{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.034058988764044944, 'fraction_numerical': 0.02457865168539326, 'mean_word_length': 5.416666666666667, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Preparing Teachers for a Global Society

The proliferation and availability of information detailing events both large and small in virtually every corner of the globe may actually work to distort our perception of the challenges associated with truly understanding our world. The spread of information may be characterized as globalization in name, although globalization in practice is a completely different matter. Globalization in practice is no small task, and in spite of our ability to view and virtually experience events around the world in real time, geographic distances, language, resources, and a host of other barriers make any real changes on a large scale a challenge at best. As a result, the world is now, metaphorically, a smaller place. Therefore, our experiences here in the United States should not serve as the center of our ideas about the world. Rather, an international, more accurately, global, perspective must be taken. Indeed, globalization, or the notion that particular ideas, events, and policies extend to all parts of the globe, now serves as the impetus for broad issues such as economic (Friedman, 2007), social (Roth & Briar-Lawson, 2011), and policy development (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2007). Likewise, it is no surprise that globalization affects perceivably narrower issues such as special education teacher education. Hence, the intersectionality of globalization, its various caveats, and special education teacher education is worthy of examination. In the true spirit of globalization, the ultimate goal is to work toward identification of what unites us all. Examination is often more fruitful if approached from a variety of perspectives. Comparative education can be used as a tool that allows for a more equitable dynamic process, enabling comparisons across several dimensions simultaneously. Essentially, comparative education is “the study of any aspects of educational phenomena in two or more different national or regional settings in which attempts are made to draw conclusions from a systematic comparison of the phenomena in question” (Phillips & Schweisfurth, 2006, p. 24). The literature base in comparative education is extensive, and the methods are well established (Bray, Adamson, & Mason, 2007; Phillips & Schweisfurth, 2006). Much has been learned to this point from comparative methods, with the intent not only of shedding light on differences, but also to understand similarities, to shape current and future practice (e.g., Tikly, 2011; Wubbels, 2011). Bray and Thomas (1995) proposed a framework for comparative education that provides the basis for comparison in three macro areas: (a) geographic/location levels, 640861 TESXXX10.1177/0888406416640861Teacher Education and Special EducationDukes et al. research-article2016