International Handbook on Globalisation, Education and Policy Research

Citation

Hagen, R.S. (2006), "International Handbook on Globalisation, Education and Policy Research", Critical Perspectives on International Business, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 65-67. https://doi.org/10.1108/17422040610644171

If you are interested in engaging with the changing developments, debates and policy agendas which are emerging as the interface between globalisation, education and policy research become more intertwined then be prepared for a journey through 827 pages of critical, incisive analysis, theoretically underpinned and rigorously researched by leading academics and researchers in their field. This is a serious, scholarly tome which can be used as a source book to provide the parameters of the debate on a given topic, but the greater benefit is to be gained by being exposed to the full rich tapestry of insights and perspectives across the spectrum of education and policy research. The extensive editorial experience of Joseph Zajda and his team of section editors have brought together a truly global perspective by inviting contributions from 59 scholars from across the globe of which 29 are leading professors in the fields of education, curriculum theory, comparative and international education, administration and policy studies, sociology of education, intercultural and multicultural studies, leadership and policy studies as well as economics and management. There are authored chapters from doctoral students bringing fresh insights, associate professors, research officers, a reader and teachers and lecturers. The terrain is also refreshingly global with analysis of the impact of globalization on education not only in the USA, Europe, Australia and Canada but also Sub‐Saharan Africa, Latin America, Chile, Romania, Russia, China, Hong, Kong, Singapore, the former soviet Union and a chapter on Islamic education. Within some of the chapters there are definitions and well informed analysis of globalisation drawn from sociology, international relations, cultural and economic sources before discussion of its impact on education are attempted or an analysis of the integration of higher education into the capitalist system.

There are common concerns in many chapters on the changes to conventional education, to the dominance of a neo‐liberal economic metaphor driving the international policy agenda on the privatization, marketisation and commercialization of education despite different political systems in operation. There is a critical discussion running through the book about pedagogy and how market education reforms are demanding fundamental shifts in the philosophy, values and goals of education with a focus on effective education becoming equated with a mechanistic view of how it should be evaluated by officially defined outcomes affecting schooling through to higher education. There are discussions about pedagogical discourses, of educational institutions as “factories of knowledge distribute and maintain a number of epistemological and developmental assumptions concerning the nature of knowledge” (p. 423) and curriculum. The World Bank is seen as promoting with “alarming force” a particular world economic system underpinned by its basic assumptions of “human capital theory” as a “lending precondition”. There are apocalyptical warnings that education is increasingly becoming a global commodity “to be bought, sold, traded and affected by other market forces”. It is big business for “edupreneurs” to profit from. As the worldwide education industry is worth $2 trillion annually the reader is informed, as an example, that the “US is pushing for higher education to be covered by the controversial General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS …to create conditions for international competition in education services with minimal government interference” (p. 283) leading to fears of “academic capitalism” and “domination of [US] academic imperialism”. Whilst the dramatic changes affecting education reform throughout the world bring a mixture of the old and new it is argued that “the specific market driven reform proposals often have dimensions that are unique” (p. 250). It is these unique dimensions that the message in the book generally is encouraging the reader to understand and address. The evidence is compelling.

There is a chapter on the mission of the university which provides a historical analysis of the different university modes from the medieval to the Humboldtian versus Leibniz's conception of the university to the current crisis resulting from the loss of its autonomy, raising the question “how can the homo academicus adapt the values of the homo mercantalis in the era of globalisation” without losing its core values? (p. 196). It strikes a cord in its conclusion that “polyvalent excellence can rarely be achieved without trivialising the very mission of intellectual activity” (p. 201). There are also welcomed chapters on less explored topics such as the corruption and abuse of power in higher education which may be the result of bureaucratic organizational structures and whilst these are “much maligned” are “impervious to change” and lead to “corruption” defined as using “professional position for private gain”. There are chapters for example on Human Rights, gender, minorities, supranational institutions' initiatives and country specific policies, on education and democracy, and on education and conflict through the framework of complexity theory.

It is difficult to do justice, in such a short review, to the vast contribution the authors are making to the debate by bringing together their work from different theoretical traditions in one comprehensive volume of 47 chapters. It is a rigorous study raising awareness, demanding a critical engagement with the issues facing education within a more globalised world and providing a debate about the policy agenda for the future. The handbook is organized in two parts and within each part are two sections. Each section is followed by two sub‐sections. Part One, Section 1 has an introductory chapter examining the main trends and issues followed by a subsection of seven chapters on the broad topic of “Globalisation, Education and Policy Research”. Sub‐section two examines “Globalisation and Higher Education” in a further seven chapters. Section 2 has the broad theme of “Globalisation, Education and Policy Reform”. Again two sub‐sections follow. The first on “Globalisation, Education Policy and Change” is accompanied by six further chapters. The second sub‐section moves to “Policy Issues: Gender, Equity, Minorities, and Human Rights” five chapters support this sub‐section. Part Two is titled “Globalisation, Education and Policy Research: Changing Schools”. Section 3 concentrates on “Globalization and Education Policy: Comparative Perspective.” In particular, with eight chapters under the sub‐title “Education Policy and Curricula Issues” in sub‐section one and the second on “Curriculum and Policy Change: Language, Linguistic Diversity and Teaching English” with two accompanying chapters. “Globalization and Education Reforms” is the topic of Section 4. Under the subtitle of sub‐section one is “Globalization, Education Policy and Reform: Changing Schools” seven chapters follow and the last sub‐section is on the “Curriculum in a Global Culture” which includes chapters on Education and Democracy and Cultural and Social Capital in Global Perspective.

Although the book does not address the area of management education (and there is no reason why it should) the increasing vociferous attacks on business schools and their curriculum mirrors many of the concerns addressed in the Handbook. Scholars in the field will find much that will resonate with issues they are addressing about the “condition” of management education presented from different perspectives and extending the field of vision.

It is rare to find a book of such breadth that can be unequivocally recommended in its totality but I do so without reservation.