Globalization: Science education from an international perspective

Abstract

As the world becomes more connected and dependent on shared natural and intellectual resources, questions of how we create a high level of scientific literacy for all children throughout the globe become essential for us to consider. How can we leverage what we learn in each country to improve science education not only within our own country but around the globe? Children throughout the world, if we are to survive as a planet, will need to have a deep level of scientific literacy. In recent decades research and understanding of science instruction around the world has increased substantially, through continuously growing international cooperation on the part of science education researchers and as a result of international monitoring studies like TIMSS and PISA. This special issue of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching aims at building closer international cooperation, with a particular emphasis on valuing and keeping cultural diversity. We explore three closely linked facets of this international work: (1) the transformation of the world economies and cultures, (2) the increasing challenges faced by global socio-scientific issues (such as climate change), and (3) the globalization of science education research. Globalization is a widely used term describing processes of global (i.e., worldwide) distribution of ideas and goods, most significantly with regard to scientific, technological, economic and cultural products and developments. Carter (2008a, p. 617) claims: “Globalization refers to the recent transformations of capital, labor, markets, communications, scientific and technological innovations, and ideas stretching out across the globe.” Charlton and Andras (2006) defined globalization as a phenomenon of modernization, which describes societies characterized by progressive growth in the complexity of communications, in particular, “specifically to the increasing dominance of an international network of communications—especially in the economy, but also in social systems such as politics, the mass media, and science and technology” (p. 869). According to Freeman (2005), globalization is going to be increasingly driven not only by individuals but also by a much more diverse, non-Western, non-white-group of individuals. Individuals from every corner of the world are being empowered. Globalization has worked to reduce the economic, political, and socio-cultural distance between people and cultures by expanding international relations. Globalization not only refers to a series of economic but also technological changes that have modified the way the world works and transfers information (Penn, 2005, p. 4; cited in Quigley, 2009). These changes could include international trade, manpower migration, knowledge management, and information exchange. With the exponential advancement of information technology reducing transaction costs and time constraints around the world, dual processes of globalization, namely, economic and institutional globalization, “operate in conjunction with the neoliberal policies creating conditions necessary for state restructuring of education on a global scale and then to transform the shape of education and how national school systems operate” (Astiz, Wiseman, & Baker, 2002; cited in Clothey, Mills, & Baumgarten, 2010, p. 308). Clearly processes of economic globalization may be only successful if backed up by processes of educational development, as education is critical for future economic progress (Brown, Lauder, & Ashton, 2008; Spring, 2008). Major conceptions of scientific literacy (Bybee, 1997; DeBoer, 2000; Millar & Osborne, 1998; OECD, 2006) point out that substantial familiarity with science concepts, principles, and features of the nature of science is needed both to further the development of science and technology and to critically evaluate the impacts of scientific developments on nature and society. In other words, on the one hand it is essential for further economic development to interest young people in engaging in future development of science and technology (such as developing semiconductors to advance information technology); on the other hand it is crucial to develop critical citizenship so as to avoid the dangers often affiliated with technological advances (such as human cloning). Briefly summarized, globalization of science related knowledge plays a significant role in supporting and reinforcing economic and cultural globalization. Hence, there is a “knowledge economy” (Ernest, 2008; Peters, 2002) focusing on global distribution of certain kinds of knowledge (here science related knowledge). Ernest (2008, p. 22) discussed various features of this knowledge economy for mathematics education. Processes of globalization are not new phenomena. Science (as we know it since the times of Galileo Galilei in the 16th century) developed from the very start through close international cooperation first in Europe, later step by step worldwide (Charlton & Andras, 2006; Gough, 2008). Industrialization, at least in Europe, fuelled by a rapid development of technologies (such as the steam engine) may also be seen as a globalization. With regard to globalization of science education research, such processes started, perhaps, in the 1960s in the so called Western World as a response to the Sputnik shock. Although an increasing amount of research examining the impact of globalization on economics and policy is available, little research has been conducted and published investigating the implications of globalization in the areas of K-12 science classrooms, science teacher professional development, or science education research (Martin, 2010, p. 270). Carter (2005)1 takes