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Comparative Education in a Microcosm: Methodological Insights from the International Schools Sector in Hong Kong

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Abstract

Many studies in the field of comparative education take national education systems as the basic unit of analysis. The present paper has been conceived within this tradition, but has a different angle of approach. It focuses on 47 international schools in a small territory. Some of the international schools were grouped into larger systems but others were free-standing institutions. The focus of the paper thus lies at an intersection between cross-national and intra-national comparisons. It makes methodological observations on the nature of comparisons that are possible within such a microcosm, and on the conceptual lessons that can be derived from such analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comparative Education Research Centre, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    Mark Bray

  2. D-102 Xi Jiao Hotel Apartment, 1151 Hong Xu Rod, Shanghai, 200335, China

    Yoko Yamato

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  1. Mark Bray
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  2. Yoko Yamato
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Bray, M., Yamato, Y. Comparative Education in a Microcosm: Methodological Insights from the International Schools Sector in Hong Kong. International Review of Education 49, 51–73 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022917905362

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