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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