The Impact of Globalization on Education

I remember sitting in my 10th-grade history class on the first day of school. The awkward silence was occasionally broken as an old air conditioner turned on to regulate the room's temperature. Suddenly the class door flew open, and a man dressed from head to toe in American Revolutionary war attire walked into the room. Multiple chuckles released into the stale air as my new history teacher Mr. Patton gave a glassy gaze toward the class. Then, when everyone became quiet, he said in one of the most dramatic voices I have ever heard, "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." (Zemeckis, 1985). While the rest of my class irrupted in laughter, I could not wait to hear the next thing he would say, and the desire to absorb more information continued the entire year. Mr. Patton was the first teacher to meet me where I was. He taught me how to communicate in group discussions about his intriguing lesson topics and allowed me to be creative as I discussed famous people from history in narrative form. While Mr. Patton was a fantastic educator, the quality of education I received in my other classes was far from the local standard. However, after having a teacher who showed me that education was more than worksheets and standardized tests, I knew I did not have to settle for what others expected my future to become. My experience in school leads me to the question, if education was similar around the world would many countries be in better situations for success? In this blog, I will discuss the impact of globalization and internationalism on education.

Before unpacking globalization and internationalism, a topic must be addressed as the primary requirement for running a school. Before getting students, teachers, or a principal, the school requires funding. Many schools take on an investor of some type to ensure that they have a building and resources and can afford a staff before opening their doors. Fazal Rizvi and Bob Lingard cite Basil Berstinein in saying, "Values allocation in education policy not only steers the goals of education but also impact curriculum, pedagogy and evaluation" (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010, pg 374 para. 4). The connection between economy, politics, and education is the values that they are installing through education. In other words, politics determine the funding educators teach the next generation, who improve the economy.

There are positives and negatives when receiving funding, including setting a school vision. While standards can vary from school to school, many international schools share a similar vision. In James Cambridge and Jeff Thompson's study on Internationalis and globalization as context for international education, the writer shares a quote from Rohrs about international schools, which states [international schools "having the aim of producing students' willing and able to understand other nations. To understand another nation, one must be open to learning things that may not be culturally normal. On the other end of the spectrum, some schools may "serve students of a variety of nationalities but they are not necessarily internationally minded" (Cambridge and Thompsons, 2004). The schools mentioned want to keep their culture while providing elements of international education.

A challenge that these schools faced was a way to bridge the learning gap. This dilemma is where programs like International Bachelorette or IB and assessments similar to the PISA come into place. IB is a curriculum that promotes critical thinking and has become commonplace in international schools. PISA provides a "tool for evaluating education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students" (Robertson & Dale, 2017). By frequently improving assessment, PISA boosts the ability to assess 21st-century learners. The question is, with comprehensive testing tools, are the criteria for a 21st-century learner the same in every country? Also, do students use the same tools in each country? In my opinion, I believe global assessment does measure 21st-century skills, but with such a large testing base, I do believe there is room for error.

Since we have discussed the requirements to run a school and ways to align what international schools do, let us talk about globalization. After viewing many definitions of globalization, I believe it is common knowledge to say globalization involves sharing something on a large scale. While it is safe to say that all schools around the world cannot reach the same standards, globalization allows many educational systems to access information faster and more consistently compared to previous generations. A positive of globalization, citing Nicholas Sun-Keung Pang made from Daun and Suarez-Oeozco is that "global competition leads to an increasing demand for higher skills in the population as a whole, and lifelong learning for all" (Pang). As education improves, the job force becomes more skilled, and in my opinion, more jobs are created in most situations. A negative could be that "countries differ in their response to the process. An example is a country like the United Arab Emirates, where the local population relies on importing people from other countries to maintain their growth instead of raising an internally skilled community to handle their growth.

Internationalism is another element of education that should be discussed when talking about improving global education. In an article written by Futao Huang, a citing by Knight is found which shares that internationalism is "the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, function or delivery of postsecondary education" (Huang, 2007 pg 48 para. 3) According to the definition ideas and other aspects a shared and pulled from various places and added to an entity. This process benefits "a transition from technical assistance for developing countries by developed countries to a growing global competitions" (Huang, 2007). So, aid is provided to the point where the one that requires assistance can compare with other institutions that are at a particular standard. However, according to table 2, a downside to internationalism is a "loss of national identity" (Haung, 2007).

Globalization and internationalism have had many effects on higher education. How people think and approach various facets of life can be partially attributed to their education. According to Huang, the impact of internationalism is the "dispatching of students and faculty members abroad for advance studies and research as part of efforts to enhance the quality of education" (Huang, 2007). Some countries promote sending students and teachers away so they can return with knowledge that can help society as a whole.

In closing, education has made many changes. As society grows, the need to improve also grows. As globalization and internationalism spread, the way to assess and improve curriculum also increase. Some places embrace the changes afforded by exchanging ideas and cultures. At the same time, other societies prefer to stay rooted in their values and systems. In any case, the world is becoming more competitive. As the need for high-skill workers increase, the education system will continue to change and evolve.

Resources

Cambridge, J., & Thompson, J. (2, June 2004). Internationalism and globalization as context for international education. Compare, 34(2), 161–175.

Huang, F. (2007). Internationalisation of Higher Education in the Era of Globalisation: What have been its Implications in China and Japan. Higher Education Management and Policy, 19(1), 47–61.

Nagahara, M. (2011). Globalizing education policy [Review of Globalizing education policy, by F. R. A. Lingard].

Pang, N S-K. (n.d.). GLOBALIZATION IN THE ONE WORLD: IMPACTS ON EDUCATION IN DIFFERENT NATIONS. BCES Conference Books, 11(Education in One World: Perspectives from Different Nations), 17–27.

Robertson, S., & Dale, R. (2017). Comparing Policies in a Globalizing World: methhodological reflections. Educacao & Realidade, Porto Alegre, 42(3), 859–875.

Zemeckis, R. (1985). Back to the Future. Universal Pictures