Exploring the Desirability and Effectiveness of Formal International Education

The right to education is recognised by international conventions, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, Article 26 or the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. The conventions evidence a formal international education subject to the formulation and adoption by state governments (Brown, 2014). The adoption of formal international education by state governments is subject to the peculiar local circumstances, such as large populations in India, and political structuring of China which may see countries adopt universal practices different from each other. Bearing the latter examples in mind, it is prudent to suggest that there might be caveats with regard to both being desirable and effective in the context of education dissertation help. Furthermore, it would also be prudent to examine the yardsticks with regard to desirability and effectiveness.

Globalisation has become a major influence in the world and has impacted most of the world over the last generation or so. Therefore for this phenomenon to impact upon education seems a natural step in a world that is increasingly inter-connected. The formal globalisation of education in the 1990s occurred across the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. Reforms through new technologies influenced countries such as Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Soviet Union. However, it did not impact many countries of Africa and Asia and countries in the Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Soviet Union region used the external educational standard and the national testing to drive education change (Green, et al., 2016). Based on this context, two sides of the argument regarding the globalised education policies and practices could be presented. On one hand, a globalised standard is expected for learning and teaching regarding the same core subjects across schools to enhance competition in terms of employment and national economics. On the other hand, the globalisation process requires a personalisation, ability to differentiate and creativity in learning and teaching to meet the passion and interests of the students (Green, et al., 2016). The argument cannot leave out the consideration of protecting individual cultures. This essay will elaborate on these arguments to determine the extent of effectiveness and the desirability of global education policy while also exploring how some areas or subjects may not be amenable to globalisation.

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With regard to local educational interests, globalisation is interpreted to have opened doors for international exchange. PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), for example, is used in countries as diverse as Sweden, Colombia, and Malaysia (Green, et al., 2016). At the same time, globalisation of education has brought in corporate management of education that challenges the conventional education policies and practices. This is seen with the introduction of PISA, TIMS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, and PIRLS (International Reading Literacy Study) assessment models that have influenced educational policies and reforms (Green, et al., 2016). Such assessments become relevant where schools and students desire compete for best schools and universities across the world inducing the local educational systems to reform (Green, et al., 2016).

The desire to compete may have influenced global education policies to develop orientation of students to that respect. This is seen in the international content in curriculum or the new policy interest regarding intergenerational social mobility with the goal of producing modern, globalised workforce or to meet the social changes brought about by globalisation (Brown, 2013; Goren & Yemini, 2017). Thus, the global education policies adopt two approaches. Firstly, they have adopted a global competencies approach seeking to equip students with necessary competing skills. Secondly, they have adopted a global consciousness approach seeking a global orientation of students covering empathy and cultural sensitivity (Dill, 2013). The determination is whether global education policies are in fact achieving their goals or resulting in unintended impacts.

Across the education sectors, one could see the policy governance driven by efficiency, measurability and outcome-oriented approach with a view to meet changing global process and neoliberal policy paradigm (Yemini, 2017). This approach aims to make students flexible, tolerant, adaptable and an agent of change. Dill (2013), however, argues that this approach is based on an individualistic framework focussed on development of the enterprising self, which is individualistic in nature, is rooted in the Western enlightenment (Dill, 2013).

The individualistic framework may not be compliant with the overall objectives of global education or education in general. UNESCO runs a programme, called ‘Rural Education in Secondary School in Peru,’ under which schools carry out strategies to equip students with life skills and ability to be a part of the global workforce (UNSECO, 2021). Balarin and Benavides (2009) studied the curriculum reforms in the in Peruvian rural secondary schools. They found that the schools followed international policy scripts that did not give sufficient consideration to Peru’s local histories and cultures. They studied the teaching practices and found that the new reforms displaced the knowledge in the schools. This affected the existing educationally disadvantaged population (Balarin & Benavides, 2010). Their findings suggest that such national policies do not consider specific local interests. The evidence is the varying perceptions of teachers in regard to the recent Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) adopted in 2016 in Peru. CBC seems to have dominantly influenced educational discourse worldwide, including Peru. Solis (2020) too found contextualisation in the classrooms in Peru that affected the curriculum implementation because teachers from urban and rural schools attributed their own perceptions, meaning and connotations to the text, which affected the original intentions of policy makers.

