Siao See Teng

Kenneth K. Poon

Maria Manzon

This book offers a comprehensive picture of high-performing East Asian education systems, beyond their outstanding achievements in international assessments, such as PISA and TIMSS. Situating “excellence” within discussions of “equity”, it contextualises the conceptions and pursuits of equity amid the development of education systems, policy and curricula in selected East Asian societies. While parallels could be observed across the systems, including high-stakes assessment culture, increasing credentialism and high investment of family educational resources, there are also divergences in approaches and outcomes relating to equity policies and practices. In light of the challenges presented by low fertility rates, ageing populations, migration, and the economic demands of the 21st century, the book addresses these systems’ attempts to cater to further diversified student populations and maintain equity in excellence. As the international community relentlessly seeks to enhance equity in education, there is much these East Asian education systems can share. This book has appeal internationally to researchers, policymakers, educators, and anyone interested in East Asian education and equity.

Experiences of East Asian High-Performing Education Systems

Equity in Excellence

This book is a remarkable feat of scholarship — so remarkable in fact that I put it in the same league as the great classics of the field that had so much to do with setting the direction of Comparative Education. Indeed, this volume goes further than earlier classics to reveal, through textual analysis and interviews with key figures, how the epistemological foundations of the field and crucial professional developments combined to, as the title indicates, construct Comparative Education. Manzon’s work is indispensable — a word I do not use lightly — for scholars who seek a genuine grasp of the field: how it was formed and by whom, its major theoreticians, its professional foundations, and so on. Clearly too, this book marks the rise of a young star, Maria Manzon, who shows promise of joining the ranks of our field’s most illustrious thinkers. Erwin H. Epstein Director, Center for Comparative Education Loyola University, Chicago, USA

Maria Manzon

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