Curriculum Development and Globalization - Assignment Example

? CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBALIZATION Executive summary The demand for education has been increasing globally, leading to increased immigration in search of education. The Middle East countries are taking students to Europe, and the same approach is applied by Africans. The main challenge with the movement is the difference in the curriculum employed in the various countries. The main challenge is on the development of a globally accepted curriculum which leads to reduced movement and better performance of students. The other problem affecting the development is the cooperation between stakeholders. In the case of a global curriculum, the financing and cooperation of the countries and other stakeholders, to develop curriculum in the education sector. The curriculum development of the people will be achieved through stakeholder involvement and the development of the necessary skills of the company. The curriculum development in a global perspective still faces challenges in the process Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Stakeholders in global curriculum development 4 Trend in education development 5 Issue of research 7 Reference 9 Introduction Globalization and curriculum development have been the main focus of the curriculum developers. Globalization is viewed to positively affect curriculum development and facilitate the development of the reliability of education in industrial workforce requirement. Abrams & Kreiner (2003) describe Industrial analysis as a market evaluation tool intended to provide a company with an idea of how complex a specific industry is. In case of higher institutions of learning in the UK, it involves reviewing the economic, political and market factors that influence the way the industry develops. There have been different techniques developed to evaluate complexity levels in different industries. Some of the techniques used are strategic group mapping and the Michael Porter’s five forces framework. Strategic group mapping according to Porter (1998) is an analytical tool that is used in business to display competition and then illustrate how industry changes could affect the particular business. On the other hand, Michael Porter’s Five Forces Framework is an outline that can be used to analyze any industry and establish the intensity of the competition in the particular industry resulting to a vivid picture of the state of the particular industry (Burgers 2008). The development of an inclusive curriculum is dependent on the contribution of stakeholders. The major stakeholders in curriculum development are the states or governments with the participation of the local communities. Curriculum development and globalization are tied because of the changing global labor requirement. Stakeholders in global curriculum development The major challenge in global curriculum development is on the different types of curriculum employed by the countries both in the western nations and Africa. The developing nations do not have a major problem because the majority of the curriculum is developed from the western education systems. Despite the differences in the curriculum, the major stakeholders are the governments or states who develop the guidelines for the curriculum. For a global curriculum to be developed, several issues must be addressed, which includes the needs of the society and the global population. An effective curriculum must factor in the global needs of the society and must be relevant to the labor and industrial needs. The main issue is the creation of international guidelines. Current settings in the international guidelines illustrate the difference in the curriculum development and the needs of the various countries in terms of work force. The development of a global curriculum may not be possible in all the educational programs and subjects but mathematics can be a major breakthrough because of the standard operatives involved in the subject. The main stakeholders in curriculum development are the government and the community. Trend in education development The need for global curriculum development and design is evident in the increasing movement of students to the west for further education. Universities in the UK are currently facing a serious problem in terms of more foreign students enrolling for further studies in the country. In reference to the UK education system, the rivalry among the competing universities can be said to be very high since all the universities want to have a share of the foreign students as they tend to pay almost triple the amount of tuition fees paid by the home students. Some of the methods used to attract foreign students include establishing partnership with foreign universities where students are enticed to further their education in UK with a partner university after completing their education in the local institution. In addition, some universities are known to advertise in the local media about their service offering. According to an article in the Guardian newspaper written by Scott (2011), the average tuition fee for undergraduate degree in humanities has risen to approximately 9,000 pounds from 6,000 in the previous year. This increase in prices indicates the nature of the industry and also illustrates how competition plays a big role in prices. Existing players through their marketing, alumni and sister schools are trying their best to attract as many as possible. Certain reputable universities couldn’t survive the competition and have been wiped out; few of these include Bedford College London, University of Wales and Kent institute of Art & Design among others. With prevailing conditions of cut offs from the Higher Education's budget combined with the cheaper source of education in the emerging countries, the education sector has become a bad neighborhood. Survival through established brand names and heavy marketing spends is making the misery even worse for those lingering for the share of the pie which is shrinking due to recession. The data available indicates that the number of foreign students pursuing the education in UK has been increasing with the Chinese Nationals leads the pack in the students from non EU countries followed by India and Nigeria. For instance, the number of Chinese students undertaking their studies in the UK increased from 56990 in the academic year 2009/2010 to 67325 for the 2010/2011 academic years (UK council on International Students Affairs). The effect of the increase is, the creation of other opportunities resulting in the creation of bargaining power of the buyers. The introduction of language modules where the foreign students are taught English which once they complete can precede to the next levels is a resultant effect of the buyer bargaining power resulting from the increase in international student with minimal access to English language. Though there exist many examples, Glasgow University (2012) as stated in the university’s webpage offers pre-sessional English courses that are meant to prepare the students for university level study. In this case, it can thus me argued that the buyers have a high bargaining power since the universities tend to adopt their systems in order to meet their needs. In addition, the number of foreign students coming in to the UK to study shows the success of suppliers in maintaining the quality and standards of education. The supplier power of the university can be clearly seen by the rate of preference of foreign students to study in the UK. Therefore, UK universities have managed to effect supplier bargaining power through provision of quality service and consistency. The buyer on the other hand has managed to force the universities to offer English lessons as the absolute power of the buyer in bargaining. The result of a win-win situation creates an increase in the number of students and increased revenue collection to the suppliers. Despite the success, migration trends are hard to predict but what government of United Kingdom is stipulating in future is close to what appears to be a ban on the immigration, this change might have a negative impact on foreign students in the UK. To help in the process, a suitable curriculum may reduce the transfer of population to seek further studies in the UK and other European countries. The success of the global education curriculum depends on the development of an inclusive curriculum Issue of research The global curriculum development is vital because of the existing need for standard curriculum design. Current curriculums are country based and does not cover the global issue affecting nations making it impossible for global curriculum development. The development of global curriculum has been made impossible because of the differences in standards and tests. Possible workable recommendation is that organizations should focus on joint ventures and establish a partnership name by working together with an already established business. In case the strict immigration policies are amended then universities need to initiate online programs targeted for foreign students living abroad with the sole aim of reaching to as many foreign students who are currently unable to obtain the visas to study in the UK. The kinds of facilities which are expected to be in a spectacular institute are not easy to provide, they need thorough research, and the suppliers are to be carefully selected with quotes as well as the quality they are offering. Faculty which needs to be hired should be of an excellent aptitude, flexible, dedicated and should instill values in students that should last forever. Shaping future minds is responsibility hard enough to cope up with, for this the administration has to be active and knowing about the market itself. The introduction of virtual or e-learning may also help in the reduction of the migration of students in to the UK while ensuring their objectives are met by training them on situ. Reference Abrams R. &, Kleiner E., (2003) The successful business plan: secrets & strategies. (4th Ed). California: The Planning shop. Baker, W., Miarn, M, V., & Zawada, C, (2010). The Price Advantage. London: John Wiley and sons. BLACK R., 1996. Immigration and Social Justice: Towards a Progressive European Immigration Policy? Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 21, pp. 64-75. Bowman . & Faulkner D (1997) Competitive and Corporate Strategy. London: Irwin. British Council 2012. New international student trend presents fresh challenges for universities. [online]. Available from: [Accessed 10 October 2012]. Burgers W, (2008) Marketing Revealed: Challenging the myths. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More