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Doctor or of history Fatima Kukeyeva
Tolganay Ormysheva
al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan
The impact of Globalization
on education
Globalization has been defined in many ways. It is
very complex phenomena and different institutions gives different definitions
on what is meant by the term. But most of them agree that globalization is the
process of increasing interdependence and interconnectedness.
Interdependence framework is shown to be based on
political and economic ground, but main mechanisms of
mentioned framework is directly linked with other not less important processes.
For instance, United Nations' definition of globalization deals with the
aspects which go beyond economy: “While
the definition of globalization varies with the context of analysis, it
generally refers to an increasing interaction across national boundaries that
affects many aspects of life: economic, social, cultural and political. In the
context of this study, in order to keep the analysis within reasonable bounds,
the focus is only on the economic aspects, with particular emphasis on the role
of Information and Communications Technologies. As such, globalization narrowly
refers to the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide. This
includes increases in the international division of labour caused by swelling
international flows of Foreign-Based Investment, accompanied by an increasing
volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services,
international capital flows, international migration and the more rapid and
widespread diffusion of technology. This should not be construed to imply that
social, cultural and other forms of globalization are unimportant, only that
they are less germane to discussions of economic security and development“ [1].
Education as a social
enterprise takes place in
the center of globalized world events. It includes a number
of activities, education appeares in different spheres of our lives
simultaneously as a transfer tool
of culture and social traditions, a source of innovation and invention, also a
means of interpretation and understanding issues happening in the world. Universities are recognized as a higher institution in
educational stages, and they carry out three main functions for society – knowledge
transmission, for instance,
teaching sphere, knowledge creation function is linked with
research sphere, and knowledge conservation means keeping learnt material in
libraries, etc.
In the emerging world
of growing global interdependence, these functions are increasingly performed
by those outside the historically structured university or higher education
sector, and by those outside the historic boundaries of the nation state. These
activities can now be found to occur as much in the private sector, through
virtual rather than direct means of engagement and communication, and by novel
social organizations emerging from civil society. Education is
as an
instrument of economic productivity, politicization, and enculturation can play
an important part in the humanization of the process of globalization [2]. It
is a major concern for all societies. As the foundation
and essential driving force of economic, social, and human development,
education is at the heart of the change that is dramatically affecting our
world in the areas of science, technology, economics, and culture. It is the
reason behind social change and scientific progress, and in its turn, it is
subjected to the results of progress that it itself has engendered, both with regard
to content as well as methods and established aims.
Martin Carnoy
specifies two of the main bases of globalization are information and
innovation, and they, in turn, are highly knowledge intensive.
Internationalized and fast-growing information industries produce knowledge
goods and services. Today’s massive movements of capital depend on information,
communication, and knowledge in
global markets. And because knowledge is highly portable, it lends itself
easily to globalization.
If knowledge
is fundamental to globalization, globalization should also have a profound
impact on the transmission of knowledge [3]. However, there is another opinion
with doubt on the capacity of globalization to permeate knowledge production
and transmission influenced by local culture [4]. Carnoy points out two kinds
of globalization effect on education. The first is that globalization increases
the demand for education, especially university education, and this increases
pressure on the whole system for higher quality schooling, often producing
perverse educational consequences, particularly from the standpoint of
equity.
The second
effect is that globalization produces a reaction. This reaction takes many
forms, but it seems in the current historical conjuncture to be increasingly
focused on ethnic-religious nationalism/regionalism. The implications of the
reaction for the transmission of knowledge are also important. Ethnic-religious
nationalism represents a search for an identity that is often the antithesis of
globalism/internationalism and even individualism. In some cases
(religious-based nationalism) it confronts the concept of globalized knowledge
as interpreted by the West with a different form of globalized knowledge,
namely religious fundamentalism. In other cases, it confronts globalized
knowledge with localized notions of knowledge/identity [5].
Changes in world economy caused reformation and
restructuration in education. These reforms can be mainly divided into three
key factors. According to Carnoy they are:
1.
Competitiveness-driven
reforms, which respond to rising demand for skills in domestic and world labor
markets, improving economy through improving the quality of labor;
2.
Finance-driven reforms
aim to reduce public spending on education through choosing the strategy for
educational improvement that cuts public resource use;
3.
Equity-driven reforms
define education as a source of social mobility and social equalization and aim
to improve its important political role [6].
Nowadays growth of
interdependence caused the growth of demand for skills in world labor market.
However, the access to education is not equal all over the world. That is why
United Nations as a global organization seeks to provide at least primary
education in its Millenium Development Goals, which also include poverty and
child mortality reduction, gender equality, ensure environmenatl
sustainability, combat deseases [7]. There are also UNESCO initiatives which
aim to high literacy level, strengthen education systems, planning and managing
education, etc [8]. Globalization is not the
only factor influencing the education and causing the changes in the education
system, also it is not the only reason of competition which responds for
improving the quality of education. Nevertheless, the 21st century demands remain to be dual challenge
for education systems – giving students the new knowledge, independent thinking
skills and values which can provide the their competitiveness in a global
market and also help graduates to become responsible adults, good citizens of
their country and of the world. This way globalization challenges people to
reconsider both education needs and its main goals.
List
of literature:
[1]
United Nations Poverty and
Development Division. Economic and social survey of Asia and the Pacific, 1999.
New York: The United Nations; c1999 [updated 1999 Dec 20; cited 2006 June 1].
Available from: http://www.unescap.org/drpad/publication/survey1999/svy4a.htm
[2] Bola, H.S. World Trends and Issues in Adult Education
on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century (1998) : p. 489.
[3] Carnoy, Globalization and Educational Reform. In N. P.
Stromquist and K. Monkman (Eds.), Globalization and Education. Lanham,
MD: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers. (2000): p. 43.
[4] N. McGinn, “The Impact of Globalization on
National Education System”, Prospects: Quaterly Review of Comaparative
Education 28, no. 1 (March 1997): p. 41 – 54
[5] Martin
Carnoy, Globalization, educational
trends and the open society. OSI Education Conference 2005: “Education and Open Society: A Critical
Look at New Perspectives and Demands”: p. 3 – 4
[6] Carnoy, D. M.
(1999). Globalization and
Educational Reform: What Planners Need
to Know. Paris: UNESCO: p. 37 –
44
[7] http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html
[8] http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/