The Key Aspects of Globalization of Educational Institutions - Essay Example

GLOBALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Name…………………………………………………………………………. …………………… Stuent ID…………………………………………………………………………………………… Name of class ……………………………………………………………………………………… Name of the teacher……………………………………………………………………………… Date………………………………………………………………………………………………… Table of contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………2 Introduction a) Definition of globalization...............................................................................................3 b) Relating globalization with educational institutions…………………………………….3 Method…………………………………………………………………………………3-4 Results of globalization in educational institutions: a) Opportunities of globalization educational institutions………………………………4-9 b) Challenges associated with globalization of educational institutions………………9-10 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………10 References………………………………………………………………………………11 Abstract Globalization is a concept that refers to the process of integrating various aspects of social, economic and political dimensions. Therefore, globalization of educational institutions is the interconnectedness and the interdependence brought about by the advancement in technology in this information age. Globalization of the educational institutions has resulted into so many opportunities that come as benefits too. These include: better management of the educational institutions, enhancement of students ability to gain and use knowledge, agility and flexibility, increased quality of education and increased cultural integration among students. However, challenges have been brought by globalization of the education institutions. Insecurity, drug abuse, cultural clash and uncertainty are some of the challenges faced by globalized educational institutions. The mixture of benefits and challenges of globalization of educational institutions calls for the institutions themselves and regulatory authorities to plan well so as to maximize the benefits and minimize the challenges. Introduction The Wikipedia defines globalization as the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture. This, in simple terms, means that it is the process of interconnectedness among the many nations of the world, thus creating interdependence and mutual understanding. So, globalization of educational institutions is the process by which the institutions having the responsibility of dispensing educational services bare interconnected in such a way as to allow sharing of information boundlessly. This process has been made much easier by the advent of advanced technology. Electronic gadgets the likes of computers which dispatch large volumes of data and the mobile phone wizardry which makes it possible to communicate, just to mention but a few, attest to the fact that globalization can indeed be a reality in the educational institutions. As the saying goes “where there is smoke there is fire”, the initiative of the educational institutions to globalize is attributed to the plethora of benefits it brings with it. However, still many argue that globalization concept has brought more curses than blessings. Methodology The methodology used to collect data is descriptive. The reason is to describe the globalization phenomenon in educational institutions, its results and the way forward for the institutions in order to remain relevant in the odyssey. The type of data used in the discussion is secondary and qualitative. The population includes the institutions in the world that have globalized. Most of the data/information was acquired from the internet, the web and books touching on the topic. The facts are normally given in italics and they form the data that corroborates the main claim in the discussion. For it was not possible to get the exact statistics since globalization is almost in every institution of learning and so to get statistical data on the topic is next to nightmarish. Results of Globalization of Educational Institutions Globalization has brought both opportunities or rather benefits and challenges. Opportunities/benefits of Globalization of Educational Institutions Better management Globalization has made it possible to exchange management ideas from one institution to another. The institutions of learning, for example, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities are managed by boards. The government also has a role to play in their regulation through the establishment of policies.Glo9balization allows the boards of management to get information on better management of their institutions through the internet and the web. Online tutorials of the dynamics of educational institution management are easily accessed online. Again information on the best managed institutions is available online. Managers of various institutions can surf the internet and all the information will be displayed. This allows them to benchmark on the best practices of management and end up copying the same principles in their institutions. The government which is concerned with formulation of policies through the ministry of education, can still benchmark on the best policies set up by governments of the world thus causing harmonization of educational programmes and enhancing educational competitiveness in the world. The National Council for Higher Education in Uganda (2011) acknowledges thus: with globalization ,policy formation from being made only internally by the state and higher education institutions to a triple source: university + state + global. In other words, policy formation and regulation in not only the institutions of higher learning but also colleges ,primary and secondary schools should go beyond the internal managers and the government and extend to consider how other countries formulate policies and regulate the education institutions in the world. Enhancement of students’ ability to gain and use knowledge The students of today are not the same as those in the former centuries who used to wait for the tuitor, who then, was considered as the sage to deliver all the information the students needed. With globalization information is ubiquitous; so the tuitor is just viewed as a mere guide since it is impossible to possess all the vast knowledge that there is. Thus the students take the tutor’s guidance and then use the directions given to search for more knowledge through such media as the internet and the World Wide Web. There, they can also learn how to internalize and synthesize the information they get (Derick L. Cogburn, 2014).This means globalization has made students more open-minded thereby finding it easy for them to absorb knowledge and synthesize it appropriately. The Global Information Infrastructure (GIIC) has elaborated this in no unequivocal terms by asserting thus: The globalization of the economy and its concomitant demands on the workforce requires a different education that enhances the ability of learners to access, assess, adopt and apply knowledge, to think independently to exercise appropriate judgment and to collaborate with others to make sense of new situations. The objective of education is no longer simply to convey a body of knowledge, but to teach to learn, problem-solve and synthesize the old with the new. Encouragement of teamwork in students It is globalization that has inculcated in students and their instructors a spirit of interconnectedness and interdependence. Therefore, students work in teams to step up their abilities in debate, leadership, group dynamics inter alia. Besides working in teams in their institutions, globalization has made it possible for students to interact and share information through virtual teams all over the world. This enables them to be more updated in their various areas of study. The limitations of time and space have been made a mockery of since information can be shared as soon as it is disseminated and it gets anywhere it is supposed to reach without any hindrance. This is so because of the availability of developed information and communication technology. Agility and flexibility With globalization having knocked and welcomed by