Dr. JAKE C. VIANA

Discussant

INTRODUCTION The world is changing rapidly and greatly, not the

typical intergenerational change we have witnessed in the past but a change so profound and encompassing that we have never seen its like before. We face a momentous time in which we are present at the creation of new values, new organizational procedures and new ways of relating with other human beings. And it is thus a necessity to examine critically the nature of these influential forces being introduced to us that are brought upon by the perpetually changing times and how they can affect the lives of the Filipino people. One of these influential forces is GLOBALIZATION.

Globalization is often synonymous with internationalization, referring to the growing interconnectedness and interdependence of people and institutions throughout the world. Although these terms have elements in common, they have taken on technical meanings that distinguish them from each other and from common usage. Internationalization is the less theorized term.

Globalization, by contrast, has come to denote the complexities of interconnectedness, and scholars have produced a large body of literature to explain what appear to be ineluctable worldwide influences on local settings and responses to those influences.

Globalization has become a widespread idea in national and international dialogue in recent years. Globalization’s shifting and controversial parameters make it difficult to define. It is clearly a dominant force, both positively and negatively, shaping the multiple environments in which we live. Motivated by economic forces and driven by digital technologies and communications, globalization links individuals and institutions across the world with unprecedented interconnection and immediacy.

In doing so, it in some ways democratizes and intensifies interdependence, and in other ways creates new forms of local reaction and self-definition. While it may spread certain freedoms, higher living standards, and a sense of international relatedness, it also threatens the globe with a conformist “universal” economy and culture rooted in North American and Western ideas and interests. Despite the ambiguities in definition and significance, and the anxieties and backlashes it generates, globalization will remain a dominant paradigm for the foreseeable future. We have seen this fact reified in our national challenges over the past several years.

Global education, as a distinct construct from globalization, does what higher education has traditionally aimed to do: extend students’ awareness of the world in which they live by opening them to the diverse heritage of human thought, action, and creativity. Global education places particular emphasis on the changes in communication and relationships among people throughout the world, highlighting such issues as human conflict, economic systems, human rights and social justice, human commonality and diversity, literatures and cultures, and the impact of the technological revolution.

While it continues to depend on the traditional branches of specialist knowledge, global education seeks to weaken the boundaries between disciplines and encourages emphasis on what interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies can bring to the understanding and solution of human problems. Global education also implies, and should teach our students, that not everyone around the world in fact views global education with indifference – some may see it as a vehicle for promotion of globalization, which might itself be seen as the West’s effort to destabilize fragile balances in world economic and political systems.

At a time, such as this, when we feel increasingly and often indiscriminately awash with information, and when we sense a decentralization of the traditional forms of political and intellectual authority, global education places a premium on the ability to think critically and ethically. The ability to effectively access, interpret, evaluate and apply information is essential for facing a constantly changing work environment, for continuing self-education, and for participation as an ethical and responsible member of a global society. A global education can also be an antidote to the sadly universal human tendency to lose track of the experiences of others as seen through their eyes.

In trying to elucidate the concepts of globalization and global education, what needs to be recognized is that juxtaposing them is, to some extent, misguided. Globalization is an inter-national and intra-national force, while global education is a teaching/learning paradigm. Thus, their areas of focus are in different domains. Yet global education to many around the world merely invokes the notion of globalization with all its potentially American-centric and negative attributions.

Thus, one of the biggest challenges in realizing the distinction is that, unlike with global education, globalization is an inherently anxiety-provoking term. While it frames the world in communal terms, it also, and more explosively, threatens many with a loss of individuality. 

As the leader in global education, Fairleigh Dickinson dedicates itself to forging the real distinctions between globalization and global education. We are certainly not the first higher education institution to invoke the term global education, yet we are a leader in its implementation. It’s similar to what the beaver said to the rabbit as they stared up at the immense earthworks of the Hoover Dam: “No, I didn’t actually build it – but it’s based loosely on an idea of mine.” Fairleigh Dickinson is building the Hoover dam of global education through efforts such as our new Global Virtual Faculty Program. When you bring together, as we have done, adjunct scholars and practitioners from around the world in partnership with our faculty teaching online courses, an experience of creative synergy is almost irrepressible. This experience emphasizes the very simple fact that we need to talk to each other, to see the world through the eyes of others. In the absence of this, we remain myopically self-referential. As globalization takes hold, the world needs global education now more than ever, and, in higher education, FDU is committed to a leadership position.

Definition 1. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation

and Development (OECD), the term “globalization” was first used in 1985 by Theodore Levitt. At that time, Levitt referred to the vast changes in economy and finance affecting production, consumption and global investment as a result of economic and financial liberalization, structural adjustment programs and the diminished role of the state in the economy.

