N’Dri T. Assié-Lumumba Editor, Global Comparative Education: Journal of the WCCES President, World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) Cornell University Ithaca, New York, USA 3 November, 2022
As Editor of Global Comparative Education: Journal of the WCCES, I am delighted to present this regularly scheduled issue- Vol. 6 No. 2, following the Special Issue out of the 4th Symposium. This issue comprises three regular articles, three articles on profiles of three comparative education experts, and two book reviews.
The first article by Emiliano Bosio entitled “Meta-Critical Global Citizenship Education: Towards a Pedagogical Paradigm Rooted in Critical Pedagogy and Value-pluralism” presents a conceptual framework for Global Citizenship Education. Globalization has made it imperative for people to think of themselves in the context of a global identity, which is increasingly getting intertwined with local, regional and national identities. This article promotes the concept of value-pluralism, which is basically assimilation of various forms of knowledge from all over the world.
In his article “L’éducation démocratique à l’ère du capitalisme éducatif: Les politiques d’éducation contemporaines à l’épreuve de la cohésion sociale,” Régis Malet contends that a global transition to educational capitalism impedes the understanding of education as an emancipatory ideal. According to this paper, education should always be a common good for every society. The third article in this issue entitled “Access and success of students with disabilities in South African higher education: From ‘pedagogy of the marginalised’ to ‘pedagogy of the disabled’” by Sibonokuhle Ndlovu & Phefumula Nyoni dwells upon the ideals of late Professor Michael Cross, who always stood for special pedagogies for the disadvantaged people, particularly the disabled in the South African educational context.
The profile of Professor Suzuki Shinichi provides an insight about a pre-eminent comparative education scholar, who was born in China and had vast experience/contributions in Japan as well as Europe. His continued participation and support to WCCES in various ways is remarkable.
Cristine Fox was the Secretary-General of WCCES from 2005-2012 and her prolific profile provides a glimpse of an exemplary scholar, who carved a niche for herself in the field of comparative education. Her expertise spans Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas.
Marco Aurelio Navarro-Leal is the current Senior Vice President of WCCES and was instrumental in the formation of the Mexican Comparative Education Society (SOMEC). His profile elucidates on his contributions on various fronts, culminating in organizing the XVII World Congress of WCCES at Cancún, Mexico in May 2019.
WCCES Symposia have become a regular feature of between-congress events in providing continuity to academic discourse in contributing to past and emerging issues within the comparative education community, as is the case during these tough times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the first Symposium in 2018 hosted by the University of Johannesburg (South Africa) and in 2019 by IBE in Geneva (Switzerland) two books have been published. The 4th Symposium was held in 2021 and the 5th Symposium is lined up to be held in November 2022. For the 4th Symposium 17 member societies of WCCES served as co-conveners. A record number of 18 member societies of WCCES have enthusiastically expressed their support as co-conveners of the 5th Symposium. This level of collaboration accentuates my vision for the Council at the time of my election as its President in 2016, and again in 2019 for a second term, which has extended due to Covid-19 pandemic.
We will continue to publish revised and accepted papers of the 4th and 5th symposia in the WCCES Journal, Chronicle and book series towards the XVIII World Congress of WCCES to be held in 2024. I wish you good health, safe living in this tumultuous global environment and happy reading.