Author Archives: Lucas Olson

DQ #12, Bologna Process, Netherlands

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Do the commodification of knowledge and the marketization of educational institutions lead to the possibility that resources that should be spent on education will be spent on competition with other institutions? If an institution spends so much time and money on bringing in “customers,” will it spend less on its actual job, educating, or will it just charge “customers” more? Prices of many other commodities are much higher than their actual production cost because companies need more money to pay to compete (advertising, etc.). Could this happen to education?

Do you think the commodification of education will diminish the idealism of teaching or work in the education field? Will teachers be less respected if there is a feeling that they are “selling” something for money? Or researchers in universities? Or could this lead to teachers finally getting the salary that they deserve?

DQ 11, NGOs

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Do NGOs have an obligation to work with local governments in the provision of education? In cases where the government is unable or unwilling to provide education to a particular group, should NGOs aid the government in doing so or provide it on their own without the government?

What would result if a marginalized population began to rely on or respect education-providing NGOs more than their national government? Will the government lose its legitimacy? Are there some NGOs that might do this on purpose, with the goal of making the government lose its legitimacy?

DQ #9 Third Industrial Revolution

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How much should a company be expected to invest in the education and training of its own employees? If our current educational system is having trouble creating people with the specific skills needed by a company, should that company be responsible for building those skills? Is it possible that we will see more education or training being done by companies rather than in traditional institutions of education?

What are the ethical or moral considerations of this national competitiveness when it comes to jobs? So many articles seem to focus on how to make America more competitive or how to get America the best jobs. Rather than focusing on how to improve one country relative to others, should people be more focused on the world as a whole? Should people be more concerned with improving education, jobs and quality of life in general than with how America competes with China? Am I being dramatic?

DQ #8, 21st Century Competencies

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Ideally, 21st century competences could be integrated into traditional curriculum, but focusing on these new skills might mean that there will be less focus on traditional skills. What aspects of traditional curriculum should be reduced in order to make way for a new 21st century curriculum? Or do you think this is not necessary because the old and new curriculums can be fully combined?

What needs to happen in order for the various necessary actors to decide on and begin to transform curriculum? Who do you think has the most responsibility to lead such a change? The national government, state governments, public institutions, private institutions?

 

DQ #7 The Great Mismatch

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Does competitiveness in the world’s job market imply that it is a zero-sum game? If the U.S. “wins” and has the best, most high-paying jobs, does that mean that others “lose” and have poorer jobs?

If the U.S. does not produce enough graduates with the “right” skills and education, do you think it is likely that Americans will start going abroad more often to receive education and training in other countries?

DQ #6, TIMSS and PISA

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What does comparing educational achievement in various countries using TIMSS and PISA accomplish? How does this information help improve education? Is anything done with it?

Should other subjects, besides mathematics, science and reading, be tested? Which subjects might also be important to assess?

DQ #5, International Schools…

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Is education a universal human right that should be provided equally to all? Does the existence of IB schools and other similar programs further commercialize education, making access to it unequal? Does the fact that some can go to IB schools (location, money) while others can not conflict with education as a universal human right?

An article in Time magazine discusses whether schools should focus on skills such as intercultural understanding, languages, and global critical thinking, because these subjects are used routinely in a global society and they are not easily “looked up.” On the other hand, traditional subjects like science, history, math, etc. can be looked up using technology and the Internet instantly, so there is less urgency to memorize them as is done in many American schools. Do you agree with this point? Why or why not?

This is the article:

“How to bring our schools out of the 20th century” by Claudia Wallis, Time magazine, December 10th, 2006.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480-1,00.html