The Role of Comparative and International Research in Developing Capacity to Study and Improve Teacher Education
In this chapter, I propose a model to approach cross-national research based on my own work. I argue that international and comparative research that is collaborative, reflective, rigorous, capacity building, and policy oriented can allow learning at the
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The Role of Comparative and International Research in Developing Capacity to Study and Improve Teacher Education Maria Teresa Tatto
It has become fashionable among comparativists to argue that innovations in the “developing” world are due to policy borrowing and that little learning occurs at the local level. An important assumption of this view is that there are some who have the knowledge and expertise that is desirable and that others do not have it and thus see themselves in the role of borrowers. Rather than truly to innovate, it is argued, policy makers and educators too often look outside their locales for solutions to complex, unique, and local educational problems. In this chapter, I propose a different model based on my own work as a Mexican researcher working in Mexico and internationally, and as informed by my work in comparative research. I argue that international and comparative research that is collaborative, reflective, rigorous, capacity building, and policy oriented can allow learning at the ground level and produce useable knowledge for policy making and implementation and that this learning and development of expertise can occur within and across settings regardless of level of development.1 Moreover, I propose that the mere act of engaging in comparative and collaborative reflective inquiry already constitutes an intervention and brings about learning and a notion of normativity to the phenomenon under study, thus challenging the notion that research does not have an effect and that policy is “packaged” and borrowed. The comparative and internaThis chapter is a shortened and slightly edited version of the article Tatto, M.T. (2011). Reimagining the education of teachers: The role of comparative and international research. Comparative Education Review, 55, 495–516 (with permission). 1
The idea of reflective learning is not new and has been extensively explored as a pathway to individual and organizational learning by Argyris and Schön (1978) and Schön (1983). What is new in my work is the idea of taking reflective learning to scale by using it as part of my approach to collaborative comparative research.
M.T. Tatto (&) Arizona State University, Tempe, USA e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 M.A. Peters et al. (eds.), A Companion to Research in Teacher Education, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4075-7_42
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tional dimension brings an added layer to what can be learned from research as it illuminates what is possible in other contexts from a scientific and humanistic perspective.2 The model I have developed for comparative education research could be understood as “a collaborative and reflective approach to policy-oriented inquiry.” While these words may sound simple, the idea of conducting comparative research that is truly collaborative and reflective is a highly complex enterprise. It carries a strong commitment to the development of the capacity for true participation and reflective learning in the research process. It requires the construction
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