HED4806
Assignment 4
2026
, HED4806: HISTORY OF EDUCATION AND
COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
ASSIGNMENT 04
─────────────────────────────
University of South Africa (UNISA)
2026
QUESTION 1 [20 Marks]
1.1(a) Challenges Associated with Implementing Borrowed Educational Models [5
marks]
The implementation of educational models and policies borrowed from foreign countries
carries several interconnected challenges that have been extensively documented in the
comparative and international education literature.
The first and most fundamental challenge is that of contextual incompatibility. Educational
systems are not context-neutral technical instruments; they are deeply embedded
expressions of specific cultural values, historical experiences, political philosophies, and
economic conditions. A model that functions effectively in, for example, Finland
characterised by strong social trust, low inequality, highly qualified teachers, and a
culturally homogeneous society may prove entirely unsuitable in a country characterised
by deep inequality, ethnic diversity, under-resourced schools, and a different relationship
between the state and civil society. Steiner-Khamsi (2004) argues that policy borrowers
often import the visible, surface features of a foreign system its organisational structures,
curriculum documents, or assessment frameworks while failing to reproduce the invisible,
contextual preconditions that made the original system successful. The result is a borrowed
"shell" without the substantive conditions required to fill it meaningfully.
A second challenge is resistance from local stakeholders, including teachers, parents,
communities, and civil society organisations, who may perceive the borrowed model as
culturally alien, epistemologically inappropriate, or politically motivated. As Wa Thiong'o
(1986) and Grosfoguel (2013) demonstrate, communities in the Global South have
Assignment 4
2026
, HED4806: HISTORY OF EDUCATION AND
COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
ASSIGNMENT 04
─────────────────────────────
University of South Africa (UNISA)
2026
QUESTION 1 [20 Marks]
1.1(a) Challenges Associated with Implementing Borrowed Educational Models [5
marks]
The implementation of educational models and policies borrowed from foreign countries
carries several interconnected challenges that have been extensively documented in the
comparative and international education literature.
The first and most fundamental challenge is that of contextual incompatibility. Educational
systems are not context-neutral technical instruments; they are deeply embedded
expressions of specific cultural values, historical experiences, political philosophies, and
economic conditions. A model that functions effectively in, for example, Finland
characterised by strong social trust, low inequality, highly qualified teachers, and a
culturally homogeneous society may prove entirely unsuitable in a country characterised
by deep inequality, ethnic diversity, under-resourced schools, and a different relationship
between the state and civil society. Steiner-Khamsi (2004) argues that policy borrowers
often import the visible, surface features of a foreign system its organisational structures,
curriculum documents, or assessment frameworks while failing to reproduce the invisible,
contextual preconditions that made the original system successful. The result is a borrowed
"shell" without the substantive conditions required to fill it meaningfully.
A second challenge is resistance from local stakeholders, including teachers, parents,
communities, and civil society organisations, who may perceive the borrowed model as
culturally alien, epistemologically inappropriate, or politically motivated. As Wa Thiong'o
(1986) and Grosfoguel (2013) demonstrate, communities in the Global South have
