Globalization in the Classroom: Students, Citizenship and Consumerism

Abstract

This paper discusses implications of globalization as it impacts educational practices, procedures, and policies. Because economic competition on a global scale encourages corporations to influence educators to replicate dominant culture values within classrooms, these patterns serve to create and valorise power differentials that prevent society members, including students, from participating fully in all aspects of a democratic society. A critical pedagogy beginning with Habermas' Ideal Speech Situation may serve to question practices, procedures, and policies that preserve power differentials that prevent students from developing their capacities for becoming agents of positive social change.

About the Author

Robert White has taught extensively in public school systems across Canada and is currently an Associate Professor at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. Research interests include critical literacy, learning and leadership, globalization, and corporate involvement in educational settings. His most recent books include Burning Issues: Foundations of Education (2004), The Practical Critical Educator: Critical Inquiry and Educational Practice (2005), and Critical Literacies in Action: Social Perspectives and Teaching Practices (2008).