The documentary “Schooling the World” highlights some key issues about the imposing of Western education values on other societies. One story that is told in this documentary is that of a community where students, just like here in the United States, are pressured into obtaining a University level education. Upon completing this education, however, they are not equip with the skills necessary to participate in their native economy. What the underlying message of this example is, though, may not be clear to someone at first glance. It is not just that we are providing people with the wrong skills, we are creating a cultural hierarchy that assumes Western values are not only universally applicable but morally correct. This cultural imperialism is problematic for three main reasons: it prevents the preservation of non-Western culture, creates an unfair advantage for Western economies in the global market, and justifies unequal treatment of people in the societies that the West is “educating”.

When we go into countries to provide education, the motives are usually good. However, in practice we end up neglecting to appreciate the value of the culture that we are entering in to and truly understanding what they want out of the arrangement. Instead of insisting that the Western way of teaching is the best way to educate people, we should instead try to understand what skills are useful to the local economy and culture and create a curriculum based upon that. This would solve for the issue of people being unable to apply the knowledge they gain from Western schooling and preserve the traditional culture without implying value judgments about what culture is superior.

The next problem with the current education system is that the skills that it provides people with are catered to Western businesses and organizations. This creates generations of people who are tools of Western economic development rather than unique contributes to the economy. When graduates are not able to enter into their local economies, they often look to relocation to gain employment. This not only takes away the most skilled workers from the native area but completely undermines the philanthropic aspect of Western educators going in to these areas to begin with.

Finally, the most detrimental impact of the Western education system abroad is that it justifies human rights violations. When we go in to an area and teach their children that they should reject their culture and accept this Western value system, we are inherently creating a cultural hierarchy. This hierarchy justifies discrimination based on where you were born and other factors that are not controllable to an individual. It creates two choices: either you conform to the Western system and slowly work your way up in the cultural hierarchy or you choose to not conform and are viewed as disposable. This is the biggest reason why we need to reform the current education system.

Overall we can see that the way we are educating other cultures is wrong. Solving this issue of the way in which we do education abroad is the first step to solving the bigger issue of people viewing one culture as superior to others. We all have a role to play in this, recognize the cultural imperialism promoted by the United States and reject it. This takes the form of changing the way that you talk about other countries and promoting discourse that frames other countries as part of our global community rather than deviant. If we can change that view in ourselves and in future generations then one day we will see a world where the norm is to appreciate diversity rather than homogony.

Marlaina L. Isbell