Studying education cross-culturally means ‘taking culture seriously.’ Education is thus understood as cultural transmission resulting from enculturation and socialization in informal or formal learning contexts. This article reviews the transmission of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values in these contexts and the effects of different types of education. It also includes a section on international comparisons of school achievement. The authors review some methodological problems linked to the comparative approach, and call for developing a solid theoretical base, using Berry's eco-cultural framework and the ‘developmental niche’ proposed by Super and Harkness.
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