The secret adventures of order: globalization, education and transformative social justice learning

As aventuras secretas de ordem: globalização, educação e aprendizagem para a transformação e justiça social

Abstracts

There are many definitions of globalization, or perhaps more accurately, there are many globalizations. Discussing the four faces of globalization - globalization from above, globalization from below, the globalization of human rights, and the globalization of the war against terrorism - and their impacts on education and learning, this article offers an analysis of neoliberal globalization and how "competition-based reforms" affected educational policy in K-12 and higher education. These reforms are characterized by efforts to create measurable performance standards through extensive standardized testing (the new standards and accountability movement), introduction of new teaching and learning methods leading to the expectation of better performance at low cost (e.g., universalization of textbooks), and improvements in the selection and training of teachers. Competition-based reforms in higher education tend to adopt a vocational orientation and to reflect the point of view that colleges and universities exist largely to serve the economic well-being of a society. Privatization is the final major reform effort linked to neoliberal globalization and perhaps the most dominant. As an alternative, the article provides insights into the possibilities of employing the concept of marginality as a central construct for a model of transformative social justice learning. Following the inspiration of Paulo Freire, I argue that transformative social justice learning is a social, political and pedagogical practice which will take place when people reach a deeper, richer, more textured and nuanced understanding of themselves and their world.

globalizations; neoliberalism; global citizenship; Paulo Freire; theory of marginality; cosmopolitan democracies

Existem diversas definições de globalização ou, talvez mais precisamente, pode-se dizer que há muitas globalizações. Ao discutir as quatro faces da globalização - globalização por cima, globalização por baixo, globalização dos direitos humanos e a globalização da guerra contra o terrorismo, - e seus impactos na educação e na aprendizagem, este artigo propõe uma análise da globalização neoliberal e de como reformas baseadas em competição afetaram a política educacional nos Estados Unidos desde o jardim de infância ao ensino médio, e no ensino superior. Essas reformas são caracterizadas por esforços em se criar padrões de desempenho mensuráveis a partir de extensivos testes padronizados (o movimento por novos padrões e "accountability "); pela introdução de novos métodos de ensino e aprendizagem, que trazem a expectativa de um melhor desempenho a um baixo custo (por exemplo, a universalização de livros didáticos); e por melhoras na seleção e no treinamento de professores. Reformas baseadas em competição no ensino superior tendem a adotar uma orientação vocacional e a refletir o ponto de vista de que faculdades e universidades existem largamente para servir ao bem-estar econômico de uma sociedade. A privatização é o esforço final principal por reforma ligado à globalização neoliberal e, talvez, o mais dominante. Como alternativa, o artigo proporciona introspecções às possibilidades de se empregar o conceito de marginalidade como um construto central para um modelo de aprendizagem para a transformação e justiça social. Ao seguir a inspiração de Paulo Freire, defendo que a aprendizagem para a transformação e justiça social seja uma prática social, política e pedagógica que ocorrerá quando as pessoas alcançarem um entendimento mais profundo, rico, com mais texturas e nuances de si próprias e de seu mundo.

globalizações; neoliberalismo; cidadania global; Paulo Freire; teoria da marginalidade; democracias cosmopolitas

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  09 Jan 2014
• Date of issue
  Dec 2013

History

• Received
  15 May 2013
• Accepted
  20 Aug 2013