educational institutions it has necessitated flexibility and agility. This is because changes occur every day as new technologies are introduced, thus the development of adaptability by the educational institutions. Methods of delivery, for example, in institutions of higher learning, are revised on regular basis to keep pace with the emerging trends in the global arena. Due to globalization many institutions have stopped teaching using the chalk and the blackboards or the ink pens and the white boards. Currently, many institutions use computers and projectors in order to deliver to the students high quality services with clarity. The information on the lap tops can be copied to sent to students emails where they can download, making it far easier to learn. Research has been improved by a great deal. With increased complexity of the issues that call for research in the world, educational institutions have learnt to be rather agile. For example, with the increasing population all the world over, food has been scarce and many scientists have met with real problems of solving such an enigma. After much scratching, they discovered the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).But the rise of cancer associated with the consumption of GMOs has necessitated a further research to find out new foods that are edible to be included in the diet. All this could not have been possible without globalization which has allowed information to be shared thereby increasing the pace of adjustments. Increased quality of education Globalization has made competition between public and private institutions to be very high. This has resulted in the establishment of partnerships between public and private educational institutions. As the Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC) states: With the increased demand and the diversification of avenues of dissemination of knowledge, governments will not be the sole providers of education. There will be more opportunities for the private sector to provide educational services with a competitive edge based on efficiency, flexibility, management style and information technology. The obvious domain is at the secondary and tertiary levels as well in the fields of skill development and upgrading and lifelong learning. This means that globalization increases the awareness of the importance of education among many communities of the world. As the demand soars, students flock the education institutions, mostly those that are public. But because the public institutions are not enough to accommodate the inordinately large multitudes who are hungry for education, the private institutions become an alternative. The government will try to expand the institutions but the private sector will have already stamped competition. This completion will prompt but private and public institutions to improve the quality of their educational services, for example, making sure they hire well trained professional teachers. Sometimes, the competition becomes so stiff that the public and private educational institutions resolve to partner in order to continue producing better and better services without much fear of losing much of their clients, that is students, to either of them. Enhanced cultural integration in educational institutions Globalization has made very easy for people of diverse cultures to embrace each other. Cultural tolerance which in the ages before globalization was a far off concept has been made possible now. Organized international scholarships coordinated globally are witnessed. People from varied races come together in the spirit of learning thereby leading to cultural exchange which leads to global cohesion. Students from Africa find a chance to study in the best of institutions such MIT and Harvard. There they learn about other traditions and values which they import to their continent upon completion of their studies. Over and above, disciplines of arts like cultural studies which have been incorporated in the education curricula of the world thanks to globalization. These studies dissect different cultures and try to bring harmony among the cultures existing in the world. During the eras of slavery and colonization cultural integration was a nightmare. People used to have xenophobia. There were different educational institutions for various races .A good example, is the apartheid policy in South Africa, where Africans had separate institutions of learning and it was a great offense for an African to be found in an institution designated for the whites. This attracted global concern for the liberation from the shackles of cultural segregation. Through the devices of globalization; for example, the internet, the television and radio, it is also possible for students to learn about what is happening in other areas of the other world thus leading to cultural understanding. Challenges of Globalization of Educational Institutions Although globalization in the educational institutions has so many opportunities, challenges are also experienced. These challenges are as delineated hereunder: Insecurity Globalization of the educational institutions has made it possible for information for the institutions location, their population structure and it has become very easy for terrorists to target those institutions. Furthermore, many students who are agents of terrorism can easily get admitted in educational institutions and use the opportunity to propagate their poison of radicalization. Many institutions of learning have been used by terrorists to sow seeds of animosity between some religious groups. So, this makes globalization a very controversial concert. Drug abuse among students Through globalization students learn about mischievous behavior like smoking bhang and sniffing of narcotics. This is because students tend to share ideas and cultures from all corners of the world. Those students with bad habit of taking drugs infiltrate it in the learning institutions leading to rampant cases of drug abuse. Culture clash Some of the cultures acquired in institutions of learning are not acceptable in some communities. For example, some cultures support homosexuality issues while others see it as an accursed act. Students due globalization acquire these cultures and transfer them to their communities and to a bit larger extent their countries. These seemingly, immoral cultures cause cultural conflict. Uncertainty Globalization of the education institutions as made the students and their instr4uctors to always expect a major change. This is attributed to the alacrity of the information technology dynamics. This trend causes restlessness thus a challenge. Conclusion Globalization of educational institutions is the rise of interconnectedness and interdependence among the educational institutions. It has benefits as well as challenges. Because globalization is inevitable, educational institutions should embrace the benefits and come up with strategies to mitigate the challenges. References Open Doors 2004, Report on International Educational Exchange, Institute of International Education. WTO Education Services, Background Nate by the Secretariat, 23rd September 1998. John Smyth, “Globalization and Higher Education: What’s happening to Academic Work?” in Ninth World Congress on Comparative Education: Tradition, Modernity and Post-modernity (Sydney) Proceedings (1996) and John Smyth, ed., Academic Work: The Changing Labour Process in Higher Education (Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press (1995). R. Lubbers and J. Koorevaar, “Primary Globalization, Secondary Globalization, and The Sustainable Development Paradigm-Opposing Policy forces in the 21st”, Proc, Expo 2000 OECD Forum For The Future. Conf. on 21st Social Dynamics: Towards The Creative Society, Dec 1999, pp: 1-20. http://old .mgimo.ru/fileserver/2004/kafedry/mirec/konf-2-12-05/primary-secondary-globaliz.pdf J.S. Levin, “Public Policy Community, colleges and the path to globalization,” Higher Education, vol.42, September 2001, pp237-262, doi: 10.1023/A:1017929400319 Globalization, Knowledge, Education and Training Infrastructure in the Information Age (Derick L. Cogburn, 2014). Read More