ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to examine the concept critically in an attempt to clarify it and its uses as a tool of comparative education analysis. The formation of national character is interestingly linked with the formation of the nation itself. There is an apparent ambiguity, however, surrounding the role of the so-called "determinants of national character". The function of national character in comparative studies is threefold. First, as a basis for a proper appreciation of foreign customs and cultures it is indispensable. Second, as an explanatory concept enabling the analyst to see why certain educational reforms failed and others succeeded. Third, national character provides a synthesising and linking entity which enables cultural patterns and educational systems to be harmonised. If the concept of national character prompts comparativists to study the family, the folklore, the literature and the cultural patterns of any society before making pronouncements on its educational system, this can only be to the good.
