NEWS

JOEL SPRING

1. November 17, 2004, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
Gerald H. Read Distinguished Lecture Series on Peace and Social Justice

Lecture Topic: How Educational Ideologies Are Shaping Global Society

This lecture will explore three major global educational ideologies that are shaping global society. First, is the rethinking of nationalist forms of education as the nation-state slowly erodes under the power of a growing global civil society. Traditional nationalist education attempts to mold loyal and patriotic citizens who are emotionally attached to symbols of the state. Neo-liberal educational ideology is an attempt to change nationalist education to fit the needs of a global economy. These changes are fueling a clash between the free market and consumer-based ideas of neo-liberals and human rights and environmental educators. Human rights education, the second major global ideology, is concerned with the education of activist global citizens. Inherent in human rights doctrines is a collective responsibility to ensure the rights of all people. Of the three major ideologies, environmentalism is the most radical because it rejects the industrial and consumerist paradigm that has dominated most economic thought including capitalism and communism.

2. May 1, 2005, National Institute of Education, Singapore

Lecture Series: Redesigning Pedagogy: Research, Policy, Practice

This lecture will examine the globalization of schooling and pedagogy. By globalization of schooling and pedagogy, I mean the growing interconnectedness and uniformity of national educational systems, which has resulted in educational changes in one nation affecting education in other nations. The lecture will discuss educational globalization that resulted from ideological competition between the United States, the Soviet Union, North Korea, and the People’s Republic of China; the contributions of national leaders Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, and educational thinkers such as Paulo Freire, to educational change and socialist pedagogy; the educational effects of the rise of the national security state and the Cold War, global economic competition, and the new wars of religion