving policy of the past 35 years. Interprets the statement in light of recent structural adjustment strategies and end of the Cold War, which have sharpened bank attitudes about economic, social, and…

Identifies similarities and differences in the French and British models of colonial education in sub-Saharan Africa. Draws on the statements of policymakers in official reports and government studies to highlight the "signposts" of colonial educational policy--phrases referring to policy goals and to moral claims and cultural…

Explores the manner in which ideology and hidden assumptions, educational policy perspectives, and reform proposals are interrelated in current education reform discussions in Papua New Guinea. Discusses reforms aimed at improving access and retention in primary schools and at restructuring secondary education, and contradictory principles related…