2. Globalization is described as a complex process of creating worldwide networks of capital, technology and information made possible through enhanced competition , stronger interconnection and greater interdependence.

3. Globalization means the emergence of supranational institutions whose decisions shape and constrain the policy options for any particular nation-state.

4. Globalization means the rise of neoliberalism as a hegemonic policy discourse.

5. Globalization means a perceived set of changes, a construction used by state policy makers to inspire support for and suppress opposition to changes because “greater forces” leave the nation-state “no choice” but to play by a set of global rules not of its own making. (global competition, obligations to regional alliances, and so on.)

6. Globalization is the rapid increase in cross-border economic, social and technological exchange

7. Guillén (2000) defines globalization as a process leading to greater interdependence and mutual awareness (reflexivity) among economic, political and social units in the world. According to Rosenau (1999), globalization can be described as the emergence of altered global structures and driven by a skill revolution, an organizational explosion, and a continuous flow of ideas, money, goods, and people that is rendering long-standing territorial boundaries increasingly obsolete and fostering an extensive decentralization of authority.

One could think that globalization is only a matter of industry and business, and that education as a moral process is no part of this development. However, if we understand education as part of the information business, education systems can be seen as the core of the globalization process. Governments are trying to compete on the global markets by placing the onus of policy on education to produce the “human capital” most appealing to global competition (Webster 2001, 268). Also Rinne (2000) emphasizes that educational policy has become an ever more important part of economic, trade, labor and social policy in western countries

This experience emphasizes the very simple fact that we need to talk to each other, to see the world through the eyes of others. In the absence of this, we remain myopically self-referential. As globalization takes hold, the world needs global education now more than ever, and, in higher education, FDU is committed to a leadership position.

ORIGINOF GLOBALIZATION For some, globalization started around 1971-

73, with the petroleum crisis that prompted several important technological and economic changes directed toward finding replacement sources for strategic raw materials and searching for new forms of production that would consume less energy and labor.

Some authors pinpoint the origins of globalization more than century ago with changes in communication technologies, migration patterns and capital flows.

Globalization has raised standards 0f excellence in education and has increased the quality gap between universities in rich countries and those in poor countries.

Globalization is demanding from us that we build networks beyond national boundaries.

Globalization has also increased the gap between the universities in the poorer countries, that are able to mobilize resources to compare with international standards and the poorer universities.

Globalization has also internationalized professions communities stakeholders and universities find that they have to relate to a more international community.

Cultural globalizationTechnology has been seen as an overwhelming driving force

with the emergence of a few global providers dominating the educational market. This domination is not only economic domination but also cultural. Just to mention some phenomena and examples of the development of globalization in the education sector, we can look at the development in the electronic publishing and new trends in higher education. The majority (80%) of all the websites in the world are in English and the majority (80-85%) of scientific publications on the Internet are in English (Peraton & Creed 2000). This means that internationally distributed information is changing the language we use for acquiring information in education – first in higher education and then in other levels of education. Small cultures and languages are in danger of disappearing due to the competition in the international information (and education) markets. Because of competition in publishing markets, only the biggest international publishing and entertainment companies are able to produce high quality electronic learning materials.

Globalization and the new information society – or information age - we are living in, is changing our thinking about our culture and education. According to Nash (Nash 2001) information can be seen as a “material foundation” of the information age. From that point of view, culture can be seen as a constitutive element in the information age insofar as everything is framed and structured by information and communication media. Institutions and people make decisions and represent life through cultural codes and reality is always mediated through language.

Culture is important in the information age in two different ways: information capitalism shapes culture with this explosion of the mass communication system (cultural globalization) but on the other hand, local cultures have shaped the development and use of information and communication technology (localization). Beck (1999, 93-99) for example describes this dialectical process as “global localization”, emphasizing that these two dimensions of cultural development are dependent on each other.

It is a fact that there is more information available around us than ever, local or global. The overflow of information is not only changing our thinking but also our relationship with information. According to Rosenau (1999), in the global information society the relevance of information seems to become less obvious. To note that people have become more skilful in relating themselves to world affairs is not to say they are necessarily more informed about them. It is getting more and more difficult for people to check the relevance of information. What is true and what is false? How should the research on ICT in education respond to these challenges?

SKILLS REVOLUTION

According to Cleveland (1999), education for the “Global Century”, as he describes globalization must help individual people to think critically and holistically. The widening spread of knowledge is also creating a “skill revolution” where commanding and controlling is becoming obsolete. The skills needed in the working life are critical thinking, consultation, negotiation and collaboration skills (Cleveland 1999). According to Reich & Goleman (1999), when the work gets more complex and collaborative, the emotional and social skills become more important success factors for individuals. Goleman thinks that there is also a danger in trying to use technology to teach people these skills. With a CD-ROM or an Internet-based training program, we do not have the face-to-face contact that is so invaluable in learning and practicing skills. This is to emphasize that it is important to keep the balance between local and global activities in global education markets.

