Title: What is Globalisation and why is it important for those who work with and for young children to understand childhood from a global perspective?
Areas to be addressed: what is globalisation Define globalisation.
Introduce the various context related perspectives on globalisation and then identify the one context you will use for the purpose of your essay(economic, cultural, political) Why globalisation Discuss why it is important for Early years practitioners to be aware of globalisation and its effects Globalisation is…(Specific examples) Select 2-3 global issues discussed in the lectures (poverty, war, health, child labour, education, etc). Illustrate the selected issues and analyse their relevance with regards to working with young children. After having introduced the issues you can focus on one particular aspect of each issue. Try to connect the selected issues rather than having 2-3 isolated blocks in this section. Globalisation in practice How is knowledge of global issues benefiting Early Childhood practitioners? Why is it important for those working with young children to understand global perspectives and global issues impacting on children? How is globalisation impacting children? This essay should be written in the 3rd person. Where do you start? Analyse the questions; you need to thoroughly understand what is being asked.
Essay Question Breakdown:
– What is Globalisation?
– How does Globalisation impact on children?
– What are the implications for practitioners working with young people?
What is Globalisation? Some Define What is Globalisation? Some Definitions…“reductions in barriers to transworld contacts. People become more able – physically, legally, culturally, and psychologically – to engage with each other in “one world” (Scholte, 2002: p. 14).
“the removal of barriers to free trade and the closer integration of national economies” (Stiglitz, 2003: p. ix).“a process that opens nation states to many influences that originate beyond their border. These changes are likely to decrease the primacy of national economic, political, and social institutions, thereby affecting the everyday context in which children grow up and interact with the rest of society”(Kaufman and Rizzini, 2002: p. 4). “No definition is definitive” (Scholte, 2002: p. 34).
Context-related perspectives(in other words different types of globalisation)…
Political globalisation:
• Increasing number of organisations which influence the world as a whole, e.g. the UN; The World Bank, etc.
Economic globalisation:
• Increasing occurrence, speed and intensity of production,
exchange, trading and consumption of commodities (including
financial exchange). Increasing integration of national
economies. Key role of trans-national corporations.
Cultural globalisation:
• Growth in the exchange of cultural practices between nations and peoples.
How does Globalisation impact on children? Select global issues discussed in lectures to illustrate how globalisation impacts on children. For example: Economic Globalisation “Rapid industrialisation may steadily increase living standards for many or few” (Kaufman et al., 2002: p. 4). In some countries rising prosperity and wealth has brought better education and health care for children, for others this has not been the case. – Child mortality rates decrease/increase (Health) – Children receiving education decrease/increase (Education) – Working Children decrease/increase (Child Labour).
Political Globalisation: • Higher number of NGOs involved with children (e.g. UNICEF, Save the Children). • Supranational agencies (e.g. UN, EU, World Bank, IMF). • The globalisation of human rights norms for children. • Rejection of the notion that children lack human rights. • International law. • Internationally binding agreements: – Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1924). – United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989). – Millennium Development Goals (objectives to harness globalisation). • MDGs adopted by the UN to ensure, “globalisation becomes a positive force” (UNESCO, 2006) – MDG 2 & 4
Cultural Globalisation: Technological advances, for example with the internet, have meant children can now be exposed to the world. Exposure brings… – New information and opportunities. But also, – Undermining of traditional values and ways of life. Convergence to Western individualistic forms are accelerated by social and media dominance of Western cultures (for instance, Starbucks, Disney, McDonalds, CocaCola, One Direction). Childhood culture becoming more homogenised as the same products, for example, toys and clothes, become available everywhere.
Another view suggests cultural hybridization (Pieterse, 1995). Leading to greater diversity in cultural values and beliefs. In this view, “the impact of globalisation will result not in a one-way flow from West to East, but rather will consist of multidirectional influences” (Murphy-Berman, 2002: pp. 20-21). Think about Japan now being the centre of toy design. More generally, the globalisation of the media has created a transparency of a world that spotlights harm, violence towards, and disaster inflicted locally on children that might have previously escaped attention. Thus, changing the course of major events for good or ill. “…[Globalisation] implies standardisation across cultures that occurs as technology, migration and education become dispersed around the globe. This process suggests that ultimately the world will evolve into greater levels of sameness.”
