(De)constructing Modalities of Thinking about Comparative Education through Video-Use

Abstract

This paper examines the utilization of video in comparative education teaching and is shaped by two interconnected arguments. Underpinning the paper is the argument that students have certain assumptions about comparative education which are not in accordance with the complex, historical and contemporary scholarship of the field, and which thus need to be deconstructed. It is argued that video is an effective teaching tool to use to trace and unsettle such assumptions, and thus, open up the possibility for more complex comparative educational thinking to emerge in university classrooms. These uses and functions of video are explored in the paper with the help of a TV programme comparing education in Greece and Finland.