None of these new skills are dependent on the level of information one may possess. A way of putting the relevance of information in perspective is to conceive of analytic skills as working knowledge—premises and understandings of how the world works and which people apply to any situation that arises, regardless of the fullness of the information they may have (Rosenau 1999). This changing landscape of information and skills revolution has a huge impact on education processes, content and on educational management and institutions. Are there any ways of using ICT in a more human and more critical way?

ACCESSIBILITY –AFFORDABILITY

The recent developments can mean an uncontrollable process of globalization in our education but it also can offer new perspectives to solve educational problems. Unfortunately there are not very many research programs exploring ICT and global development in education. Some findings and follow up studies have been done by international educational agencies like Unesco’s World Education Forum (WEF) (Peraton & Creed 2000) and OECD/CERI (OECD 2001).

One of the major problems in education globally is still access to basic education, not to mention the digital divide in the developing countries. 113 million children are still out of the school system globally. 110 million of them are living in less developed countries (Sauvageot 2000). According to WEF’s global evaluation (Peraton & Creed 2000) new technologies have not been able to increase significantly the access to basic education. Instead, to some extent it has increased the gap between the haves the have not’s with regard to access to quality education. The potential of ICT in widening the access to education has not been fully utilized. Of course one can ask why this has not been in focus when researching ICT and education, and in developing applications and policies for ICT in education. If ICT is the solution, what is the problem?

According to Peraton and Greed (2000, 12) access to computers is still seen as the major problem in most countries by teachers. It is quite ironic that it is considered as a problem also in rich countries like Finland, France, Norway, New Zeeland and Belgium, where the actual student computer ratio is less than 10. This “self made” digital divide may be one indicator of research and development based on narrowly focused research on ICT in education. Are we developing structures and pedagogical models, which are not functioning properly even in rich countries and, certainly, not sustainable and affordable for developing countries?

Another problem with integrating ICT into learning worldwide is that the teachers consider their skills insufficient – regardless of the actual level of training they have received in ICT and education. This may also be an implication of the individualistic approach in teacher development, which has concentrated on the skills of teachers’ – not on the dynamics of change in schools and education as a system. This all can indicate that the research on ICT in education is not necessary focusing on the real problems of education but is rather concentrating on ICT as a technical entity in schools or learner and teacher as a user of that technology. Many of the models to integrate ICT into education are based on an old, once in a lifetime training model and traditional classroom model of organizing education. This model may become obsolete in a networked, constantly changing society.

Demands of Global Information Society in the Education System

Demand for widening the access to education for all.Continuous life long learning, (e.g. fading the boundaries

between preset and inset, formal education and working life).

Global versus local cultural developments.Creation of new educational network organizations (e.g.

global virtual universities, virtual schools, multinational educational consortiums, etc.).

Changing of educational management from hierarchical institutions to equal distributions of network organizations, from commanding to negotiating.

Demand for more flexible and general skills (e.g. meta-skills such as problem solving, searching information, learning skills, etc.).

The Role of Education

As the major formal agency for conveying knowledge, the school features prominently in the process and theory of globalization. Early examples of educational globalization include the spread of global religions, especially Islam and Christianity, and colonialism, which often disrupted and displaced indigenous forms of schooling throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Postcolonial globalizing influences of education have taken on more subtle shapes.

In globalization, it is not simply the ties of economic exchange and political agreement that bind nations and societies, but also the shared consciousness of being part of a global system. That consciousness is conveyed through ever larger transnational movements of people and an array of different media, but most systematically through formal education. The inexorable transformation of consciousness brought on by globalization alters the content and contours of education, as schools take on an increasingly important role in the process

Structural adjustment policies. Much of the focus on the role of education in globalization has been in terms of the structural adjustment policies of the World Bank and other international lending organizations in low-income countries. These organizations push cuts in government expenditures, liberalization of trade practices, currency devaluations, reductions of price controls, shifts toward production for export, and user charges for and privatization of public services such as education. Consequently, change is increasingly driven largely by financial forces, government reliance on foreign capital to finance economic growth, and market ideology.

Democratization.As part of the globalization process, the spread of education is

widely viewed as contributing to democratization throughout the world. Schools prepare people for participation in the economy and politics, giving them the knowledge to make responsible judgments, the motivation to make appropriate contributions to the well being of society, and a consciousness about the consequences of their behavior. National and international assistance organizations, such as the U. S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), embrace these objectives. Along with mass provision of schools, technological advances have permitted distance education to convey Western concepts to the extreme margins of society, exposing new regions and populations to knowledge generated by culturally dominant groups and helping to absorb them into the consumer society.

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