I Am In The Current ~ The stream is digital.

Public education systems in different countries have began to fall to the logic of market rule along with more and more market specific language under the pressure from various groups. The Specific Challenges of Globalization for Teaching and Vice Versa is the title of the second chapter in David Geoffrey Smith’s book Trying to Teach in a Season of Great Untruth (Sense Publishers in 2006) in which he evaluates if market logic is a sustainable model for human interconnectedness. David Geoffrey Smith is a professor in the Department of Secondary Education at the University of Alberta. He is the author of several published papers. Trying to Teach is his most recent publication apropos his recent focus point- the phenomenon of globalization. He merges an analytic understanding of the implications of globalization for teaching and curriculum with an appeal for alternatives, provided that people learn to live in the Now. While Smith’s argument makes for a fierce and gripping exploration, his contention is clear and compelling, that all should embrace truth and be domiciled within it.
Smith is worthy of praise for his efforts in keeping the two main subjects of the chapter- globalization and teaching, flowing in tandem rather then opposing one to the other. This allows the reader to explicate the argument for themselves without obvious bias from the author. The author first outlines the construction of globalization as a phenomenon, then offers a summary of globalization, and finally explains the implications of globalization for curriculum and teaching.
The author explores what is teachers’ work in relation to the process of globalization. This is both an interesting and important research question given the tremendous influence that economic groups such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Band exert on the creation of educational policies. Smith explains that ”market logic” has had a great influence on Western societies. Some highlighted are economic interest forcing the ”rewriting of taxation rules” while the ”quality of life for the average person declines”. The author explained that recently, thanks to neo-liberal economic theory, The Market has been repositioned as the preeminent concern of governments and that it should be protected from social and cultural interests such as public education. Referring to Smith’s historical account of teachers’ work in this chapter, it created the legitimization of Social Darwinism, produced elites that ruled at home and abroad, trained ”the masses to serve the machineries of capital and state”, indoctrinated the general public against undesired rivaling ideology, and at the same time corrupted a tiny minority of Indigenous peoples to be local leaders in the place of westerners.
In this chapter, the author presents empire, globalization, market rule, and previous state governments as being forces that have attacked educational institutions. He maintains that it is this attack that has commenced the end of Western academy as places of “free reflection and autonomous scholarly work, a process of devolution that is ongoing”. Furthermore, schools have been identified as being against global competitiveness- the goal of market rule and globalization, due to it’s inclusion of “soft” programs such as the arts, the environment, race, and gender inequality.
In this chapter Smith maintains that teachers and teaching are in a political (relating to government) and an epistemological (relating to knowledge and the transmission thereof) crisis. The author explains that teachers have traditionally played a major role in legitimizing and prevailing many of the basic ideas that allowed globalization to flourish from its origins without any formal concerns. Nevertheless, the current crisis, according to the author, is due to the fact that to some (even non-aboriginal people), the planet’s inhabitants and natural processes are interconnected, something that economists and globalists do not believe or even deny.
According to Smith, globalization has brought about detrimental changes both to teaching and to life on the planet, to which teachers voice their opposition. The author explains that there is no linkage between a healthy economy and quality of life for the average person. Profits are secured only for shareholders and CEOs on the backs of those who are often on opposite continents. To be able to wage war against schools, teachers and other social programs, globalists had to present them as “groups failing to work in harmony… of true global competitiveness”. After globalists skewed public opinion and changing social welfare and the public commons to be known as “special interests”, schools had to begin to compete for educational program funding. Throughout the chapter, Smith presents the possibility that perhaps the proliferation of globalization and market rule are to the direct detriment of others.
Should education be considered to be an institution of production whose commodity should be consumed? In this chapter, Smith states that schools ‘’serve the stable nation” while ”creating the solid citizen” ”providing it (the teaching profession) with public moral authority”. This practice is being undermined and transformed by ”constructing the citizen as nothing but a capital resource, with education nothing more than job training”. In recent history, education has become a specific commodity, purchasable, that through meritocracy has allowed social advancement. Smith explicates that this is no longer the case and that systematically public education has begun to fall to the logic of market rule. Later he stresses that teaching must seek truth, discover truth, and finally share truth. This can be easily negated if teaching is nothing more then ”an act of implementation”. There is nothing less gratifying for a teacher then going through the process of ”filling buckets” in the banking concept of education. Education must be a force that ”provides sustenance for Now” and energizes both teachers and students.
A sharp-witted and critical analysis of the current state of globalization is appropriate. Students develop as solid citizens when truth seeking and exploring the possible differences between the exploitation and decimation of peoples today from those in the past. A teacher working with their students, seeking truth, allowing students to untangle the historical record of western development and work through critical literacy to analyze the past and current structure of societal and economic frameworks will create the solid citizen. This truth exploration will ”light fires” (William Butler Yeates) in students and foster them to be responsible citizens.
The problems with Market Rule and Market Logic when applied to an education context are numerous. Leaning in this context is not ever valued for its own sake. Learning must constantly be justified and measured so that it can demonstrate teacher accountability and also justify that it is serving ”The Market”. In this education model, students are reduced to nothing other then ”human resource capitol” which Smith explains is extremely destructive to the common good of human societies. In an accountability framework of education, hyper-competitiveness exerts pressure both on students and teachers. The pressure on teachers reduces them to managers of a classroom environment. Experience is disregarded and rendered archaic and only organization and planning are valued. Students are subjugated to victims by constantly being measured and being informed of their inadequacies. They are constantly measured and told that they do not meet standards set by other students throughout the world. Intrinsically motivated, love of learning quickly becomes impossible for students who are told they are never good enough. Self-maximization- accumulation of material possessions is good and all members of society should engage in this endless consumption. The basis of neo-liberal economic thought is, always wanting more for yourself, but does not necessarily apply to student’s learning, according to the author. The end result is that both teachers and students live in constant fear of falling behind and begin to develop social paranoia of all others human beings. Finally, in this model of education, teachers and students never encounter each others’ beings through the development of real healthy human relationships. These problems can be enumerated by the voices of countless students and teachers who speak out against this oppressive trend in global education. Market rule and logic when applied in an educational context causes students to withdraw and does not create an open shared future nor an acceptable level of sustainable human togetherness. Learning should liberate and empower all students.
Smith explains that the authors of new educational policies disregard and remain unenlightened by the experience and expertise of teachers. According to Smith, teachers perceive themselves as being powerless and disconnected from the decision-making process. Smith’s research is particularly applicable to Saskatchewan teachers as witnessed at the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Fall Council 2009 held in Saskatoon. Councilors who were elected from all local associations demonstrated the perception of alienation from the decision making process. Through several sessions, teachers expressed estrangement regarding their work-load and work-life. Teachers discussed how they felt a total disconnect from the process of writing educational policy. They expressed how crucial their experience and expertise are to the process of creating sound educational policy, and conveyed discontentment regarding the reduction of their role to mere implementation of programs and policies that they did not wholeheartedly support.
One of the cited sources for this chapter is Barlow and Robertson’s book: Class Warfare. The excerpts and information taken from this resource support the research question. For those interested in continuing the exploration of the effects of globalization, market rule, and the pressure that neo-liberal think-tanks apply on governments and education systems, this is an excellent resource.
Smith proposes that through globalization, a shared future of students, teachers, educational partners, and the general public must be negotiated. The world’s peoples have been culturally interfaced by questioning identity, the nature of the species, authority, and racial and gender biases. Together, he suggests, these groups must ”recover a future that is truly a future”.

