In the second decade of the 21st Century, Globalization 3.0 is shrinking the world from small to tiny and flattening the playing field. This stage has a unique characteristic – it is the individuals who are globalizing as they are trying to understand “how they fit into the global competition and opportunities of the day, and how they collaborate with others globally” (Friedman, 2005, p.11).

America’s future success largely depends upon its education of the next several generations. Our K-12 educational system is embattled, with criticisms coming from multiple sectors, including governmental, philanthropic, the marketplace, and the media. For decades, the recipe for fixing all that ailed school systems was to adopt new curricula, measure students’ achievement on standardized tests, judge school and teacher effectiveness based upon achievement results, punish schools where achievement is low and reward schools where achievement is high.

In all of the discussion, debate, and legislation related to the United States’ educational system and reasons it is broken, rarely do we try to truly understand what exactly this system reflects and why, despite its obvious malfunction, we are so reluctant to let go of it.

Our traditional education, which dominates most schools in today’s world, is reflective of both our collective and individual consciousness. As over years most human societies stayed local, with not much outside interaction, our entire educational system has become an epitome of this local segregation.

Economically, for centuries, the key for humankind survival was in maintaining order and training a labor force with analogous skills to support the local economy. What was considered smart was based on proven successes and predictability. Knowledge was not easily accessible, so memorization was necessary. Thus, our educational mindset was reflective of our living. To educate the masses required prescribed learning based on a locally adjusted common curriculum.

In America’s public education, the content of the curriculum is generally guided by state guidelines, which reflect the economical necessities of each state. To ensure that needs of individual communities are considered, school boards, elected from local citizens, have the power to further guide the direction of educational practices, while educational leaders are held accountable for students to master the content. The Federal Government requires states to assess all students in grades three through eight each year in math and language arts only. States must also assess students in grades ten through twelve at least once in math and language arts, and less frequently across all grades in science. With these single test results, state Departments of Education determine school, administrator, teacher, and district effectiveness.

At the same time, relative isolation and homogeneity contributed to our perceptions of personal comfort, often felt in stability, predictability, control, and knowing what to expect. We found it comforting to follow the same routine. Being different was perceived as undesirable. Thus, education reflected this factor as well: parents and students knew how to get good grades, get into a good college, and get a good stable job for the comfortable future, often within their own community.

In the last few decades our world has changed. We know it. We catch ourselves ‘googling’ information, while our dictionaries are collecting dust. We see our children sharing videos and playing games with kids all over the world. Our neighbors are from different countries. At work, we adapt to travelling and managing teams in various global locations. Still, we crave predictability and certainty.

If in business adaptability equals survival, in education it doesn’t have the same immediate tangibility. While our world has changed, our education hasn’t. Yong Zhao in his book World Class Learners calls it a hangover of cultural evolution. It used to work in the past and might still work for some in the present, but it has no future. The reason, he explains, we have a hard time letting go of this system despite the obvious, is that it has “features that hold tremendous appeal to the human nature: our naturally evolved desire for orderliness, control, competitive advantage, and short-term immediate results.” (Zhao, 2013, p.160)

So what is it that we want to accomplish as a nation? Globalization 3.0 is much different from its previous stages and not only in how it is flattening the globe. Its most pronounced advantage is in empowering individuals. If we are moving toward the global society, segregation of education doesn’t serve our children well. Immediate results, system-friendly uniformity and standardization, which stripped our education from individuality will not prepare our kids for the future.

For a long time, our system of education reflected our ways of living and served our needs. It is time for it to start doing this again. Education is a missing connection between what we are and what we want to be as humankind at our higher level of evolution - a world of accomplished individuals and peaceful citizens.

Reference:

Friedman, T.L. (2005, April 3) It's a Flat World, After All. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/03DOMINANCE.html?_r=0

Zhao, Y. (2013) World Class Learners. Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students. NAESP Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

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