Neoliberalism in education is a hot topic, especially in a time of strong competition in the global knowledge economy.
In the last decades, new economic powers have been rising in Asia.[1] The economic growth in for example Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, has led to an elevation of the average living standard and the growth of the middle class.[2] Some of these countries have known a longer history of economic prosperity but others are going through a transition which elevates their living standard over a certain ‘tipping point’. A new class consisting of skilled workers and capitalists has led to a rapidly growing middle class and a higher demand for academic credentials in the knowledge-based economy.[3]
Among these upcoming economies in the east, one country in particular stands out; China. Of all upcoming economies in the east, the so called ‘Asian Tigers’, China has made a remarkable economic development over the last twenty years.[4] With the shift from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy, China has entered the arena of competition within the global knowledge economy. The extensive Chinese population is relatively young and the pressure on local universities has increased strongly over time. Every year the University of Beijing receives over a million applications for their undergraduate programs.[5] This, together with the high demand for academic credentials from western countries, has led to the fact that China is now the biggest source of international students in the entire world.[6] The high number of Chinese international students and China’s booming economy, turns the country in a perhaps unintentional economic threat to the position of the western world.
The Bologna Declaration
Simultaneously to the rise of the Asian Tigers, Europe started a project in 1999 with the goal of integrating the European educational systems. It became known as the ‘Bologna Declaration’.[7] The Bologna Declaration marked the beginning for European cooperation in education and was originally a plan designed for eleven years. By 2010 the goals should be achieved and conferences were established to secure the progression of the project.[8] Throughout the progression of the Bologna process, the role of the European Commission became more prominent in the project. The main reason to do so, was to strengthen the instrument behind the European knowledge economy: the educational system.[9] The Bologna Declaration transformed from an ambitious project to a useful tool to keep up in the world economy.
The integration of the European educational systems, was facilitated by implementing a standardised bachelor-master structure with corresponding titles such as Master of Arts and Master of Science.[10] Additionally, credits for courses were standardised through the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System).[11] ECTS would make it easier to validate study points in another European country than where they were earned. Apart from the Bachelor-Master structure and the ECTS, the aim was to standardise the quality assessment approach of educational programs.[12] By doing so, the quality of education could efficiently be improved all across Europe which could increase the pace in which Europe could work on its competitive position in the world economy.
The Education and Training Monitor
The implementation of the standardised quality assessment comes forward prominently in the ‘Education and Training Monitor’, which is an annual publication of the European Commission measuring the development of educational systems in the European Union. According to the Education and Training Monitor itself, it is a ‘yearly evaluation of education and training systems across Europe’.[13] The foundation of the monitor are the ET 2020 goals, which are the EU target points for education by the year 2020.[14] According to the report, these goals consist of ‘early leavers’ in education and ‘tertiary educational attainment’, which are the so called ‘headline targets’ of the ET 2020 goals.[15] What the headline targets of the ET 2020 goals primarily focus on, is the stimulation of achieving the highest degree possible per individual.[16] According to the report these goals are almost met, which has created space for new goals for the future. These goals belong to the category of ‘other targets’ and consist of ‘early childhood education and care’, ‘underachievement in mathematics reading and science’, ‘adult participation in learning’ and ‘the employment rate of recent graduates’.[17]
Since the targets of the ET 2020 goals have almost been met, the ‘other targets’ give away that additional goals will be established in the future. Apart from measurable goals such as educational attainment and employability, there is gradually more room for goals regarding citizenship and European identity. In the report this ambition becomes clear by goals such as ‘promoting citizenship competences’, ‘the importance of education for integration in European societies’ and ‘language competences among EU citizens’.[18] These examples show that the idea of a European educational system reaches further than just grades and numbers, it is an idealistic project to teach European citizens democratic values and tolerance. Citizenship-education is according to the European vision one of the most efficient ways to introduce citizens to their democratic rights, create a stronger sense of belonging, approach media with a critical mindset and learn to cooperate with each other.[19]
Since the European continent consists of many nation states, a common European identity can be useful for many reasons. One of the most obvious, is internal peace. Europe has a long history of wars and internal conflicts and aligning norms and values among the European nations and intercultural contact and understanding, can reduce the risk of conflicts strongly. Additionally, peace is essential for economic growth. Transnational cooperation stimulates trade and expands the trade market which is beneficial for the entire European economy. Peace and economic growth lead to stability and security which is essential for Europe to stay competitive in the global economy and politics. In order to achieve that, transnational cooperation and the liberalisation of the educational field can be a very strong and useful tool.
Neoliberalism in education
The European Union is not the only organisation who has discovered the potential of upscaling the educational system to a supranational level. Just like the EU, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), operates on an international level while promoting a world-wide marketing of higher education.[20] It does so, by stimulating gender equality and the expansion of global labor markets.[21] The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has similar ambitions. Just like the WTO it strives for gender equality and the opening of global markets, in particular that of developed countries.[22] Another important player on the world market, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), agrees upon the same beliefs as the OECD and WTO and uses it to advocate for their global operations.[23]
Since these different organisations have a similar agenda, it is interesting to investigate what kind of interests are behind these ideals. An answer can be found in strengthening the global influence by using education as a tool to do so. All of the earlier mentioned organisations are of western origin and are promoting ‘western values’ such as gender equality, democracy and sustainable development.[24] A vital part of education is the transmission of values and culture which is why globalising the educational system could be used as a tool to maintain a dominant western position in the world economy and -politics.
