The History of Transnational and Comparative Education

Abstract

This chapter offers an overview of transnational and comparative education as a specific research perspective in the field of the history of education. Since the late twentieth century, historical scholarship in general and the history of education grew skeptical about the analytical value of the nation as a focus for researching the educational past. The older historiographical tradition of comparative studies in the history of education, heavily relying on nations and national states, showed in this context its shortcomings. The immediate impact of this development was a new trend in historical research related to transnational history focusing on entanglements and border crossing. The analysis shows theoretical and methodological assumptions of both research directions, discusses their respective thematic emphasis, and proposes to change the collaborative culture of historians of education as a means of coping with the challenges of transnational and comparative histories of education.