Wolfgang Mitter: A comparatist's contribution on educational pluralisms and his transnational perspective on/for education

Wolfgang Mitter's (1927-2014) journey in the field of Comparative Education, as a professor, a researcher and as Chair of General and Comparative Education at the Paedagogische Hochschule, crossed concepts and boundaries. This study aims to present a mapping review conducted on the themes and ideas that are predominant in Wolfgang Mitter's publications, starting from the year he obtained his PhD at the Free University of Berlin (1954). From 52 selected results, it was possible to verify that his works were not restricted to the German context and borders. Mitter analysed the Russian educational context (1978) and compared it with the African one (2004), teacher education in Germany and in China (1981), and the themes of education and society in Hong Kong in comparison to Macao (2005); he also presented reflections on education in Central Europe (1980), looking at its past and projecting its future (1991). Mitter compared pedagogies (1970), theories (1975), policies (1981), systems (2001; 2007), teacher education (1975), research (1976), and curricula (2000). Through his journey in Comparative Education, Wolfgang Mitter reminds us that educational pluralities must be observed in the light of their time and social, political, and economic contexts, exploring the field lenses as a means to highlight contrasts and proximities and to rethink values and judgments about these educational pluralisms in a transnational perspective of education.