I found this link in glemak’s (Mike Dunn) Flickr account.

During my session at the iT Summit 2009 I briefly discussed pod books but really didn’t have a great resource to share with the crowd. I wish I had found this resource last week. Take a minute to look around and see if there isn’t something interesting to listen to.

The direct application with students is obvious. I think what is most important is to offer students authentic audiences to validate their work. In turn the feedback from the audience will allow students to refine, enhance, and refine their work.

Someone sent me this link today. It has a simple presentation however the narration and monologue structure is very interesting.

A Little Background Information

This year I am working with Middle Year students in Saskatoon in a Core French program. The students reside on the East side of the river in a more affluent neighborhood. The students of the English program have studied Core French each year. Due to scheduled curricular minutes, students only receive brief instruction and time in contact with the language. Outside of the classroom, their schoolmates may be able to speak French however the dominant language is English. Students from the grade 6-8 study and learn French with me. I provide prep-time to the regular classroom teacher as an itinerant teacher. I work with the students twice a week- Tuesdays and Thursdays for 45 minutes per class. This being said, students receive an hour and a half of Core French instruction a week.

Curricular Focus and Blooming

The grade 7 classroom has been studying food and diets in Core French. Students have been working on preparing an original menu for their own restaurant. They were given resource sheets listing relevant vocabulary and have studied French sentence structure, verb conjugation, and the writing process in a second language. The grade 8 students have been studying vacations and traveling. They also received resource sheets with specific vocabulary and have studied language components and content as the grade 7 class.

Both groups are working on the application stage of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Using the rubric provided, students are to produce projects that are entirely in French. They were provided in-class work time and support as they worked on their projects.

Here Lies the Problem

Students in these grade levels have a very limited French. The majority of students who are very successful in the Core French program are girls although there are some boys. There are a few students who are moderately successful and a large number of students are not successful in this program. It’s hard to blame the kids as the have such a limited exposure to the language and I don’t employ a candy-incentive program in my classroom. French, much to my chagrin, is not the cool thing for these English first-language students.

There are a large number of the struggling students who did not hand-in their assignment on the due date. Another bulk of the classes quickly made their assignments in English and then used online translators to produce their French project.

The title of this blog post was translated by Babel Fish- Yahoo’s online translator. I entered: “Traduire un texte avec un service de traduction branché ce n’est pas l’ideal”. The translation according to Babel Fish is: ” To translate a text with a translation service connects this n’ is not l’ ideal”. The proper translation should be: “Translating a text with an online translator is not ideal”. Students were warned that these online translators do not produce an accurate translation.

The Tools

I suggested to students that they should use their resource sheets and work from what they know in French. I provided paper French- English dictionaries to the students and offered WordReference as an online translator should they be stuck but warned that it would not translate entire sentences (This is my prefered online dictionary for translation).

After surveying and peeking over shoulders in the computer lab here is the list on online translators my students used most to complete this assignement:

• Translate
• Babel Fish
• Google Translate

I struggle with this question: What is the value of an English project that was translated with an online translator? The student has not demonstrated that they can choose, organize, prepare, and produce a French menu or a Tourism Commercial.

The Humor

My favorite translation I found in a project was: écrasure de orange for orange juice. The proper translation should be jus d’orange. The translation provided states: smooshed of orange. )