Teaching in a Globalised World

I came across an interesting section relating to globalisation in Reflective Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School (edited by Sue Dymoke). This post is centred on a section which can be found on pages 270-271 and is about teaching in a globalised society.

As beginning teachers entering the profession in the early years of the twenty-first century, you may be teaching students who will live to see the twenty-second century. It is not hard to imagine that their world will be very different from the one we know today. If the trends of the last century are to continue, we will see a continuation of the progressive globalisation of recent decades. Globalisation is often narrowly defined as the interrelationship and interdependence of economies, the transfer of power from nation states to transnational corporations, yet it is a much broader political, technological and cultural phenomenon as well. In this era of profound social change, global and citizenship education play a vital role in developing the strong civil societies that could ensure that globalisation becomes a force for global sustainability and survival.

This section of the book goes beyond curriculum content and introduces activities which encourage new teachers to reflect on their own role, drawing upon the qualities of the ‘global teacher’. Teaching is thought to be a vital step in preparing students for living in a globalised world. Pupils could also be asked to think of the products and services they use which are a result of a globalised world. The teacher could then discuss some of the more complex things that pupils may not have thought of or that are not as obvious.

 

Globalisation - The Role Of The Internet

The Internet is both a product of globalisation as well as a catalyst for its expansion, connecting computer users across the world. From 2000 to 2009 the number of Internet users globally rose from 394 million to 1.858 billion! By 2010, 22% of the world's population had access to computers with 1 billion Google searches every day, 300 million Internet users reading blogs and 2 billion videos viewed daily on YouTube. Being able to read this blog from almost anywhere on the planet is a product of the Internet and therefore globalisation!

 

The size of total worldwide e-commerce when global business-to-business and consumer transactions are added together will equate to $16 trillion by the end of 2013.  It has been estimated that the global market for digital products and services is worth $4.4 trillion. These two figures added together ($20.4 trillion) provide an estimate of the size and value of the digital economy. This means the Internet is responsible for 13.8% of global sales.

While much has been written about the economic advantages of Internet-enabled commerce, there is also evidence that some aspects of the Internet such as maps and location-aware services may serve to reinforce economic inequality and the digital divide. Electronic commerce may also be partly responsible for the decline of small businesses. The ease of Internet-shopping and ordering products online has lead to reduced trade in highstreet shops. The Internet has also introduced new social media from which an ‘online community’ has developed. Significant socio-technical change may have resulted from the proliferation of such Internet-based social networks. There are also several highly publicised risks associated with the Internet for example cyber-bullying, identity theft and fraud. 

 

The Internet provides access to resources for millions of people across the planet. With cheap smart-phones taking off in Africa and $20 tablets being produced in India, the world is becoming ever more connected by the minute. The increasing level of access to the Internet is a microcosm of the globalisation phenomenon. It is a facilitator to connect people over huge geographical areas, exposing different cultures to one another and makes the planet smaller.

 

World Trade Organisation (WTO)

The World Trade Organisation is a driver of globalisation. The WTO supervises and encourages international trade. It was set up in 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO regulates trade between participating countries; providing a framework for negotiating and formalising trade agreements and a dispute resolution process. The WTO's current director-general is Roberto Azevêdo, who leads a staff force of over 600 people in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

The organisation is attempting to complete negotiations that focus on addressing the needs of developing countries. There are obstacles to agreeing trade deals between MEDCs and LEDCs however. Free trade on industrial goods and services with the retention of protectionism on farm subsidies to domestic agricultural has been requested by developed countries. Developing countries require international liberalisation of fair trade on agricultural products. These issues are central to the current debate and have hindered any progress to launch new WTO negotiations. As a result of this impasse, there have been an increasing number of bilateral free trade agreements signed.

Globalisation ... Or Should That Be Globalization?

Globalisation is seen by many outside the United States as ‘Americanization’. This term has been used to show the influence the US has over the culture of other countries. Culture can include popular culture, cuisine, technology, business practices, political techniques etc. Western culture, especially that of the US, has been diffused all over the world through television, cinema, the internet, newspapers and magazines. ‘American tendencies’ have since been reflected in media, art, sport and leisure pursuits. Local economies, traditions and languages are all ‘threatened’ by globalisation which moulds the world into a capitalist western-society based on the American blueprint.

 

Signs of Americanization include:

Ø  The domination of most of the world's media markets by Hollywood. This showcases American fashions, customs, scenery and way of life to people across the globe.

