Globalization and the University
King, Roger. (2004). In King. (Ed.), The University in the Global Age. pp.45-66. NY: Palgrave MacMillan
Globalization, as a process destined to move toward global age or global society, is being adapted to local cultures and structures rather than bringing standards. While internationalism generally emphasizes cross-border exchange of knowledge and people for public goods, the recent notion of borderless education tints the internationalism with a commercial force. However, university system remains the least globalized sector nowadays. The globalization practically refers to increasing worldwide integration of economies driven by liberal capitalism and is deployed in a complicated way in the higher education system.
Globalization is best considered as a compression of time and space (Harvey, 1989; Scholte, 2000; p.50) and rationalism in knowlede production system facilitates globalization because both intrinsically proclaim to produce universally objective truth. "Rationalist, utilitarian and instrumental epistemology increasingly frustrates the territorial geography and globalization and supranationality. These issues are also central to any consideration of the univesity in the context of globalization"(p.51). From this perspective, regulation for stardardization is surfacing, such as GATS (General Agreements on Trade in Services) as part of the WTO negotiations, which forces intrusion of private sectors on national markets and funding and thus is likely to demand wider global exposure to foreign universities. Besides, UNESCO, the OECD, the EU and others take initiatives to prepare regulations for transnational education, quality, recognition and acccreditation system. Globalization also absorbs universities into a distrubuted knowledge production by collaboration, thus sharing risk and costs while obtaining highly specialized research result. [Look at who controls the obtained knowledge.] Globalization also appears as marketizing, 'academic capitalism' as Slaughter and Leslie (1997) called, such that because of lack of resource, academia resorts to corporate funds and in return, corporations influence shapes research direction and knowledge distrubution, as a consequence, basic science research turns into a entrepreneurial form. Because of focused funding on applied science, universities experience unbalanced knowledge production.
Online learning such as distance and virtual learning, as seen Open University, can be considered as global education in that this form compresses time and space and 'deterritorializing' learning environment. However, English as a dominant language, anti-didactical pedagogy and curriculum designed base on western models may perpetuate the western cultural domination.
[Online learning-Open university, Phoenix, Universitas 21--and corporate universities-Sun Microsystems University, the University of Toyota, Toyota Technological Institute at the U of C (2003)-- should be taken into consideration in seeking transfer of knowledge in an age of globalization.]
Globalization, as a process destined to move toward global age or global society, is being adapted to local cultures and structures rather than bringing standards. While internationalism generally emphasizes cross-border exchange of knowledge and people for public goods, the recent notion of borderless education tints the internationalism with a commercial force. However, university system remains the least globalized sector nowadays. The globalization practically refers to increasing worldwide integration of economies driven by liberal capitalism and is deployed in a complicated way in the higher education system.
Globalization is best considered as a compression of time and space (Harvey, 1989; Scholte, 2000; p.50) and rationalism in knowlede production system facilitates globalization because both intrinsically proclaim to produce universally objective truth. "Rationalist, utilitarian and instrumental epistemology increasingly frustrates the territorial geography and globalization and supranationality. These issues are also central to any consideration of the univesity in the context of globalization"(p.51). From this perspective, regulation for stardardization is surfacing, such as GATS (General Agreements on Trade in Services) as part of the WTO negotiations, which forces intrusion of private sectors on national markets and funding and thus is likely to demand wider global exposure to foreign universities. Besides, UNESCO, the OECD, the EU and others take initiatives to prepare regulations for transnational education, quality, recognition and acccreditation system. Globalization also absorbs universities into a distrubuted knowledge production by collaboration, thus sharing risk and costs while obtaining highly specialized research result. [Look at who controls the obtained knowledge.] Globalization also appears as marketizing, 'academic capitalism' as Slaughter and Leslie (1997) called, such that because of lack of resource, academia resorts to corporate funds and in return, corporations influence shapes research direction and knowledge distrubution, as a consequence, basic science research turns into a entrepreneurial form. Because of focused funding on applied science, universities experience unbalanced knowledge production.
Online learning such as distance and virtual learning, as seen Open University, can be considered as global education in that this form compresses time and space and 'deterritorializing' learning environment. However, English as a dominant language, anti-didactical pedagogy and curriculum designed base on western models may perpetuate the western cultural domination.
[Online learning-Open university, Phoenix, Universitas 21--and corporate universities-Sun Microsystems University, the University of Toyota, Toyota Technological Institute at the U of C (2003)-- should be taken into consideration in seeking transfer of knowledge in an age of globalization.]
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