Objectives are at the heart of an agenda that has been pursued at the highest levels of the U.S. educational system for decades
Dec. 15, 2008
In October of 2007, the annual Frontiers in Education Conference met in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Among the several papers presented at the conference was, Critical Theory, Globalization and Teacher Education In A Technocratic Era. The paper was written by three professors, Mark Malisa, Randall Koetting, and Kristin Radermacher. The authors opening statements read,
"Our perspective is that of educators who view the current world as one that is highly internationalized and intensely global, rendering nationalistic orientations obsolete. We also view education and educators as involved agents in the construction of a just social world, and contend that this implies infusing the curriculum and teacher education with cosmopolitan sensibilities, frequently, through critical theory and critical pedagogy."
The authors propose that because of globalization, education programs must be reordered. The report states that teacher education programs in the U.S. must adopt a "global perspective" and that "…the time of splendid isolation is over… purposes of education have changed."
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
"As globalization becomes the dominant term for describing and conceptualizing teacher education, colleges and schools of education will need to revisit their mission statements and rethink what it means to be part of the global community," the report states.
"As such, educators will have to evaluate the extent to which they function as part of a new system that creates and sustains a new dominant global culture…"
Educators in the "global world" will, "…need an unprecedented willingness to teach and be taught by the rest of the world. Part of this will involve rethinking the language and practice of nationalism… even in the classroom."
The report concludes that there will be resistance to these measures, but offers a solution,
"…a lot of work remains to be done in creating a critical consciousness that makes it possible to realize that global solidarity does not threaten nationalism."
Whether or not these professors realize it, their objectives are at the heart of an agenda that has been pursued at the highest levels of the U.S. educational system for decades. As the 1954 Reece Committee discovered, tax-exempt foundations, particularly the Rockefeller Foundations, Ford Foundation, Carnegie Foundation and others were instrumental in influencing U.S. education. Their goals, as the committee found, were international in scope.