Education in the United States is criticized to be behind other countries. I would agree with this critique because the United States education has not made school a priority for everyone. Although there have been changes, few have been successful. Globalized education is trying to fix this problem by making education the same around the world. However, I do not think this is an appropriate fix. Every society has a different curriculum and therefore education should be kept individualized. There have been some attempts by the United States to make education better but statistics from around the world show that we are still not as committed as other countries.
A typical high school day in the United States last about 7 hours, from 7am-2pm. Primary school is from 8am-2pm and middle school is about the same amount of hours. The high school dropout rate has continually fluctuated but rarely has a consistent decrease. “In the last decade, between 347,ooo and 544,000 10th-through 12th-grade students left school each year without successfully completing a high school diploma.” (Drop Out Rates U.S.) This is a big problem because poverty rates have not improved either. “The high school graduation rate is a barometer of the health of American society and the skill level of its future workforce.” (Decline)I would go as far to say that education, if provided and made a priority for everyone, would improve the poverty rate. What is more interesting is that the dropout rate for Asian/Pacific islanders was lower than that of any other race or ethnic group in the U.S. And when you look at the statistics in China and other Asian countries, this makes sense.
Education in China, strict and tedious, is run much differently than in the United States. As you progress in level of education you also progress in hours spent in school. In Primary, school lasts about 8 hours. Once you head into middle school you have 10 hours in school and in high school it goes up to 12 hours. That is a lot of time to spend in school, learning. Somehow they make it work while also keeping kids in school. However, China is experiencing some issues with rural schools. The dropout rate in rural schools has been rising recently to around 40 percent. A member of the CPPCC National Committee- Wen Jiating- proposed that “the patterns of rural education should be modified, rural schools should stop following the steps of urban schools in the design of teaching and learning materials in a way that benefits rural students in their future work.” (Xinhua) This is an idea everyone should consider. No matter where you live your education should pertain to your future, not what others feel you should be learning. That is why I think globalized education is a step in the wrong direction. Even though, this is not the first way the United States has tried to improve their education.
Several years ago President George W. Bush put into effect the “No Child Left Behind Act.” This act was supposed to help students stay in school. Instead students struggled to pass standardized tests and ended up falling further behind. The act “requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades, if those states are to receive future funding.” (Wikipedia) If any schools do not pass the standardized tests, they do not get funding. This is not a beneficial system because the schools that do not pass continue to not pass. What is even worse is that schools spend more time teaching for the WASL than teaching for knowledge. If students are only learning how to test they are not learning actual skill for their future which further puts the United States behind other countries. Decline in educational status has been seen since the 20th century within science specifically.
While the United States was fighting over whether or not to teach evolution in schools, other countries were finding new evidence. The Butler Laws were put into effect in 1925, which stated that it was illegal to teach evolution. United States discussed whether or not to include religion in education and other countries already decided not to and move on. Studies show that the United States is tenth among other industrialized nations with high school degrees. (NewsMax) And the numbers continue to increase for the rest of the world. Changes that I believe need to occur in our education system are the removal of standardized testing. Education needs to be made available for everyone without the expectation of them learning certain topics. What is important is that education should be an open door for students to explore and find the right path for their future. Of course there is basic knowledge that everyone should learn but not all knowledge should be designed the same. As I said before I do not think globalized education is the answer to this problem. Although the U.S. has a ways to go to improve education enrollment, availability, and curriculum I believe it is possible. All we need to do is encourage our young generations that education is the most important thing and their main job.
Works cited:
Dropout Rates in the United States http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/droppub_2001/
Economist’s View: The Declining High School Graduation Rate in the US May 13, 2008 http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/05/the-declining-h.html
China experiences rising school dropout rate (Xinhua) 2005 http://www.chiadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/04/content_421520.htm
U.S. Falling Behind in Education NewsMax Wires Tuesday, Sept 14, 2004 http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/9/14/141847.shtml
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Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Getting the Background
Globalization and Education articles. http://www.infed.org/features/globalization_feature.htm
In this resource you can find three great articles on the topic of Globalization and Education. The first article focuses on what Globalization is and how it is seen today. Reading this is important because you get a full understanding of Globalization. At the end it also includes the impact on education and how education ties in with globalization. The second article is more focused on the incorporation of education and globalization. Now that you understand what globalization is and how education fits into it, you can now learn about the problems and the successes of globalized education. The reader can now understand what is really happening with globalized education and the issues surrounding it. The third article then discusses the different forms of education, both informal and non-formal education. What is good about this article is that you can see the difference of globalized education within different types of schools. I really like this source because it gives all sides of the issue and really informs the reader.
