Implications+of+Globalization

=What are the implications of globalization on education and curriculum?=

Background
In order to understand how globalization might affect education and curriculum, it is necessary to understand the role of the political, economic and social forces in education.

In his article "How Globalization Can CauseFundamental Curriculum Change: An American Perspective," Leonard J. Waks outlines four popular political viewpoints:

Neo-liberals - markets are open; we invest in other countries as they invest here. Our government does not have control over our dollar. According to Waks, "This decreased power of the state will ... remove economic inefficiencies, resulting in economic growth and consequently, greater prosperity" (p. 385). This group would strongly support the privatization of public education so that it might "take advantage of market inefficiencies" (Waks, p. 385). Smith notes that neo-liberalists have focussed on the failures of public schools rather than their successes. As well, they have attempted to apply the standards, practices and philosophy of business to education. From this point of view, schools become "responsible to outcomes or product-based measures" (Flinders, p.370). Competitiveness, privatization, accounting, deregulating teacher unions, financing projects that serve the needs of global markets, curriculum and education policies created by those outside of the educational field, and focusing on the creation of workers to support the current global market system (Flinders, p. 371).

Liberal Progressives - agree that the open market will cause inefficiencies, but also worry about "social inequalities and environmental destruction unless economic liberalization is accompanied by international agreements protecting basic social, political and environmental rights" (Waks, p. 385). Liberal-progressives believe that all citizens have a right to education, but they want those citizens to be educated with the skills they need in the global economy.

Neo-Marxists - agree with liberal progressives in regard to social inequalities, but they don't believe the liberal state can repair these problems. They challenge the capitalists and want to ensure human rights and labour agreements. They would want education to "encourage the resistance of young people and the formation of personal identities specific to their ethnic, gender and class positions" (Waks, p. 385). They would support charter schools where marginalized groups could break away from "the pattern of social reproduction through schooling" (p. 385).

Realists - are less certain of the importance and/or impact of globalization. They would argue that it is different depending on the place and that there is no "global 'convergence' of education and training, or of labor markets, among different kinds of nation states" (Waks, p. 385). They would agree that globalization is encouraging others to move toward a more "liberal society" model as in the United States.

Conditions for Change
In the past, we have had many different attempts at curriculum change. Waks would argue that any changes we have seen thus far are "incremental" changes rather than "fundamental" changes. The education institution or structure has stayed basically the same, and, if anything, has become more rigid in its practices. For fundamental changes to occur, Waks argues that four constraints must be removed for fundamental change to occur.


 * 1) The elites who typically support the traditional model of education must withdraw their support and side with the everyday citizens.
 * 2) The internal systems that "soften, select and modify" change must be weakened so that those within the system will innovate.
 * 3) The props that hold up our traditional system (textbooks, achievement tests, post-secondary admissions) must be removed.
 * 4) Credible leaders must put forward an organized and cohesive vision of the new model.

Waks believes that the conditions are right for a fundamental change to occur. All groups are dissatisfied with education. Corporations want "knowledge workers" who can "...access, interpret, and apply new knowledge and information to add value to an organization" (Waks, p. 398). These workers are able to work on time bound projects; they are continually learning; they are always integrating their knowledge from various projects to create new knowledge; and they are flexible and able to work in different roles (Waks, p. 399). They also want highly skilled production workers who can communicate well, work as part of a team, manage in "information rich, high performance workplaces" (Waks, 402). These knowledge and high skilled workers will want opportunities for their children which the do not believe will be found in traditional education systems. The working poor also do not believe traditional public education can provide their children with the tools needed to move forward and find a better life (Waks, p. 403-405). Kids themselves are no longer content to sit and be talked "at." They want a better life, but they are aware that they don't necessarily need an education to do it (think Bill Gates and Steve Jobs); and if they are going to be educated, they want technology skills.

Implications for Canadian Curriculum
We have been seeing the impact of globalization on our Canadian curriculum for quite some time. In his paper "Rethinking Globalization," B. Barrell notes: "This business reality has been picked up and used as a guiding paradigm in recent regional Canadian curriculum reform documents (Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation, 1998 and the Western Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic Education, 1998). A central motif of these documents is that old educational practices are no longer sufficient for students to participate fully in post-industrial society (see Lankshear 1998; Barrell, 2000; Castells (2000). These documents acknowledge that businesses no long require great numbers of workers trained in assembly line, factory style models of education. Typical of this discourse is the Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades English 10-12, (1997) which states: > //Pervasive ongoing changes in society-- for example, rapidly expanding use of technology-- require a corresponding shift in the learning opportunities for students to develop relevant knowledge, skills, strategies, processes, and attitudes that will enable them to function well as individuals, citizens, workers, and learners. To function productively and participate fully in our increasingly sophisticated technological, information-based society, citizens will need broad literacy abilities, and they will need to use these abilities flexibly.// (p. 1)

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...
A study by Baron, Odell and Mercier in 2006 which was part of a much larger study involving participants in 16 nations, looked at how globalization had influenced the lives of teachers in British Columbia. I believe their experiences would resonate with teachers across the country.

Positives:
 * Increased communication with people around the world.
 * Increased cultural awareness and empathy.
 * Infusion of inquiry, critical thinking, and problem based learning into the curriculum.
 * Fundamental changes in methodology and delivery of curriculum.

Negatives
 * Narrowing the curriculum. The focus on only what is tested which leaves out many valid learning opportunities. Focus in English Language Arts is on reading and writing because that is what is tested rather than on speaking, listening, representing and viewing.
 * Using test scores to rate schools which puts pressure on everyone in the system and sometimes leads to decisions which are not in the best interest of students. A case in point is one that is related in the study from an Okanagon kindergarten teacher://“The superintendent came to our school this year and said ‘Congratulations, you are the worst school in the school// //district’. He was talking about FSA scores. So our principal said, here are all the programs we run. [...] What else do// //you suggest we do? We are in a very low economic area of town, and there are some real problems here. [The// //superintendent’s] advice...was, “choose the 15 kids whose results you can move on those FSA scores and spend// //all your resources on those 15 kids. Forget about the kids who could not possibly raise their scores, forget those// //who will already do well. Pick those kids whose results you can move and your results will look better next year.// //(Baron et. al., p. 11).//
 * Loss of cultural identity.
 * Education evolves into a business with business terms such as "outcomes" and a focus on "producing" a commodity - knowledge and high skill workers.

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Currently, globalization in education has resulted in an education system driven by the economy which strives to create workers who can function in the 21st century. How can we move away from the "mass production" of workers toward an education system that values and supports students to become divergent thinkers?=====

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