Assignment 1 2025
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Due Date: April 2025
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, QUESTION 1
1.1.
1.1.1 Heterodoxy
Heterodoxy refers to a situation where multiple, often conflicting ideas exist
together instead of everyone agreeing on a single theory or way of thinking. In
the context of Comparative and International Education (CIE), heterodoxy
became important during the 1970s and 1980s when scholars started to
question the earlier belief that education automatically leads to progress and
economic growth. Previously, most researchers followed ideas from
modernisation theory and structural-functionalism, which saw education as a
neutral force for good. However, after the economic crisis of the 1970s, many
began to argue that education could also reinforce inequality and serve the
interests of powerful groups.
New perspectives such as world-systems theory and reproduction theory
challenged the traditional views. These ―conflict paradigms‖ suggested that
education helps the rich and powerful keep control, while the poor remain
disadvantaged. At the same time, other thinkers introduced ―micro-paradigms‖
that focused on individual experiences in classrooms rather than big social
structures. As a result, CIE entered a period where many different theories
existed side by side, often clashing. This phase of debate and disagreement is
called heterodoxy, and it helped expand and diversify the field by introducing
new viewpoints and methods for understanding education in society.
1.1.2 Heterogeneity
Heterogeneity means the presence of many different types, ideas, or
approaches within a field or system. In Comparative and International
Education (CIE), heterogeneity refers to the growing diversity of theories and
research perspectives that emerged from the 1990s onwards. Unlike the
earlier period of heterodoxy, which was full of conflict and criticism among
opposing theories, heterogeneity is about recognising and accepting that
multiple viewpoints can coexist and enrich the field.
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