Doctors and Lawyers—The documentary Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden, asks the question “who benefits when all the worlds children are educated the same way?” Will children in rural Pakistan be able to do the same things with their western education as children in a wealthy neighborhood in Turkey? The concept of factory schooling is easy to implement but the outcome is not always what is expected. As the documentary explains: “Less than 10% of people are succeeding in becoming doctors/lawyers/etc. Most are unable to finish and fall between the cracks.” How many engineers, doctors, and bankers does a community need? The education of the masses does not provide an option for the 90% that are now forgotten. With decisions about education being made on an international level, the connection and ability to help those that have fallen through the cracks is just not possible.
Globalization—This term was first used to explain growing intertwined economies and now is applied to everything in our daily lives and has affected the way we educate every person in this world. With decisions about how people should be educated being made on the international level, the needs of the local community are forgotten. The Western definitions of “progress” and “success” are now tied to how we educate. Students are taught to progress and succeed in ways that are not feasible in their communities; this begins to create a cycle of dependence. A dependence on this globalized economy where these definitions do apply, but which is not necessarily a standard that is attainable for all.
How globalization has shaped our education systems.
Failure— Schooling the World suggests that those who did not succeed in traditional schooling will be branded as failures. In the world of international education, students are told that being successful means something different then it did to their grandparents. No longer is working at the family business an admirable goal—students are continually taught that success is something more. Families now see it as necessary for their children to do something else, to learn a new way, and to become successful in the globalized world. However, without the cultures and economies of different regions, our world would not have the variety that makes our global system. Western education is not universally applicable as some may suggest. The world only needs so many doctors, it is the differences and creativity each person possesses that allow people to learn new things and allow for many different definitions of the word progress.
Solutions— Global ideas about education generally agree that education is a inalienable human right and those who attempt to work towards this goal generally do so with the correct intentions. However, as Schooling the World suggests, these people may not be “connecting the dots” and realizing the impact that certain types of education will have on a specific community. Our education system is already globalized but it is up to every one of us to be more optimistic as to our ability to educate others in ways that will lead them to achieve success organically. The world needs not only doctors and lawyers but also storytellers and carpenters.