Education path to Globalization

The first form of education was through survival skills and adaptation. As the human race progressed organized schools were introduced, first by religious association and then with public schools. Predominantly during this time teachers were female and the class sizes were very small, covering the basic topics like math, history, language, and grammar. As education grew in importance an organized system was established. This establishment is how the globalization of education began. Through the years education has become globalized by online courses, government and business management, and standardization.


Organizations of education are operated under a nation-state that “controls, regulates, coordinates, mandates, finances, and certifies,” (Nicholas, Carlos, Globalization and Education) the process of learning. These organizations invoke a policy of conformity and identification with the nation state. Having a government run system came about with economic restructuring throughout history. A world trend of economic changes can be classified into several factors. The first phase of this change: the globalization of labor and a national economy. The next phase is the arrangement of classes and social structure within individual countries and the expansion of national trade and world market. Having more trade meant there was a need for an increased workforce and a restructuring of the labor market. With the restructuring of the labor market also came about a change in labor workers and a new concept of a “team” effort. Continual changes in the work force occurred throughout the years but soon economic downfall would ensue around the world and result in the reduction of budgets. This encouraged the privatization of social services like education. Privatization comes with the need for control leading to government involvement and the establishment of policies.



Major corporations and businesses took advantage of this opportunity through business venture. These ventures included providing supplies and “future job placement in return for future considerations.” (Rosilez, changing education) And with privatized schooling came a shift to the focus of “assessment testing.” Having a specific way to evaluate or to determine who fails and who succeeds is a better predictor of those that will survive and those that will not make it in the business world. This concept is clearly illustrated in the NO Child Left behind Act implemented by the Busch Administration. The act reinforces standardized testing by rewarding schools that have high test scoring students and in reverse punish schools that do not have high test scores. In a sense this is changing the focus of education. The goal has shifted from learning to know to learning to pass. It is not supporting the education of students but rather leaving education behind and teaching what must be known for the test. Not only are students not getting any benefit from this globalized education but neither are teachers.


Teachers used to be the doorways to education. Instead, they are the followers of a management written curriculum. Teachers no longer have the freedom to teach the way they want because they are being watched by the government and the organizations that pay them. If students do not pass the standardized tests teachers have to deal with the consequences. All of this is making education more of a world- wide business then a community institution. “Hence the ideas of social justice, availability of non manipulated resources, and educational freedom are being replaced with market perspectives of profit.” (Rosilez) We have seen this growing branding of education with world accessible schools online. Schools are no longer just an institution they are a consumer product just like everything else, which is why it is a globalization issue. Companies are creating schools that focus on business skills and making it available to the world so that you can learn these skills anywhere. Schools and colleges used to fight about whom had more pride and now they fight over who has the easiest and fastest graduation path.



Having schools available online all around the world comes from the concept of de-localization. In the beginning of education schools use to be the focal point of towns and now are hidden away by the surrounding cities. Separating the school from the community are large fences and walls because people have become worried about the safety of their children. As Smith says these walls “strengthen the idea that the school is somehow separate from the community.” (Incorporating education) The extreme of this de-localization is seen today with many classes being taken online. There is not interaction with students and studying can be done at home away from everyone else. What can we expect in the future? It is hard to tell, but we can speculate that education may become globalized in the fact that everyone will be taking the exact same courses through an online system. With schools already being put on the same curriculum across nations, what’s to stop that same curriculum from being put into affect around the world? This is the epitome of globalization, having a set system that everyone uses and to me that is the next step for education. Everyone will be learning the same things in the same way, which will prepare them for the business world.


Works Cited:
Burbules, Nicholas C. Torres, Carlos Alberto. “Globalization and education: an introduction” Published in globalization and education: critical perspectives http://faculty.ed.uiuc.edu/burbules/papers/global.html
Rosilez, Victor. “The changing Face of Education” http://globalizationandeducation.ed.uiuc.edu/Other/teachers_papers/changing%20face.pdf
Smith, M. K. (2002) 'Globalization and the incorporation of education' the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/globalization.htm.


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Education and Globalization

In my second semester, sophomore year of college I am taking a UH370 course that focuses on global inequality. To specify my blog for the semester I have chosen to focus on education and globalization. When I first thought of this topic I wasn’t sure if the two would relate very well but after doing some research I have quickly found that globalization and education is a widespread discussion. Just like everything else in the world education is being turned into more of a business then a learning environment. There are three main elements to the modern model of education according to Willaim Tabb in his essay Globalization and Education as a commodity. The first element is making “the provision of education more cost efficient,” and what we have been seeing in the U.S. in the past four years is making testing standardized and focusing on marketable skills. Many of these elements have been seen in different ways all over the world. Most schools have experienced cutbacks within public schooling and closing down of “inefficient” programs that do not perfectly correlate with business needs. More often than not we are seeing students that can’t keep up being left behind. Schools are no longer around to teach students but instead to find the next business men and women.
Even more important is that schools are being made more accessible and easy to attend. This is done with most courses being given online or through CD. Now you don’t even have to go to school, you can learn anything anywhere. These classes and online schools are run by businesses and outside management. This means education can be standardized just like any other business. All of these education businesses are sold all around the world in many different languages making the standardized schooling available to all people. Many of these education courses have been created by the United States and therefore are globalizing western beliefs. I plan on doing more research about westernized schools in other countries like that created by Oprah or schools created by religious sects. I think it will be really interesting to see how many religious schools are built around the world.
I have chosen this topic and all it has to offer because I want to be a third grade teacher. For this reason education is very interesting to me. As stated earlier, education is being globalized by the standardized online courses and world- wide schools. Another interesting point to this topic is the idea of immigration due to globalization of education. What I will discuss this semester are the ideas that globalization of education is made through mass education online, government funding, and standardized classes. I hope that this topic can last the whole semester with everything we talk about in class. From this topic I hope to have a better overall understanding of education and how different countries run their schools. By learning more about the problems of schooling or what works I can become a better teacher. I think it will be an eye opening topic and I look forward to researching and discussing it with my classmates.