Ø  Of the top ten global brands, seven are based in the United States. Coca-Cola holds the top spot in global branding and is often viewed as a symbol of Americanization. The proliferation of fast food chains is also viewed as being a symbol of U.S. marketing dominance.

Ø  The casual ‘American’ style of wearing jeans, t-shirts and sports shoes is now common and acceptable in many places across the globe.

 

The US has taken gigantic steps in persuading the rest of the world to think and act like them. Many people especially the Europeans have often despised Americans saying they have no culture or history, but the US has created an identity and a culture – the ‘American lifestyle’. They are now exporting this across the globe with the help of globalisation which is affecting local cultures.  

Global Marketing

Global marketing has been defined as ‘marketing on a worldwide scale, reconciling or taking advantage of global operational differences, similarities and opportunities in order to meet global objectives’. When a company becomes a global marketer, it views the world as one market and creates products to fit the various regional marketplaces. The ultimate goal is to sell the same thing, the same way, everywhere!

Coca-Cola is an example of a company with a single product – only minor elements are tweaked for different markets. The company uses the same formulas (one with sugar, the other with corn syrup) for all its markets. The bottle design is the same in every country but the size of the bottles and cans conforms to each country’s standard sizing. This link (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19550067) shows the global reach and history of Coca-Cola. The article shows how the growth of the Coca-Cola brand has been closely aligned to geo-political events over its 126 year history. Coca-Cola as a drink and as a company embodies the globalisation phenomenon.

Trade, Trade Blocs and the European Union

World trade has been the continuing basis of global interdependence. By the 1970s an international economy had been established. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established in 1947 and sought to gradually lower the barriers to international trade; with free trade as its ultimate aim. Reaching agreements has not been easy, but average trade tariffs have shrunk to a tenth of their level when GATT first began operating. World trade has therefore been increasing at a much faster rate than gross domestic product (GDP). In recent years however agreements have become increasingly difficult to reach.

 

Since the 1950s countries have joined together to form trade blocs in order to stimulate trade between themselves and to obtain economic benefits from cooperation. There are various mechanisms for this, including free trade areas, customs unions, common markets and economic unions such as the European Union (EU), of which the UK is a current member.    

 

The EU is the world’s largest trading bloc and the second largest economy (after the USA). The EU was originally called the European Economic Community (EEC) after its formation following the Treaty of Rome in 1957. There were originally six members: Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg but this has now expanded to 28 members (see the expansion of the EU in the animation below). The initial aim was to create a single market for goods, services, capital and labour by eliminating barriers to trade and promoting free trade between members. The EU has also set up common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development as well as allowing the free movement of people between member countries.

Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs)

First Phase: A key element in the process of globalisation has been the emergence of newly industrialised countries (NICs) – they have undergone rapid industrialisation since the early 1960s. When TNCs looked for areas where labour and other costs were lower, the countries of east Asia were targeted.

 

Japanese TNCs were among the first to seek new areas for their operations and it was logical that they should look at their less developed neighbours, particularly South Korea and Taiwan. These countries, along with Singapore and Hong Kong, became collectively known as the Asian Tigers. The advantages of these countries for the development of manufacturing industry were:

 

Ø  A reasonably well developed level of infrastructure such as roads, railways and ports.

Ø  Relatively well educated populations with existing skills.

Ø  Cultural traditions that revere education and achievement.

Ø  Good geographical location – Singapore for example is situated between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Ø  Government support for example offering low interest rates on bank loans.

Ø  Less rigid laws and regulations on labour, taxation and pollution than TNCs’ parent countries, allowing more profitable operations.

 

As the economies of NICs grew, large indigenous firms began to grow, helped by the economic climate and government aid. The ‘chaebols’ (huge business conglomerates) of South Korea, helped by the government, were able to expand.

 

Second Phase: As the economies of these NICs grew, wage levels and the cost of operating within these countries began to increase. As a result Japanese, US and European TNCs looked for a second generation of countries that could support their operations. Such areas had recent improvements in both physical and human infrastructures but wage levels that were still low. At the same time, companies that had grown in the original NICs, such as the ‘chaebols’ of South Korea, also began to move routine manufacturing tasks to their neighbours, such as Malaysia and Thailand.

 

Third Phase: In recent years, both China and India have emerged as targets for foreign direct investment (FDI) by TNCs. Since 1990, both countries have shown rapid and sustained economic growth. China’s growth is the fasted experienced by any country, at one time averaging a real per capita growth of more than 10% a year. China is now the world’s second biggest economy behind the USA overtaking Japan in 2010.