ABSTRACT
Joseph P. Farrell was a significant figure in the field of comparative education. With a jovial laugh, a cutting intellect, and a fine skill for telling stories and drawing out stories from others, he gently and persistently laid out an enduring agenda for comparativists in the areas of educational planning and reform, educational equality, and educational innovation. In 1968, Joe Farrell completed his Ph.D. in sociology of education and educational development at Syracuse University, working under Don Adams in the Center for Education Development. Right after graduating from Syracuse, Joe took a job in Canada, at the University of Toronto’s newly launched Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Joe’s impact and influence on the field of comparative education is wide-reaching. In the 1970s, his work set the gold standard for the longitudinal study of educational life chances in the developing world, and he helped define how comparativists, think about the problems and challenges of educational equality and social development.
