This book is a cutting-edge collection of articles inspired by the writings of Robert Cowen about comparative education. Authors take up Cowen’s central concerns: re-theorising the field of comparative education, rethinking the interpretive concepts that are used by comparative education researchers, and the relationships between them. The authors take us beyond old ideas to provide some new and fresh thinking on and about educational phenomena and the field of comparative education. Writers engage in critical thinking about the intellectual agenda of comparative education, the role of theory in their work, the contexts that are shaping the field, and epistemic consequences of these broader changes for comparative education.
The volume contains voices from a variety of geographical regions, theoretical positions, newer and more well-established scholars in the field. The book also includes shorter reflections from individuals in the field who know Robert Cowen personally. More well-established themes in the field are discussed such as borrowing and transfer, as well as newer concepts and ideas from Cowen’s work including shape-shifting, and transitologies. New Thinking in Comparative Education will be of interest to those who are studying and doing research in the field of comparative and international education, both at the under-graduate and graduate levels of education.