Handbook of Asian Education

Comprehensive and authoritative, this Handbook provides a nuanced description and analysis of educational systems, practices, and policies in Asian countries and explains and interprets these practices from cultural, social, historical, and economic perspectives.

Using a culture-based framework, the volume is organized in five sections, each devoted to educational practices in one civilization in Asia: Sinic (the common culture of China, the Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, and related cultures of Korea and Vietnam), Japanese, Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu. Culture and culture identities essentially are civilization identities; the major differences among civilizations are rooted in their different cultures. This framework better captures the essence of the diverse educational systems and practices of Asian countries than other possible approaches such as the forms of government or geographical locations.

Each section opens with an overview of the civilization and its history, philosophy, and values that have had an impact on education, includes chapters on both the formal schooling system and out-of-school educational practices, and concludes with a chapter on how immigrants from the civilization have come to live in the West, how they are educated, and how they are adapting to their new homes.

Uniquely combining description and interpretation of educational practices in Asia, this Handbook is a must-have resource for education researchers and graduate students in international and comparative education, globalization and education, multicultural education, sociocultural foundations of education, and Asian studies, and for educational administrators and education policy makers.