An overview of the book (328 English words):

This is a re-printing of the full Chinese script version of Gu Ming-yuen (1990)."Jiao yu da ci dian (Great Encyclopedia of Education), Shang-hai: Shang-hai jiao yu chu ban she? Vol. 12 entitled "Comparative Education? with some modifications of some educational terms into Taiwanese usage by Profs. Wang Jia-tong and Yang Jing-yao. The main reason for citing such piece of encyclopedia work of comparative education from Mainland China was that comparative educational development began at later pace in Taiwan than in Mainland China. The earliest starting time to establish a comparative education research centre in Taiwan was in 1995 with postgraduate research studies at National Taipei University and National Chinan University whilst some counterparts have been founded in several normal universities in Mainland China since 1980s with a gradual increase in the number and types of comparative educational researches.

The encyclopedia covers about 1, 600 relevant items and eight international bodies or organizations in six continents including Asia, Europe, Africa, Australasia, North America and South America. All items are arranged in the order of nations or countries and continents. In each nation or country, sub-themes are arranged in the order of educational systems, regulations, concepts, organizations, schools, academic persons and their publications. Synonymous items are linked together through footnotes for further elucidation. It is a resourceful guide to Chinese educators, researchers and university students who are specified in the fields of comparative and international education to gain a thorough understanding of the subject matter and related educational items originally written in English or other foreign languages.

The appendices include a chronology of educational events in six countries (Japan, France, former Federal Republic of Germany, former Soviet Union, the United States of America and United Kingdom) from the time just after Second World War to the late 1980s or early 1990s), some resourceful data statistical charts and graphs, a Chinese (translation) glossary of the English names of foreign educators and academic theorists in the fields of comparative and international education.

Introduction to the author:

Prof. Gu Ming-yuan is a distinguished leading figure in the field of comparative education in Mainland China and is currently working at Beijing Normal University. He is the president of China Comparative Education Society (CCES), leading Chinese colleagues to do various types of comparative education researches in cross-national, -cultural and international perspectives at the University. He is expertise in Russian education, committee members or the chairman in some depts. of Ministry of Education at national / provincial levels, one chief editor of several encyclopedia of education, journals and periodicals on comparative education in Mainland China and has rich experiences of organizing local and international conferences on comparative and international education.

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