The Education Systems of Europe

This unique handbook offers an analytical review of the education systems of all European countries, following common analytical guidelines, and highlighting the paradox that education simultaneously pursues a universal value as well as a national character. Coverage includes international student performance studies, and a comparison of education dynamics in Eastern "new Europe" with "older" western EU members. The book provides a differentiated analytical data base, and offers suggestions for further research.

This book is the first to present an analytical description of the education systems of all European countries, following common guidelines. These conceptual guidelines consider various criteria concerning presumptions as to the quality of a good education system. One of the book’s central aims is to explore the paradoxical character of education, i.e. the relationship between universal values and the search for a national identity. It looks at the dynamics of the developments in the ‘new’ Eastern European countries compared to those of ‘older’ Western European countries. It then goes on to discover a common pattern of European education and compares it to that of education systems outside Europe, making it relevant reading to educators around the world. The handbook provides many suggestions for further study.