Teaching comparative and international education (CIE) in UK universities: coverage, omissions and orientations

This article examines the teaching of comparative and international education (CIE) in undergraduate and master’s programmes in 30 UK universities via bibliometric and content analysis of the handbooks of 55 CIE courses. Our analysis demonstrates great diversity in what is categorised as CIE, alongside some clear patterns and preoccupations evident across units, as reflected in the selection of materials, and geographical and thematic coverage. Findings suggest a ‘UK-centric’ orientation to CIE, marked by an emphasis on UK academic voices and references, and geographical foci which centre on the former colonial sphere of influence. Alongside this we identify three broad orientations to CIE teaching in the UK – ‘positivist’, ‘socio-cultural’, and ‘critical’ – and consider their nature and prevalence across different institutions and programmes.