session18

Vivian Stewart, VP for Education, Asia Society July 1, 2007 Model Schools Conference 2007 – Washington D.C.

Learning in a Global Age: Knowledge and Skills for a Flat World – Session 18

The quickening pace of globalization over the past 20 years has produced a whole new world. Information, people, and ideas now traverse the globe with unprecedented speed and frequency. In the flat world, where everything is interconnected, higher level skills and the ability to adapt and to communicate effectively across cultures are essential to individual and national success. This session will address what schools in other parts of the world are doing to prepare their students for the flat world and highlight some of the best U.S. examples of ways in which schools can educate students for both global competence and global citizenship.

What is important to know and be able to do? – for our students’ futures

New global context
 * 1845-1990 – US dominant world economy
 * 1990-end of Cold War – China, Russia, India have become market economies
 * World Trade Organization (1995) removed trade barriers
 * 3 billion people who were marginalized or absent from world economy are consumers, creators, and competitors

Demographically – out of 100 people (percentages) 61 Asia 13 Africa 12 Europe 5 USA 8 Latin America 1 from ?


 * 95% of markets are outside of USA
 * Technology is the great flattener
 * __The World Is Flat__ – Thomas Friedman

Education trends in the 20th century
 * USA was world leader
 * Universal high school and mass higher education
 * Biggest investment in science, research and development
 * 1960s, USA was above 80% graduation rates
 * Other nations are now graduating a higher percentage of students from schools with higher standards
 * For 35-64 years old, the USA has the highest percentage of higher degrees
 * For >35, Europe and Asia eclipses us
 * USA has the highest college dropout rate
 * China: rapid expansion of education (rivals its economic progress)
 * Literacy rates – above 90% and is increasing steadily as it has since their low of 30% in the 1960s
 * By 2020, the Chinese goal is that every child will have 12 years of school (proposing even larger expansion of public education system) – China will be a science and innovation based society comparable to the USA

How has China been able to do this?
 * Very clear national standards and national examinations, all textbook materials aligned to national standards and exams
 * Strong compulsory core curriculum – heavy on the sciences, math, engineering
 * All teachers must have degrees in the subject they teach (even in the elementary school)
 * Longer school year (month longer), longer school day
 * Up to 5 hours/night of homework in secondary schools
 * Expanding into global knowledge and innovation economy
 * Understand that high test scores do not lead to innovation – thus, China is looking to reform their education system

How has India been able to do this?
 * Indian Institutes of Tech grads fuel IT industry in Bangalore and Silicon Valley
 * Up to 70% teacher absenteeism rate in government
 * Very large classes, outdated and outmoded resources
 * Little expectations for literacy and mastery
 * National Knowledge Commission recommendations:
 * Increase in universities from 350 to 1,500 by 2015
 * Change exam system to measure understanding not memorization
 * Utilize technology (distance learning)

Lessons Learned/Implications for the USA
 * increase educational performance to become globally competitive
 * need to raise level of high school graduation
 * benchmark student learning standards, decide what is relevant
 * Buying from the world, selling to the world, competing in the world, collaborating with others in the world – this is what our students will be doing after graduating

What is global/international competence?
 * knowledge of world regions, cultures, global/international skills
 * Skills in communicating in languages other than English
 * Value, respect, and concern for other cultures and peoples

Schools need to find a focus – can’t learn about every global and culture area – give them the tools to uncover and discover – motivates and creates sense of interdependency

Other countries invest in global skills:
 * most other industrial countries start world language instruction in primary grades
 * international benchmarking and exchange
 * technology
 * study abroad programs

Approach international understanding as a core literacy for real-world interactions

Examples:
 * Evanston Township High School (suburb of Chicago)
 * International School of the Americas (San Antonio, TX)
 * John Stanford International School (Seattle, WA)
 * Eugene International School
 * Walter Payton College Prep High School

Professional development is key! InternationalEd.org AskAsia.org