The Peru case is relevant to the two sides of the argument as mentioned above (Green, et al., 2016). It seems the programme leans towards an outcome driven individualistic approach focussed on competition in terms of employment and national economics. The fact that the approach of the programmes did not consider local histories and cultures, displaced the knowledge in the schools, affected the existing educationally disadvantaged population evidences the indifference to specific local interests. This also means that it did not consider local cultural aspects as is evidenced by the varied perception of the teachers affecting the intention of the policy makers.

The findings of the Peru case has led to the further discussion that global education policies may internationalise education through international mobility of students and academic personal and through enhancement of international content of the education programmes (Kritz, 2006). Etheridge and Rawls (2018) argue that such internationalising has global learning goals and outcomes that can redirect students towards their place of belonging by employing global experiences to understand an interconnected world (Etheridge & Rawls, 2018, p. 233). This is seen with education programmes conducted by the International Baccalaureate, a non-profit making organisation with its headquarters in Geneva. Educational age groups are structured differently and there is emphasis on diversity rather than narrowing down to a few subjects. Also, there is a career related programme (The International Baccalaureate (IB), 2021). Some schools have been established using this programme and have recruited students from all over the world from varying social backgrounds. One good example is Atlantic College in Wales which has an international curriculum based upon the International Baccalaureate (UWC Atlantic , 2021).

The concept of International Mindedness (IM) seeks an interwoven global society that provides more internationally minded personalities (Palmer, 2021). Accordingly, students value their own cultural beliefs and respect each other and the cultural diversity. The concept of IM is used within the International Baccalaureate (IB) programming model. There are schools that have adopted IM in their programmes. Some examples are École Mondiale World School in India (Ecole Mondiale, 2021); One World International School in Singapore (One World International School, 2021); and Princess Margaret International School in Barcelona (Princess Margaret International School, 2021). Adopting IM, there is an intra-personal outreach across people from diverse cultures in the way they perceive and interact (Hacking, et al., 2018, p. 1).

For attaining the objectives of IM or the global education policies, it is important for the states implementing them to give clear representation of policy actions. To illustrate, Grey and Morris (2018) state that there is paucity of analysis of how PISA data is presented to the public. They cited England’s 2012 PISA results to explain that OECD, the politicians, and the media interpreted the results distorting OECD’s original messages and narrate the results to be in decline, crisis and in need for urgent reform (Grey & Morris, 2018). Such narratives may affect the desirability of global educational policies. Myanmar also saw the influence of international NGOs pushing Western ideas as more progressive than Burmese learning. UNICEF’s teaching provisions did not provide training to local state teachers, but only commercialised Western packages of Child Centred Approach. In Israel, there is a construct of an interstate education gap based on the data of PESA and TIMMS that led to a rational market for education. Such packages legitimise market solutions to social problems (Exley, et al., 2011).

Despite the challenges, the contribution and global educational influence cannot be ignored. For example, PISA is claimed to be one of the most successful ‘products’ of OECD (Sellar & Lingard, 2014). PISA has broadened its scope and scale of assessment covering more countries, schools and systems through its PIAAC (Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies) and PISA-based Tests for Schools. OECD education work including PISA has broadened the education work by facilitating new knowledge and methods and infrastructures in terms of its global educational governance (Sellar & Lingard, 2014).

Zapp and Lerch (2020) used the data from the WHED (World Higher Education Database) and IAU (International Association of Universities) in connection with their cross-national analysis of post-secondary curriculum internationalisation. Their analysis covered 442,283 study programmes in 17,129 higher education institutions located across 183 countries. They found three forms of internationalisation: interstate or comparative; regional or area; and global or earth model. The first model has a state-centric paradigm prominently in the field of political science, sociology, business/economics, law, and education. The second model is prevalent in development studies and natural sciences. The third model comprises older notions of area studies as well as recent notions of supranational identity and governance found prevalent in the study of political science and law (Zapp & Lerch, 2020).