A way in which the western domination becomes very clear, is the relation of the World Bank and education in developing countries. The World Bank has strong educational guidelines and is simultaneously an important source for loans supporting educational projects in developing countries.[25] In order to receive a loan for education from the World Bank, it is very likely that the educational guidelines of the organisation must be met. As a result of that, developing countries become not only financially dependent on the World Bank, they have to meet certain additional criteria as well.
Another example of western influence in developing countries, are the so called ‘Branch Universities’. These universities are part of an established university and function as a franchise of the main university in a different country or region.[26] Branch universities establish a physical presence of western educational institutes in developing countries, leading to a sphere of influence through the transmission of educational values.
While the existence of branch universities and strong educational guidelines of international western organisations might seem like a sign of ‘neoliberalism in education’, this conclusion might be much more nuanced in reality. Behind the establishment of the WTO in 1995, there was a general idea to promote the free trade in goods.[27] Since goods are not only physical but can include the trade in services as well, two more projects named GATS and TRIPs were established.[28] The primary focus of GATS was to expand the trade of only goods, to that of goods and services, while the focus of TRIPs became to expand the free global trade of knowledge related products.[29] GATS and TRIPs are obliged to follow three general rules of the WTO, which are the equal treatment of all trading partners, equal treatment of all foreign providers of educational products or services in a host country, and the rule that each country has the authority to decide what market share is given to foreign educational providers.[30] In relation to the last rule, countries have the authority to allow or reject branch universities to the country, the only rule of the WTO is that once they do decide to allow one branch university in, they have to allow those of other countries as well.[31]
The rules of the WTO might be an indication that the purpose of the organisation is indeed to secure nothing but the equality and fair competition within trade. Moreover, the trade in educational services is not a new phenomenon. In the nineteenth century many Chinese students studied in Japan and in the timeframe of several centuries there has been international migration for seeking education in the Islamic countries as well.[32] Whether the force driving international organisations such as the WTO, OECD and UNESCO is a form of neoliberalism in education or an innocent idealistic project, remains therefore an unanswered question. Yet, regardless of the motivation for educational organisations to operate on an international level, it is a fact that globalisation influences the national landscape of education.
Conclusion: Neoliberalism in education. A myth or reality?
Just like the rest of society, the educational system is globalising. Diverse technological developments have allowed the facilitation of the upscaling of education. It is easier than ever before to be physically and digitally connected with the rest of the world which has created space for the expansion of educational systems and institutes to a bigger scale. The Bologna declaration marked the beginning of a new era in which European nations started to cooperate by standardising the European educational systems. When the foundation for that was created, Europe started another ambitious project to create a European identity and work on the transmission of European values through the educational system. The incentive for doing so, could be related to the uprise of new economic powers, in particular that of the Asian Tigers. Additionally, the global influence of western educational institutes becomes gradually more visible in developing countries through the establishment of branch universities.
International western organizations such as the WTO, OECD and UNESCO, have started similar projects in the field of education as the EU which raises the question why there is so much attention for this field in particular. In other words, what interests motivate the western countries to cooperate and act globally in the field of education?
One way to answer that question is to secure the dominant economic and political position of the western countries in the world. Another answer can be found in the importance of the transmission of norms and values according to the western countries.
Regardless of the intention behind the globalisation of education, it is a given that the upscaling of education is strongly connected to the expansion of a global influence. The globalisation of education is thereby automatically a tool that can be used for neoliberal purposes. Whether the globalisation of western education is used to maintain a competitive position in the world market, an innocent idealistic project, or whether it serves any other purpose, remains therefore an interesting but complicated question.
References
Amaral, Alberto., Neave, Guy., Musselin, Christine., Maassen, Peter. European Integration and the Governance of Higher Education and Research. (1st edn New York: Springer, 2010).
Brooks, Rachel & Waters, Johanna. Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education. (1st edn Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).
Navracsics, Tibor. Education and Training Monitor 2018. (1st edn Luxemburg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018).
Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st
edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009).
[1] Brooks, Rachel., Waters, Johanna. Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education. (1st edn Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) p.46.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Amaral, Alberto., Neave, Guy., Musselin, Christine., Maassen, Peter. European Integration and the Governance of Higher Education and Research. (1st edn New York: Springer, 2010) p.87.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10]Amaral, Alberto., Neave, Guy., Musselin, Christine., Maassen, Peter. European Integration and the Governance of Higher Education and Research. (1st edn New York: Springer, 2010) p.10.
[11]Ibid.
[12]Amaral, Alberto., Neave, Guy., Musselin, Christine., Maassen, Peter. European Integration and the Governance of Higher Education and Research. (1st edn New York: Springer, 2010) p.10.
[13] Navracsics, Tibor. Education and Training Monitor 2018. (1st edn Luxemburg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018) p.1.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Navracsics, Tibor. Education and Training Monitor 2018. (1st edn Luxemburg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018) p.9.
[20] Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.83.
[21] Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.82.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.83.
[24] Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.102.
[25] Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.44.
[26] Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.84.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29]Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.84.
[30]Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.85.
[31]Ibid.
[32]Spring, Joel. Globalization of Education, an introduction. (1st edn New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009) p.83.