In this chapter, I want to discuss some of the ways in which educational aims are currently being re-crafted in relation to the emerging interpretations of globalization. I argue that while the traditional approaches to thinking about aims are no longer sufficient because they mostly remain nation-centric and do not adequately engage with the new global realities of transnational economic, political and cultural interconnectivities, the new approaches driven by the international organizations are equally flawed. They indicate an unmistakable trend towards uniformity, and demand a convergence in thinking, accepting similar diagnoses of problems confronting educational systems with widely differing social, political and economic traditions. They propose similar solutions and programs of educational reform. They display a major shift to neo-liberal policy thinking, manifested most clearly in privatization policies, and in policies that assume the validity of market mechanisms to solve most of the various crises facing nation-states and civil society. They do this by working with a par ticular social imaginary that is largely inimical to the values of democracy and justice. As a result, they fail to develop broader visions of education aimed at preparing students to be critically informed and engaged with globalization’s new challenges, threats and opportunities.
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Rizvi, F. (2007). Rethinking Educational Aims in an Era of Globalization. In: Mason, M., Hershock, P.D., Hawkins, J.N. (eds) Changing Education. CERC Studies in Comparative Education, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6583-5_3
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