Throughout you might want to be thinking about the impacts on children from the Macro, Meso, and Micro perspectives.
Western ideas about what constitutes effective practices, provision and approaches to responding to children’s needs have been allowed to dominate the discourses (Holliday, 2010). • Such dominance, strengthened by a tendency to believe that Western approaches are superior – the ‘civilising mission’ (Andreotti, 2006: p. 41), leads to alternative approaches deemed deficient, in need of Western input. • This view contributes “to the image of the child and of childhood becoming increasingly uniform and homogenized and thus the diversity of childhoods in different cultures being eroded” (Huggins, 2013: p. 10). Is this a healthy view for practitioners working with young people to have? No! Therefore, knowing about different global and international differences, and understanding how they have come about, enables practitioners “to reflect more critically upon the effectiveness of [their] own provision” (Huggins, 2013: p. 11). Doing so, allows for practitioners to consider other ‘ideas, patterns, and perspectives’, and even, possibly better ways of doing things (Pence and Nsamenang, 2008). With the growth of globalisation, children are/should be being prepared for a global world. Therefore, practitioners – particularly those who are teachers, are increasingly required to “incorporate a global dimension into their curricula and their approaches” and should be “prepared and able to teach their pupils about global issues” (Huggins, 2013: p. 13). Academic Literature… • Andreotti, V. (2006). Soft versus critical global citizenship educati
Avoid using direct quotes regularly and avoid using long direct quotes in particular. Learn to paraphrase. Put it into your own words and
reference accordingly, making sure you use the Harvard style of referencing.
Academic Literature…
• Axford, B. (2013). Theories of Globalization. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
• Kaufman, N. H., and Rizzini, I. (2002). Globalization and children: Exploring potentials for enhancing opportunities in the lives of children and youth. New York, US: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. •Lubeck, S., Jessup, P. A. and Jewkes, A. M. (2001). ‘Globalization and its discontents: Early Childhood Education in a New World Order’, Early Education and Care, and Reconceptualising Play, Vol. 11, pp. 3-57. •Scholte, J.A. (2002). “What is Globalization? The Definitional Issue – Again”. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation Working Paper. 109/02. Coventry, UK: University of Warwick.
• Stiglitz, J. (2003). Globalization and its Discontents. New York, US: W. W. Norton and Company.
• Andreotti, V. (2006). Soft versus critical global citizenship education, Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, vol. 3: pp. 40-51. • Georgeson, J., Payler, J. and Campbell-Barr, V. (2013). ‘The Importance of International Perspectives’, in J. Georgeson, and J. Payler. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Care. Berkshire: Open University Press. • Holliday, A. (2010). ‘Submission, emergence, and personal knowledge: new takes and principles for validity in decentred quality research’, in F. Shamin and R. Qureshi (eds), Perils, Pitfalls, and Reflexivity in Qualitative Research in Education. Oxford: Oxford University Press. • Huggins, V. (2013). ‘Widening Awareness of International Approaches: An Imperative for Twenty-First-Century Early Years Practitioners?’, in J. Georgeson, and J. Payler. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Care. Berkshire: Open University Press.
• Martin, F. (2008). ‘Mutual learning: the impact of a study visit course on UK teachers’ knowledge and understanding of global partnerships’, Critical Literacy: Theories and Practices, 2 (1): pp. 60-75.
• Pence, A. and Nsamenang, B. A. (2008). A Case for Early Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, Working Paper No. 51. The Hague, Netherlands: Bernard Van Leer Foundation.
• Penn, H. (2010). ‘Does it matter what country you are in?, in S. Smidt (ed.), Key Issues in Early Years Education. London: Routledge.
Learning Outcomes…
Knowledge
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the different concepts and interpretations of globalisation
• Demonstrate an awareness of the concepts, definitions and debates regarding culture and identity
Thinking skills
• Critically examine and evaluate the consequences of global influences for early years education and childcare
• Critically evaluate the implications of globalisation for early childhood professionals and practitioners
Subject-based practical skills
• Demonstrate sound academic skills in formative and summative assessments
• Analyse global influences on child development and child-rearing practices
Skills for life and work (general skills)
• Demonstrate participation in, and critical and reflective engagement with, national or international organisations advocating for early childhood education, care and development
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