Education as a human right or a traded service? http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-132774428/globalizing-education-human-right.html
This source is a large article about education and its globalization. Again this source starts with the overall review of globalization and what it is. It then goes into more detail about what the focus of globalization is with education, “increasing the privatization of education.” This source is more technical then some of the others but does contain some good information on the depth of which education is being looked at. For those who enjoy the legal side of things this is a great source because it talks about the laws and the role of states in “promising and ensuring free education, comparing globally created legal and extralegal guidance.”
Globalization of Education-Globalization theory, the role of education. http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2010/Globalization-Education.html
I really like this source because it is a great article about the idea of globalization with internationalization. This is a different take on things from previous resources so I feel that it is a nice refresher, with something different. According to this article education plays an important role in the theory of globalization. Early examples are given like Christianity, and colonialism. The section on education is short but I think this article has a lot to offer on the topic of globalization in general and can expand the readers knowledge.
Globalization and Education: A community resource.
http://globalizationandeducation.ed.uiuc.edu/
This site is a lot of fun. It is very pretty and has a lot of links to offer. Available to anyone this site is a resource for people who want to post papers or blogs. Whats great is that those who post things are students, teachers, and parents, so you get a wide variety of view -points. In this one site you can get perspectives on the positives and negatives of globalized education. In one section of the site you can click on a link to the teachers of global education and what you will find is a page of other sites pertaining to education all over the globe. It also provides materials and resources for teachers.
Essay: Globalization and Education as a Commodity by William Tabb, Queens College and the Grad Center http://www.psc-cuny.org/jcglobalization.htm
William Tabb discusses how education becomes globalized, and what this means for education. He describes education and the “neoliberal model of education” in three elements. You first have to make the product more cost efficient, test the performance, and focus on the marketable skills. This last point is one of the biggest focuses in global education. Everyone wants to make education about a specific skill so that people can get more jobs. But that is not all education is. Tabb is very informative about these three issues and how they are put into effect. Going into detail about each area of change incluing cutbacks, closing programs, and computers. This essay is very informative to someone who already knows about global education but does not understand how it is being done. By reading this article you will understand what is being done in communities around the world to make education global and why there are drawbacks to it. The only downfall of this source is that Tabb does not give other sources of information and his article is much shorter than I thought it would be.
Global Education vs. Globalization http://globaleducation.edu/ge/vsglobalization.html
This resource is another essay but takes a more positive spin on global education. This author even goes far enough to say that global education can be an “antidote to the sadly universal human tendency to lose track of the experiences of others.” Making the point that a global education will teach everyone around the world about other cultures, making it seem as if global education will be better. It is always important to know the pros and cons of an argument so I think this source is good to have because it gives the positive side of global education. When making a decision on this kind of topic you need to have a source like this so that you know both sides of the story.
Globalization of Education an Introduction by Joel H. Spring chapter 1 http://books.google.com/books?id=k7Yatzu4XGQC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=globalization+of+education&source=bl&ots=Fxy0DqVF8L&sig=07fmuXgD4tfo4EnHgJaxlKv2fME&hl=en&ei=XJu7S7umNYOotgOzm9ypBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Here is an excerpt from a book titled Globalization of education: an introduction by Joel H. Spring. What is nice about this book is that a lot of research has gone into the writing. The reader can be confident that what their reading is real. What is more important is that not only has research been done but that there is information from the World Bank and UNESCO. This gives the topic more validity and a world reference rather than just stating this is the way it is. This book references all sides of the argument and describes exactly what the misconceptions of global education are. In one paragraph the book says “globalization of education does not mean that all schools are the same as indicated by studies of differences between the local and the global” with a reference to the source. Giving one example of how the book uses outside sources, including studies. This is a much longer source but it has a lot to offer.
