MANAGEMENT OF EDUCATION IN GLOBALIZATION:A TEACHER IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY

By Juma Abdu Wamaungo

INTRODUCTION

The global system is not just an environment within which particular societies like Indonesia develop and change.

The social, political and economic connections which cross cut boarders between countries decisively condition the fate of those living within each country.

The increasing term in relation to global education for the interdependence of world society is globalization.

According to Anthony Giddens (1992), Globalization refers to the development of social and economic relationships stretching worldwide.

CONTINUATION It would be a mistake to think of globalization simply

as a process of the growth of world unity. Global education should be understood primarily as

the reordering of time and distance in our lives in relation to learning.

We live in a rapidly shifting era in which economic opportunities and challenges are bound. Those who are educated in the new rules of the game stand to do well; but those who are not will face real and growing problems. World-wide developments affecting job expectations, health, physical security, public policy, communications, investment opportunities, and immigration and community relations, are changing the context of our lives, sometimes in very immediate ways.

SCHOOLS AND GLOBALIZATION

Today all of us must understand the changes to which we must respond individually and collectively.

It is not enough to leave the requisite development of skills to colleges and graduate schools.

The capacity to think and act beyond national and international contexts cannot be left solely to elites. Educating our citizenry to participate and succeed in a globally interconnected world must start in all of our schools

(David Driscoll, 2006).

THE TYPES OF EDUCATION

Before discussing education in a global society, we need to clarify what is meant by the term education.

A very basic point is that education and schooling are not synonymous.

Education is a more encompassing concept, referring to the general process by which a social group, an entire society or just a family transmits attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and skills to its members. Within these broad boundaries, education greatly varies, with educational scholars typically distinguishing three general categories of education: formal, nonformal and informal education

(LaBelle, 1976; Kevin J etal, 1990: 96-97).

GLOBAL EDUCATION

Global Education is a lens (or perspective) through which material on the curriculum is viewed.

Teachers employ certain methods, outlined herein, which allow the students at any age to employ this lens to illuminate any subject material.

Global Education respects environmental needs, peace and justice, and human rights for all through positive ways of reaching out to the students’ peers in developing countries, and around the world.

It transcends subject matter and age level, and through focusing on developing global citizens, adds authenticity to any curriculum.

WHY GLOBAL EDUCATION

The challenges today involve forces and activities that transcend national boundaries.

Trade, finance, business, communications, entrepreneurial initiatives, ideologies, migration, environmental and epidemiological events, cultural movements, and non-governmental systems, no longer occur solely or even primarily within nations.

To understand these emerging forces and their impact on our lives we have to be able to think and act globally. In the last five years a consortium of national educational and business organizations, led by the Asia Society, has met on a regular basis to promote the case for strengthening global education in the nations’ public schools.

GOALS OF EDUCATION IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY

The following are the goals of education in a global society:

Understanding connections between local and global affairs,

Ability to work and think in at least one other language than one’s own,

Ability to understand and respect the cultures of other peoples,

A competent knowledge of global geography and economics as well as of at least one major cultural tradition other than one’s own.

An understanding of the concept of global citizenship

STRANDS OF EDUCATION IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY

Global Education can be broken down into four broad strands: 1. Development Education; looks at International

Development programs and the conditions in developing countries, examines Indonesia’s international role, and encourages us to address global issues and look critically at the notion of “development.”

2. Environmental Education; fosters an awareness of and concern for environmental issues that aid in developing new patterns of behaviour that will promote environmental responsibility.

3. Human Rights Education; teaches about civil, political, economic and social rights, with the goal of promoting social justice for all.

4. Peace Education; studies war and disarmament, and encourages movement towards peace both globally and in the classroom.

KEY ASPECTS OF A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Key elements of education within a global perspective may be used to guide evaluation of student outcomes and school culture.