Zapp and Lerch (2020), however, found little support for the idea that internationalisation is a response to globalisation of economies or demand for internationally competent labour force. Their findings suggest that it is associated with the changing world culture where higher education serves both global and national society and economy. They found that there is a varying degree of internationalisation subject to the organisational feature, such as an international office. Institutions that are focused on the economy, such as the business schools, have to a greater extent embraced internationalisation (Zapp & Lerch, 2020). Thus, depending on the structures and the features and an outward looking approach, an organisation may be more receptive to global education policy changes and reforms.

In September 2015, the UN launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to promote universal attainment of a quality education among other goals (Vaccari & Gardinier, 2019). OECD emphasises on human capital in terms of attributes, knowledge, competencies, and skills to attain economic success. This places neoliberalism as the guiding principle for public policy. It impacted OECD approach regarding education policies that resulted in standardised assessment in the form of PISA (Vaccari & Gardinier, 2019). It is argued that such an approach will lead to the use of education policy as a profit-making opportunity by global education corporations. The focus on human capital positions education as the means of exploiting skills, knowledge and abilities to generate income and increase work productivity (Vaccari & Gardinier, 2019). Alternatively, the argument does not consider the attitudes and values that determine global competence education. Education can also be pursued beyond economic purposes. The 2030 Education Agenda and articulated in Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action 2015, UNESCO is an example, which positions education development as a mechanism to gain greater social justice and equality (Vaccari & Gardinier, 2019; UNESCO, 2015).

It is also argued that education is treated as a strategic asset by the government and individuals. This has often led to introduction of standardised products and services in the education sector (Hogan & Thompson, 2020). As such, competitiveness on the global education market plays a crucial role (Ozga, et al., 2006). The impact is increased mobility, communication, and demand for skills. This has facilitated mergers across industries, including the education sector (Ozga, et al., 2006). An example can be seen in how International Baccalaureate has led to such collaborations between education institutions in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and the Atlantic College; for instance, International Baccalaureate is recognised in countries like India where Association for Indian Universities allow it for entry qualification.

The competitiveness on the global education market has led to the emergence of a global education industry. The neoliberal education policy has led to a coalition between public and private sector reinforcing forms of authority around the UN objective for Education for All (Green, et al., 2016). The involvement of private players has changed the landscape of the global education policy framework in addressing issues of education development, access and quality. The UK also has private providers at different levels and scales (Green, et al., 2016). The emergence of the global education market means that there is profit involvement in education. Verger and colleagues (2017) cite the example of the Charter Schools that allows private investments in education making the education sector a quasi-market. They further state that the global standardisation of education policies and practices allows opportunities for investment and profit. Even the low-fee private schools have become an opportunity for international corporations for profitable investment (Verger, et al., 2017).

Irrespective of the argument above, commercialisation of the education sector cannot be confined to the interpretation of profit making or investment. For example, some British public schools are established charities, this has been questioned in recent years as they are elite institutions catering for some of the richest families and operated as registered charities and benefited from significant state financial support (Lowe, 2020). At the same time, some charitable institutions are representative of globalisation, such as Oasis Charitable Trust that operates the Secure (Ministry of Justice, 2019).

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The Global Education Dialogue in 2015 organised by the British Council reviewed the commercialisation of education from the perspective of an opportunity to facilitate knowledge and research. It reviewed the way universities could use their knowledge and research more effectively in regard to the impact of commercialisation on policies, structure and education programmes of the universities. In a way, it could impact the development of education culture with focus on academics for public engagement (British Council, 2015). However, the focus should be on quality and not just access to education. It will, therefore, need a compelling goal to address any learning crisis; a global consensus on assessment standards; resources to implement the standards; and policies focused not just on outcomes but on input (Berry, et al., 2015; Green, et al., 2016).

To conclude, the global education policies have adopted a neo-liberal discourse focussed on human attributes, including their knowledge, competencies and skills has established itself as a valid framework. The policies have generated global competencies in students and institutions in two ways. Firstly, competencies are generated by students by reflection of their own native values and attributes while learning new international concepts. Secondly, competencies are generated by students by adhering to outside or international assessments.

To conclude, the global education policies have adopted a neo-liberal discourse focussed on human attributes, including their knowledge, competencies and skills has established itself as a valid framework. The policies have generated global competencies in students and institutions in two ways. Firstly, competencies are generated by students by reflection of their own native values and attributes while learning new international concepts. Secondly, competencies are generated by students by adhering to outside or international assessments.

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