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/433 Globalization and Higher Education: Competition and Cooperation Charles M. Vest HM
Trying to have a variety of sources I chose this video because it has a lot of information to offer. This video is focused on the speaker Charles M. Vest. This discussion is about competition, like what we need to be doing in our economy to compete with other countries, and also the cooperation of our country with others. What is important in this video is that Charles talks about how we are falling behind in our education in the U.S. and will not be as skilled as other countries in years to come. Charles goes through each topic of education one at a time with graphs describing where we are compared to other countries. The nice thing about this video is that it has a lot of sources and information behind it and is an in depth discussion of the topic. In my opinion this is one of the best sources there are for global education. One point made is that “rapid growth, and quality will follow.” This is an important point because in a global economy we have to compete which means rapid growth. The problem is quality is also important and Charles discusses how we need to keep this in mind while we’re expanding education.
www.essays.se/about/impact+of+globalization+on+education/
At this website you will find an abundance of essays about the “impact of globalization on education.” What is great about this source is that it has four essays on this topic with all different sides. The only problem with this site is that not all of the articles are solely about the topic of education. A couple of the essays mention the idea but do not dive into it fully. I think it is a good source but I also feel it takes too long to find the information that is important to those who want to learn about global education.
www.sociology.emory.edu/globalization/data.html#education
This is the globalization website which is an online site full of data resources. Under the education tab section there are only two sources to look at but they are much different then any of my other sources. The two links are comparative data from OECD and the UNESCO world educational statistics. If you need to find out about education around the world and the statistics behind it, this is the site for you. I think it is important to have this kind of information because you can back up your argument with numbers. Just like it is important to have all sides of a topic is is also important to know the data behind it.
www.campaignforeducation.org/
This site is a little different from the rest of the sources I’ve discussed. This site focuses on a campaign that is trying to increase global education. It is interesting to see what people have to say about this campaing on the sites blogs. Even more interesting is reading about what the campaign is and why they are promoting global education. Instead of reading an essay you’re reading logos and banners about why global education is necessary. I think this source can be very helpful because by reading these different updates you can learn a lot about what is going on to make education global, and be able to describe the cases going on. There are even articles about what has gone wrong with education worldwide which is refreshing to see that the campaign is acknowledging what works and what doesn’t.
www.globaled.org/curriculum1.html
Teaching Materials Curriculum and Lesson Plans is an interesting source because it talks about what will be taught in education that is global. Instead of discussing what global education is this site discusses what will be taught. This is an important site because when determining whether or not global education is a good choice or not I think you should know what kind of education will be taught. This way you can decide whether or not the education will be beneficial. And if you were writing a paper on this topic it would be good to reference what will be topics of global schooling. It is also a great resource because the site offers topics about all different countries and the kind of education being offered there. This gives readers a broader understanding of education and different cultures.
www.edpsycinteractive.org/educ.html
On this site there is an abundance of information on education in general. This site is very informative because it has a broad background about education and the curriculum of different forms of education. There are different titles of information on the site describing education, systems of thinking, educational reform, and teacher resources. My favorite section was teacher resources, because I want to be a teacher so I always look for sites with teaching ideas. What is also great about this site is that some of the links take you to books and resources that you would find elsewhere. But that is a problem also because you cannot find all the information right on the site.
www.globaled.org/finalcopy.pdf
This is the same website as a previous source but the article is different. This source is called Global Education Checklist for Teachers, Schools, School systems, and State Education Agencies. What this site offers is a document that provides a checklist that is “a practical tool [for] teachers, curriculum developers, school administrators, and state education” can use to gauge their work. For those of us exploring what global education is this site can be helpful because it lays out very simply what global education teaches. Some of the checklist for example were like a multiple choice question where the first question was “global issues-knowledge. What do your students know about global issues, and how well do they know it?” There are then four answers to assess yourself on whether your curriculum answers this question thoroughly or not. But to a reader that is not a teacher it makes you think about what answer you would want to circle and what should be taught in global education.
www.interationalaccreditation.org/iao/resources/moving-towards.asap
This article focuses again on the standards of global education but without the checklist. Instead this article examines establishing global standards and how the standards should be made. Here we have an article on the pre-standards because the discussion is on what the standards should be and whether or not there should be standards. When discussing global education I think it would be good to know what the two sides of standardization are so that when you make a choice on how global education should work. It also lays out problems of global education with descriptions like “it does not really allow you to see how well each system educates its students” because each culture has a different way of conducting its education. But the article goes further to explain how online education has solved this problem by making a level playing field.
All of these sources are great for anyone who is interested in globalized education. Each source has something different to offer and there is a lot of variety of information. Also there are a variety of topics ranging from the background of globalization to the standards of globalized education.