The key to this approach, for school administrators particularly, is:

The development of a curriculum, Introducing themes and concepts in the

primary years, Reinforcing the ideas in the junior grades,

and expanding and developing them into the intermediate and secondary years.

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE Thinking and teaching holistically, incorporating

learning from one topic or theme to the next Celebrating cultural diversity in the classroom, the

school in Indonesia and the world Encouraging optimism in a troubled world, for

society in general and international development in particular.

Providing opportunities to care for self, for others at home and abroad, and for the global physical environment.

Integrating this approach across the curricula increases the impact.

Teaching critical thinking and problem-solving leads directly to action.

INFUSING A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE INTO SCHOOL CURRICULUM

In this era of globalization, most of our countries’ national curriculum frameworks and standards are necessary to ensure that students demonstrate competence in literacy, numeracy, and each country’s national studies.

It is possible for teachers to excite student learning while developing the requisite global skills by infusing a global perspective into existing curriculum frameworks.

EXAMPLES OF GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Social Studies: Integrating teaching about global economics into the geography curriculum.

Science/Math: Including relevant global perspectives and instructional resources in science and mathematics classes.

Interdisciplinary: Providing mid-year special interdisciplinary projects or extra-curricular activities that enable students to become more knowledgeable about global problems and possibilities.

Foreign Language: Combining the study of a second language with teaching about the culture in which that language functions.

CONTINUATION

English/Social Studies: Strengthening comparative understanding, e.g. by studying linkages between a country’s and world history or thematic comparisons in a given country’s literature and another major literary tradition.

Foreign Language: Giving greater opportunity, significance and continuity to foreign language instruction at the middle school and high school levels. This is one skill set that needs to be started as early as possible in a student’s education.

English: Studying literature that reflects cosmopolitan and global views and values.

CONTINUATION

Arts: Using art, music, and dance to engage students in learning about other cultures.

Foreign Languages: Engaging the culturally diverse groups of students that are found in so many of today’s classrooms in social studies presentations and discussions, in foreign language classes, or in topics discussed in Model UN forums.

EDUCATORS SEEKING FOR EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES

Educators can capitalize on effective resources from outside the schools to engage students by:

Utilizing the vast research base available on the internet.

Engaging in school-to-school and/or peer-based collaborative projects through appropriate organizations.

For instance, exchange programmes and the Global Classroom Project etc.

Developing an exchange relationship with a school or school system in another country (either virtual or real).

Arranging for student study tours or semester study to abroad

SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW PROVINCES OR SCHOOLS HAVE ENGAGED IN GLOBAL EDUCATION

Indonesia’s student exchange program Indonesia’s partnership programmes with other

countries like the ADF at UPI, AMNEF and etc. Universities like UPI have established and

developed links with foreign Universities, Coordination of International Education conferences, to promote and support global education and international school exchanges.

UPI has established standards for international education and significantly increased enrollments in world languages and culture exchange programmes.

WHY TEACH WITH A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE?

Students learn to respect, to value and to celebrate other cultures.

Students learn about developing and developed countries and their issues in a positive way.

Students become socially and environmentally responsible, by learning about their interdependence with other peoples and species.

CONTINUATION

Many Provincial curriculum documents encourage a global perspective.

Students gain a positive outlook on their role in making the world a more peaceful and just place

Global Education enriches any curriculum by clarifying the connections to real life.

(Source: adapted from CHF at www.chf.ca)

CONTINUATION

Universities are creating projects to globalize their curriculums under partnership and consultancy.

Indonesia’s national education department has developed guidelines to infuse global perspectives into the study of geography, history, civics and economics at the elementary, Junior and senior high schools.

Education teaching guides have been developed to provide instruction which often includes a global perspective.

CONCLUSION

Curriculum units can be infused with a global perspective in a myriad of ways.  For

example, through using Pike and Selby’s four dimensions of globality in Pike, G. & Selby,

D.,(1999) In The Global Classroom pp. 12-14.