Education and globalization: redefining the role of the educational professional1

Abstract

This paper argues that current globalizing forces are profoundly affecting the policies of nation states, and particularly those in education, and producing a situation where educational professional work is both increasingly controlled and increasingly fragmented. This being the case, it is argued that professionals' understanding of the nature of their work and responsibilities needs to change quite radically. The article then argues the need for professional understanding of the global nature policy issues. It then examines some general meanings for ‘globalization’, suggests a number of specific kinds, and argues that there are specific mediations that occur at a number of different levels below this. It then argues that the combination of these global forces and the different mediations produce both an excessive standardization/control and an excessive flexibility/fragmentation of professional work, leading to a number of tensions in practice. The final section of the paper suggests that because of these global forces, ‘normal’ conceptions of the professional role need to be supplemented by further requirements if professionals are to have relevance in the twenty‐first century.

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