In this resource you can find three great articles on the topic of Globalization and Education. The first article focuses on what Globalization is and how it is seen today. Reading this is important because you get a full understanding of Globalization. At the end it also includes the impact on education and how education ties in with globalization. The second article is more focused on the incorporation of education and globalization. Now that you understand what globalization is and how education fits into it, you can now learn about the problems and the successes of globalized education. The reader can now understand what is really happening with globalized education and the issues surrounding it. The third article then discusses the different forms of education, both informal and non-formal education. What is good about this article is that you can see the difference of globalized education within different types of schools. I really like this source because it gives all sides of the issue and really informs the reader.
Education as a human right or a traded service? http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-132774428/globalizing-education-human-right.html
This source is a large article about education and its globalization. Again this source starts with the overall review of globalization and what it is. It then goes into more detail about what the focus of globalization is with education, “increasing the privatization of education.” This source is more technical then some of the others but does contain some good information on the depth of which education is being looked at. For those who enjoy the legal side of things this is a great source because it talks about the laws and the role of states in “promising and ensuring free education, comparing globally created legal and extralegal guidance.”
Globalization of Education-Globalization theory, the role of education. http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2010/Globalization-Education.html
I really like this source because it is a great article about the idea of globalization with internationalization. This is a different take on things from previous resources so I feel that it is a nice refresher, with something different. According to this article education plays an important role in the theory of globalization. Early examples are given like Christianity, and colonialism. The section on education is short but I think this article has a lot to offer on the topic of globalization in general and can expand the readers knowledge.
Globalization and Education: A community resource.
http://globalizationandeducation.ed.uiuc.edu/
This site is a lot of fun. It is very pretty and has a lot of links to offer. Available to anyone this site is a resource for people who want to post papers or blogs. Whats great is that those who post things are students, teachers, and parents, so you get a wide variety of view -points. In this one site you can get perspectives on the positives and negatives of globalized education. In one section of the site you can click on a link to the teachers of global education and what you will find is a page of other sites pertaining to education all over the globe. It also provides materials and resources for teachers.
Essay: Globalization and Education as a Commodity by William Tabb, Queens College and the Grad Center http://www.psc-cuny.org/jcglobalization.htm
William Tabb discusses how education becomes globalized, and what this means for education. He describes education and the “neoliberal model of education” in three elements. You first have to make the product more cost efficient, test the performance, and focus on the marketable skills. This last point is one of the biggest focuses in global education. Everyone wants to make education about a specific skill so that people can get more jobs. But that is not all education is. Tabb is very informative about these three issues and how they are put into effect. Going into detail about each area of change incluing cutbacks, closing programs, and computers. This essay is very informative to someone who already knows about global education but does not understand how it is being done. By reading this article you will understand what is being done in communities around the world to make education global and why there are drawbacks to it. The only downfall of this source is that Tabb does not give other sources of information and his article is much shorter than I thought it would be.
Global Education vs. Globalization http://globaleducation.edu/ge/vsglobalization.html
This resource is another essay but takes a more positive spin on global education. This author even goes far enough to say that global education can be an “antidote to the sadly universal human tendency to lose track of the experiences of others.” Making the point that a global education will teach everyone around the world about other cultures, making it seem as if global education will be better. It is always important to know the pros and cons of an argument so I think this source is good to have because it gives the positive side of global education. When making a decision on this kind of topic you need to have a source like this so that you know both sides of the story.
Globalization of Education an Introduction by Joel H. Spring chapter 1 http://books.google.com/books?id=k7Yatzu4XGQC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=globalization+of+education&source=bl&ots=Fxy0DqVF8L&sig=07fmuXgD4tfo4EnHgJaxlKv2fME&hl=en&ei=XJu7S7umNYOotgOzm9ypBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Here is an excerpt from a book titled Globalization of education: an introduction by Joel H. Spring. What is nice about this book is that a lot of research has gone into the writing. The reader can be confident that what their reading is real. What is more important is that not only has research been done but that there is information from the World Bank and UNESCO. This gives the topic more validity and a world reference rather than just stating this is the way it is. This book references all sides of the argument and describes exactly what the misconceptions of global education are. In one paragraph the book says “globalization of education does not mean that all schools are the same as indicated by studies of differences between the local and the global” with a reference to the source. Giving one example of how the book uses outside sources, including studies. This is a much longer source but it has a lot to offer.