a critical perspective regarding the consequences of globalization processes as outlined above with regard to science education. She argues that “science education improvement discourses are more representative of national responses to global economic restructuring and the imperatives of the supranational institutions than they are of quality research into science teaching and learning” (p. 573). In addition, she points out that neoliberalism aims to produce creative and flexible problem solvers for the knowledge economies of the global market (p. 574). Ironically, she also criticized neoliberalism for imposing auditing mechanisms like universalized testing of standards which can eliminate the possibility of flexible instruction. The paradox between curriculum standards, national assessments (e.g., NAEP), international competitions (e.g., TIMSS and PISA), and inquiry-based approaches to prepare citizens (national and global) for the 21st century should be carefully examined and analyzed in order to provide evidence for making policies for science education for our next generations. Briefly summarized, globalization processes as outlined above have to be seriously taken into account in science education policy, science education research, as well as in planning and performing science instruction. The contributions in the present special issue provide ideas for dealing with this challenge. Beginning in the 1990s the advent of the 21st century fuelled another intensive, and this time worldwide, debate about the aims of science instruction. It was a general consensus that the traditional orientation of science instruction in schools would not meet the challenges of globalization, such as advanced scientific and technological innovations and socio-scientific issues across the globe. As a result new conceptions of scientific literacy were developed—partly through international cooperation (Bybee, 1997; DeBoer, 2000; Millar & Osborne, 1998). The OECD presented a conception of scientific literacy that allowed for the measurement of key features of scientific literacy within the international monitoring studies PISA (OECD, 1999; for a further developed conception see OECD, 2009) carried out in 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009. Whereas international monitoring studies completed before the 1990s, seemingly had limited effects on the development of science instruction in the participating countries and were only loosely linked to the science education research community, this changed step by step beginning with TIMSS (Third International Science and Mathematics Study; Beaton et al., 1996) followed by the series of TIMSS (now labeled: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and PISA studies. Clearly, these studies contributed significantly to the development of global perspectives of science education and to the internationalization of science education research. For instance, Germany organized a symposium on standards in science education in which representatives from different countries were invited to contribute their expertise and experiences on development of standards for scientific literacy in different cultures. Some of the participants were from countries with high ranking in PISA performance (such as Finland and Taiwan, see Waddington, Nentwig, & Schanze, 2007; for details see also DeBoer's article in this issue). Briefly summarized, however, it seems that PISA results (as well as results from TIMSS) were quite often used for developing science education in each home country and much less frequently for international cooperation concerning improving instruction. Anderson, Chiu, and Yore (2010, p. 385) offer the criticism that few researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders fully understood PISA's underlying framework or accepted the definitions of scientific literacy associated with the assessment frameworks. They claimed that the outcomes and features of PISA offer valuable information for policy makers. For instance, Denmark reacted to its nation's relatively low performance in PISA 2000 with an immediate response by the Minister of Education (Tørnæs, 2001, cited in Dolin & Krogh, 2010) announcing systematic evaluation and assessment (including an electronic computer-based system of national tests). However, Dolin and Krogh (2010) further argued that the PISA conception of scientific literacy might not accurately represent traditional Danish priorities (such as subject-centered knowledge/competencies). This may serve to caution policymakers to be mindful of making appropriate contextual interpretations of seemingly universal standards like PISA. argues that and PISA us little about what educational in claims: of these very little of what the are by with their in the classrooms, and how this can be (p. the however, one also into account that these studies the development of various to improve the curriculum and in countries et al., & 2010) as well as research studies around the world, such as the studies on the of science instruction (e.g., et al., 2006; & In have been carried out in close cooperation with science from countries (e.g., and of Science Education for that between the of national assessments in a country and results of TIMSS and PISA may to that may be used to improve instruction in the In addition, the international monitoring studies TIMSS and PISA or at least significantly international cooperation with regard to educational standards concerning school science instruction should develop (e.g., et al., Whereas processes of globalization in the of are not new as argued the science education on is quite recent and We carried out a on of Science on the of published on globalization. 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