The impact of globalization on education

In today’s rapidly evolving world, it is getting easier to access information, and share knowledge to help each other, in a world that is becoming less nation statehood, but more borderless and collaborative with other countries (Maringe, Foskett, & Woodfield, 2013). In this article, I will be providing an overview of the economic, social, and political aspects of globalization.

In today’s modern times it has become increasingly easier for students to migrate to other countries, therefore education has needed to evolve to equip students with the right mindset, and tools to cope in a new unfamiliar environment. One such approach is the “internationalist approach to the practice of international education founded upon international relations, with aspirations for the promotion of peace and understanding between nations” (Cambridge & Thompson, 2004). This globalized international education helps these students with aspirations of moving abroad. Globalisation has had a large effect on education, which has forced nations to prioritise it in response to an increasingly economically competitive world.

According to Daun & Strömqvist (2013) many countries have turned to developing educational institutions and industries to improve their competitiveness globally. This is supported by Bates (2002) who states that the development of knowledge has become an important part of educational policy.

This global competitiveness/competition, results in an increased need for higher skills. Global competition, according to Pang (2013), “leads to a techno-economic shift. Such a shift results in unemployment in the short term but to a higher standard of living and higher employment in the long term”. There are other factors, provided by Carnoy (1999), that I believe are affecting educational systems for the better, due to globalization, namely:

1. Governments are forced to allocate more funding into the educational sector,

2. Classrooms are more technologically advanced, with the introduction and use of the internet and computer assisted tools, and

3. The quality of education is periodically being compared to international standards in the field.

However, this does not come without challenges. The challenges, stated by Bates (2002), that most educational institutions will have in their attempt to successfully compete globally are:

1. Determining the skills and attitudes required by learners,

2. The construction of appropriate global curriculum,

3. The development of appropriate technologically mediated pedagogy,

4. The specification of the universal standards by which performance can be evaluated, and

5. The management of the system through which these achievements can be realized.

I do believe that with global assessments such as PISA, supported by Maringe et al. (2013), that with these assessments, we are able to pinpoint and determine which factors link to students' learning, and which can be changed through policy changes in curriculum, resources or practice. The analysis of these assessments could help policy-makers understand the performance of their educational systems.

Huang (2013) comments on the impact of internationalism on higher education, by stating that the “driving forces, policy and practices concerning the internationalisation of higher education in individual countries are not only affected by national policy, character and identity, but are also influenced by calls and pressures from international, regional or global organisations.” Rivz and Lingard argue, according to Nagahara (2011), that “the current global trends in education policy—heavily entrenched in the neoliberal social imaginary—privilege efficiency and liberty marginalizing other values such as equality and learning for the sake of learning. From this perspective, education is a private good, as opposed to a public good, and all learning is linked to ‘‘the instrumental purposes of human capital development and economic self-maximization.” I do agree with this sentiment, and believe that it has had a negative impact on the professionalism of teachers and principals who have to go according to policies set elsewhere, while having their school receive targets set by performance indicators. It limits the transformative potential of education.

In conclusion, while I do believe that globalisation, and having educational policies meet and follow international standards, it does depend on the country, its people and way of life. One policy may not be the best “fit” for all countries, depending on factors such as their economy.

References

Bates, R. (2002). Administering the Global Trap. Educational Management & Administration, 30(2), 139–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/02611x02030002506

Cambridge, J., & Thompson, J. (2004). Internationalism and globalization as contexts for international education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 34(2), 161–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305792042000213994

Carnoy, M. (1999). Globalization and Educational Reform: What Planners Need to Know. UNESCO.

Daun, H., & Stromqvist, G. (2013). Education and Development in the Context of Globalization (Education in a Competitive and Globalizing World) (UK ed.). Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Huang, F. (2007). Internationalisation of Higher Education in the Era of Globalisation. Higher Education Management and Policy, 19(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1787/hemp-v19-art3-en

Maringe, F., Foskett, N., & Woodfield, S. (2013). Emerging internationalisation models in an uneven global terrain: findings from a global survey. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 43(1), 9–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2013.746548

Nagahara, M. (2011). Fazal Rizvi and Bob Lingard: Globalizing education policy. Journal of Educational Change, 12(3), 371–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-011-9170-1

Pang, N.S. (2013, May 14-17). GLOBALIZATION IN THE ONE WORLD: IMPACTS ON EDUCATION IN DIFFERENT NATIONS [Paper presentation]. Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.