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/433 Globalization and Higher Education: Competition and Cooperation Charles M. Vest HM
Trying to have a variety of sources I chose this video because it has a lot of information to offer. This video is focused on the speaker Charles M. Vest. This discussion is about competition, like what we need to be doing in our economy to compete with other countries, and also the cooperation of our country with others. What is important in this video is that Charles talks about how we are falling behind in our education in the U.S. and will not be as skilled as other countries in years to come. Charles goes through each topic of education one at a time with graphs describing where we are compared to other countries. The nice thing about this video is that it has a lot of sources and information behind it and is an in depth discussion of the topic. In my opinion this is one of the best sources there are for global education. One point made is that “rapid growth, and quality will follow.” This is an important point because in a global economy we have to compete which means rapid growth. The problem is quality is also important and Charles discusses how we need to keep this in mind while we’re expanding education.
www.essays.se/about/impact+of+globalization+on+education/
At this website you will find an abundance of essays about the “impact of globalization on education.” What is great about this source is that it has four essays on this topic with all different sides. The only problem with this site is that not all of the articles are solely about the topic of education. A couple of the essays mention the idea but do not dive into it fully. I think it is a good source but I also feel it takes too long to find the information that is important to those who want to learn about global education.
www.sociology.emory.edu/globalization/data.html#education
This is the globalization website which is an online site full of data resources. Under the education tab section there are only two sources to look at but they are much different then any of my other sources. The two links are comparative data from OECD and the UNESCO world educational statistics. If you need to find out about education around the world and the statistics behind it, this is the site for you. I think it is important to have this kind of information because you can back up your argument with numbers. Just like it is important to have all sides of a topic is is also important to know the data behind it.
www.campaignforeducation.org/
This site is a little different from the rest of the sources I’ve discussed. This site focuses on a campaign that is trying to increase global education. It is interesting to see what people have to say about this campaing on the sites blogs. Even more interesting is reading about what the campaign is and why they are promoting global education. Instead of reading an essay you’re reading logos and banners about why global education is necessary. I think this source can be very helpful because by reading these different updates you can learn a lot about what is going on to make education global, and be able to describe the cases going on. There are even articles about what has gone wrong with education worldwide which is refreshing to see that the campaign is acknowledging what works and what doesn’t.
www.globaled.org/curriculum1.html
Teaching Materials Curriculum and Lesson Plans is an interesting source because it talks about what will be taught in education that is global. Instead of discussing what global education is this site discusses what will be taught. This is an important site because when determining whether or not global education is a good choice or not I think you should know what kind of education will be taught. This way you can decide whether or not the education will be beneficial. And if you were writing a paper on this topic it would be good to reference what will be topics of global schooling. It is also a great resource because the site offers topics about all different countries and the kind of education being offered there. This gives readers a broader understanding of education and different cultures.
www.edpsycinteractive.org/educ.html
On this site there is an abundance of information on education in general. This site is very informative because it has a broad background about education and the curriculum of different forms of education. There are different titles of information on the site describing education, systems of thinking, educational reform, and teacher resources. My favorite section was teacher resources, because I want to be a teacher so I always look for sites with teaching ideas. What is also great about this site is that some of the links take you to books and resources that you would find elsewhere. But that is a problem also because you cannot find all the information right on the site.
www.globaled.org/finalcopy.pdf
This is the same website as a previous source but the article is different. This source is called Global Education Checklist for Teachers, Schools, School systems, and State Education Agencies. What this site offers is a document that provides a checklist that is “a practical tool [for] teachers, curriculum developers, school administrators, and state education” can use to gauge their work. For those of us exploring what global education is this site can be helpful because it lays out very simply what global education teaches. Some of the checklist for example were like a multiple choice question where the first question was “global issues-knowledge. What do your students know about global issues, and how well do they know it?” There are then four answers to assess yourself on whether your curriculum answers this question thoroughly or not. But to a reader that is not a teacher it makes you think about what answer you would want to circle and what should be taught in global education.
www.interationalaccreditation.org/iao/resources/moving-towards.asap
This article focuses again on the standards of global education but without the checklist. Instead this article examines establishing global standards and how the standards should be made. Here we have an article on the pre-standards because the discussion is on what the standards should be and whether or not there should be standards. When discussing global education I think it would be good to know what the two sides of standardization are so that when you make a choice on how global education should work. It also lays out problems of global education with descriptions like “it does not really allow you to see how well each system educates its students” because each culture has a different way of conducting its education. But the article goes further to explain how online education has solved this problem by making a level playing field.
All of these sources are great for anyone who is interested in globalized education. Each source has something different to offer and there is a lot of variety of information. Also there are a variety of topics ranging from the background of globalization to the standards of globalized education.
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