GLOBALIZATION AND EDUCATION

 

        As we stand on the threshold of the 21st century, one must realize that that world is changing and changing very fast. The distances are getting eliminated and “the world has gone flat” (Friedman, 2006). Many opportunities were created for people with the coming of globalization era: technologies are able to abolish any geographical borders as now it is easy to ascertain knowledge about cultures and nation around the globe. It is inevitable that globalization, which is multidimensional process, touches upon many aspects: economical, cultural, educational and etc. As Khoi (1986) points out, industrialized societies promote innovations in science and technology so that it ameliorates its welfare. This, in turn, is “accompanied by changes in values” (p.13). This inevitable chain of changes shows that globalization is deeply controversial.

     Generally speaking, the globalization mostly has to do with world’s economy but as Burbules and Torres (2000) state in their work Globalization and Education: Critical Perspectives, the economical and educational aspects are interconnected tightly, because “globalization effects employment” and as a matter of course “touches upon one of the primary traditional goals of education: preparing for work” (p.20).  The main agent and driving force of this economy is knowledge and it concurs with what Friedman (2006) notified of in his The World is flat, that “what we learn today in school will be outdated by tomorrow, and therefore, the most successful people in the 'flat world' will be those who can adapt and learn quickly”.

       The global world need global citizens and this spurs to go beyond accustomed practices in education. Ginn’s (1996) explanations on how globalization affects local education is quite clear – it “threatens cherished beliefs” (p. 350). He continues to explain that societies teach what they believe to be the truth and there many truths according to different societies and gives examples of democratic societies teaching democracy and authoritarian societies teaching authoritarianism. And when boundaries are eliminated, shared values of particular society are highly affected by “information and images from other cultures” (p. 350).

       Having said this, one should keep in mind that this process is a vicious circle. The knowledge, moulded by domestic institutions, is integral to the world’s economy and further, the world economy effects and even remoulds each domestic institution (Carnoy and Rhoten, 2002). These effects and impacts may be positive as well as negative. When someone who attains knowledge at domestic institution becomes the founding member of SACMEQ (Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality), which in turn contributes to amelioration of the living standards of this person’s country is definitely a positive impact. On the contrary, when the person becomes the founder of international organization that functions for mere material gain and by this victimizes the third world countries, is a fairly negative impact.

       As can be seen, globalization can influence education very positively as it promotes multicultural contributions and alleviates various interconnections among different countries. The acceptance of diversity is one more very important positive impact. When the world becomes borderless, it is inevitable that people of different cultures, religions and visions interact with each other and meanwhile learn to show tolerance and acceptance towards diversity.

     To summarize, the issue of global education is too extensive and have to be studied yet from different perspectives and dimensions. However, as the globalization is rapidly developing and touches upon many aspect of the nation, from the viewpoint of its own well being and welfare prosperity, the governments should keep in mind the demands of the current century while developing and implementing educational policies. These policies should promote and foster intrinsic motivation to innovate and lead. As the education cannot teach the solutions to every problem, it can teach to be able to face any kind of challenge. Accordingly, the education can and should teach creative and analytical thinking. The nation states around the globe are making efforts to make it real; however people can derive advantage from globalization only if equipped with principles, skills and abilities.

References

Burbules, N. C., & Torres, C. A. (Eds.). (2000). Globalization and education: Critical perspectives.     Psychology Press.

Carnoy, M., & Rhoten, D. (2002). What does globalization mean for educational change? A comparative approach. Comparative Education Review, 46(1), 1-9.

Friedman, T. L. (2006). The world is flat [updated and expanded]: A brief history of the twenty-first century. Macmillan.

Khôi, L. T. (1986). Toward a general theory of education. Comparative Education Review, 12-29.

Mc Ginn, N. F. (1996). Education, democratization, and globalization: A challenge for comparative education. Comparative Education Review, 341-357.