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Answer
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Hint
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Michael Alexander (2012, 2014, 2016)
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This journalist has written extensively on his views regarding globalisation in the education system. He concludes that, because of what he calls PISA (or TIMSS or PILS) abuse, these tests should carry a similar warning to that which appears on cigarette packets in Britain: 'This product may damage your nation's educational health'.
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Matthew Hancock (2014)
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This person, who later became the UK Health Secretary under the premiership of Boris Johnson, estimated education exports from Britain to independent schools, sixth form and further education colleges, universities, professional colleges, education publishers and similar organisations, to 'priority markets' such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey and the Gulf States were, in 2012, worth £18 billion to the UK economy each year.
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Multi-culturalism
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This term is used to describe how globalisation has affected education policy in the UK. Our increasing connected world has led to increased migration into the UK and to policy that helps to support different cultures within UK society: -Race Relations Act 2000: discrimination claims against educational bodies to be brought to court immediately. -English as an additional language (EAL) provision: all teachers should plan and resource lessons suitable for learners using EAL within the class or subject curriculum. |
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2012 UK PISA Results
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-26th for Maths -23rd for Reading -20th for Science |
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PREVENT
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This term is used to describe how globalisation has affected education policy in the UK. In this case, globalisation has led to divides in ideology, with extremist groups becoming a threat around the world. In the UK, this scheme (UK Government strategy, introduced 2011) has been used in schools to challenge possible terrorism. |
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Skills for a global economy
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This term is used to describe how globalisation has affected education policy in the UK. The process of globalisation has led to students needing more skills to be able to compete in the global marketplace. This includes: science, technology, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and green energy.
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PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment)
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This programme (system) allows for international education comparisons, through the publishing of data shown on league tables to compare educational performance in different countries. Other systems include: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).
This programme is carried out via pen to paper, 2.5 hour exam condition tests, for 9-15 year olds from 79 countries around the world. It is typically carried out every 3 to 5 years.
Top performing countries on this programme tend to be: South Korea, Finland, Singapore |
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Globalisation
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This term is defined as the idea that the world is becoming increasingly more interdependent and countries are less self-contained.
In terms of examples to do with education, our education system increasingly needs to produce workers who can compete in a global economy (skills), UK education successes (or lack of) compares itself more with international education programmes (international league tables), and education systems may become increasingly similar as multinational companies like Pearson (Edexcel) influence education programmes worldwide. |
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UK Government's relationship with PISA
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This describes how the UK Government responds to PISA. When Michael Gove was Minister for education (2010-2014), he often quoted PISA scores to help usher his 'new' educational reforms. The UK was falling behind all other nations, hence the push for more free schools, academies, performance related pay and accountability of teachers. However, it has been argued that this 'over-reliance' on PISA without context has largely simplified and distorted the reality of attainment in the UK.
For example, some new educational policies in the UK are similar to ones already in place in countries which rank high on the PISA league tables (such as raising entry requirements for teachers, in line with Finland). Some argue these comparisons and then implementations of these policies shouldn't happen because of context. Comparing the UK with Scandinavian nations, they have higher taxation, therefore less division between the richest and poorest in society. In the UK, the richest 10% own 1/3 of the nation's wealth, with the poorest 10% owning just 1% of it's wealth. This difference is important as in the UK, social class plays a significant role in the educational attainments of students, whereas this role is not as significant in these Scandinavian countries. |
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Variety of schools
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This term is used to describe how globalisation has affected education policy in the UK. Free schools and academies were influenced by the Swedish and US education systems respectively. This added to the variety of schools available - made the education market more competitive.
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'PISA Panic'
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This is a term, coined by Michael Alexander (2014), associated with PISA and TIMSS results with the state of the British education system, and there being a search for a miracle cure for school improvements. Examples include: -National literacy and numeracy strategies - requirement to teach 2 hours of literacy and numeracy every day in every primary school in England (1999-2010, Labour) -Slimming down the National Curriculum to 'essential knowledge' in English, Maths, Science (essential subjects) and some other subjects (2010-2015, Conservative-Lib-Dem Coalition) -Raising entry requirements for teachers, in line with Finland (2012, Conservative) -Master Teachers idea used in Singapore (Labour Proposal, 2015 General Election) |
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Positive Evaluations
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These can be used to show the advantages of international comparisons in education. These are: -International comparisons are useful to see whether education spending matches educational achievement. UK spending on education is well above that of the average OECD country, yet it performs less well than some lower-spending countries, which suggests education spending is not being used to maximum effect. -International comparisons are useful for benchmarking (comparing) standards internationally. Mary Oates (2013) suggests they help to show what is humanly possible for young people to achieve at different ages. -International comparisons provide evidence for policy makers wanting to learn from other countries, on what policies seem to work best, and what policies don't. They can help us better understand how our own educational system works, and perhaps improve it. |
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Promotion of Marketisation and Privatisation
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This term refers to neoliberal international organisations which have promoted these things in education systems worldwide. This includes: -The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) -The World Bank -World Trade Organisation (WTO) -Large private education businesses, such as Pearson These groups see education as a multi-billion-pound global market, in which large, multinational companies are seeking to gain access to these vast markets. |
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Negative Evaluations
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These can be used to show the disadvantages of international comparisons in education. These are: -PISA, TIMSS and PIRLs tests are based on a very narrow concept of education (literacy, numeracy and science) which can be measured. Michael Kelly (2009) suggests globalisation has led to a view that education is primarily an economic activity concerned with preparing people for work and meeting the needs of the economy and employers. Wider dimensions of education, like children's well-being, the passing on of knowledge built up over hundreds of years, the appreciation of culture, living worthwhile and fulfilling lives, citizenship, social cohesion, and social and personal development, have been relegated to secondary importance compared to the development of work-based skills. Some countries that consistently do well in the international tests may not provide their children with a broader education much beyond passing tests in 2 or 3 subjects, and, if this were taken into account, the top-performing countries may not maintain their high rankings. -Test results do not necessarily mean that the education received by students is better or worse in different countries, and there are concerns about the validity and reliability of the tests used. International rankings may not be reflecting the effectiveness of education, but educational reforms themselves are unlikely to change. Comparing the UK with some developing countries, where children may be used for child labour or even as soldiers, makes no educational sense. Michael Alexander (2016) notes that comparisons between the UK and high-performing countries like Hong Kong or Singapore are pointless because the cultures are so different and the educational systems are not remotely comparable in scale (England has 23,000 schools while Singapore has just 350). -International comparisons can have damaging and wasteful effects on policy. Successive governments have formed policies based on PISA and other tests. Michael Alexander (2012) notes that comparing international tests can lead to policy changes based on 'ill-founded assertions about educational cause and effect, inappropriate transplanting of the policies to which success is attributed, and even the reconfiguring of entire national curricula to respond less to national culture, values and needs than to the dubious claims of "international benchmarking" and "world class" educational standards - the latter equated with test scores in a limited spectrum of human learning'. |
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British Values
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This term is used to describe how globalisation has affected education policy in the UK. In this case, globalisation has led to divides in ideology, with extremist groups becoming a threat around the world. In the UK, this has led to an attempt (since 2014) to reinforce social solidarity and shared values through the introduction of this in the curriculum. The values taught are:
-Democracy -Rule of Law -Respect and Tolerance -Individual Liberty |
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