Kids as Commodities: Globalization and Canadian

Schools

“Globalization is a coup d’etat in slow motion” John Ralston Saul

• The term globalization has a number of different meanings for a number of different groups.

• There are two particular features to this new brand of globalization: communication technology, and the conservative modernization movement.

Communication Technology• The impact of

communication technology has allowed people in the world to know each other better. Even though there is a gap between rich and poor, technology is building a bridge.

• It has changed the way we teach and what we teach.

Conservative Modernization• Combination of four

distinct groups, working in concert for the adoption of the right ideology in the public sphere:

- neoconservatism

- neoliberalism

- authoritarian populism

- managerial and professional new middle class

Neoconservatism• “Stems from a “vision of an

Edenistic past and wants a return to discipline and traditional knowledge” (Apple, 2001, p.11)

• Evidence of its’ presence includes:- curricular standards- standardized testing- return to the three R’s

• Charter school and home school legislation has provided the opportunity for these neoconservative groups to attain public funding that would otherwise be denied such support.

Neoliberalism

• This ideology is directly related to the privatization and the market economic discourse and is the most powerful paradigm of conservative modernization.

• Public institutions are seen as black holes into which money is poured… there is no accountability or efficiency.

• Efficiency and the ethic of cost-benefit analysis are the dominant norms.

• The underlying belief is one where anything public is bad and anything private is good.

• There is a fundamental faith in capitalism.

Authoritarian PopulismAre generally “religious

fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals who want a return to (their) God in all of our institutions” (Apple, 2001, p. 11).

They view public schools as a very dangerous place, where godlessness is rampant, there is no morality, no support for the traditional family structure and a loss of Biblical connections.

The power of this group extends beyond issues of gender, sexuality and the family, into the issue of legitimate knowledge in the schools.

This power extends to pressure placed on publishing companies to change what they include in textbooks and in altering aspects of educational policy on teaching, curriculum and evaluation.

Managerial and Professional New Middle Class

• These are the people with managerial backgrounds and efficiency skills who provide the professional support for accountability, measurement, and assessment that is required by the neoliberal and neoconservative proponents.

• These are the people who have the technical expertise to implement the policies.

• They are willing to sacrifice some of their more liberal values for the chance to invest in the cultural capital necessary to gain economic certainty for themselves and their children.

So what has this got to do with public education in Alberta?

Powerful lobby groups• Conference Board

of Canada - neoliberal - focus on increased partnerships between business and public schools (P3’s) - sees public schools primary function to prepare students for the world of work

• Canadian Taxpayers Federation

- neoliberal- advocate for

standardized testing not only for students but teachers (Value-Added assessment) - choice (Vouchers)

- merit pay- separation of

union and professional body- principals as

managers not educational leaders- no increase in

taxes

• The Fraser Institute- most vocal

and most well known-

neoliberal- view public education

as a monopoly- the only

alternative is to create an open market for education

- provision of choice necessary

- strong proponents for the privatization of public schools - propaganda machine with the publication of standardized test scores in local newspapers

How does all this affect my school?

• Not only has this brand of globalization changed the very discourse of public education policy, management and structure, but manifests itself in the commercialization of schools.

• Lack of adequate funding and the downloading of tasks once taken up outside the school, have created the conditions in which administrators and teachers must participate.

• Hold your nose approach

• cSchools:

• Commericalization manifests itself in a number of ways:

- sponsorship programs and activities

- incentive programs - appropriation of space- sponsored educational materials - electronic marketing- exclusive agreements- privatization

Sponsorship Programs and Activities

• Includes :- underwriting

athletic events in return for naming rights

- offering schools incentives to create activities that showcase a sponsors products or services

Incentive Programs• Corporations often

attach themselves to educational activities that are considered valuable, such as learning to read.

- General Mills Box Tops for Education

- Campbell’s Soup’s Labels for Education

Appropriation of Space

• Schools and classrooms have various surfaces that can be used to advertise:

- hallways- rooftops- school buses- textbook covers- menus

Sponsored Educational Materials• Business and trade

associations produce materials or hire firms such as Scholastic.

• The point is to tell the corporation’s story whether it is The Tale of the Great Bunny from Cadbury Chocolate Canada or McDonalds teaching aid which includes lesson packs for geography, math and English

Electronic Marketing• Given the pressure for

schools to integrate technologies into schools, it is inevitable that marketers would use the demand for technology (computers, internet, cameras, television etc.) to promote products and services

- Zap Me!- YNN- Channel One

Exclusive Agreements• This is the fastest

growing type of schoolhouse commercialization.

• A school district agrees to sell only a particular product for a specified number of years in return of a guaranteed percentage from the profits of those sales.

Privatization

• All of the rest of commercialism is timid compared to the privatization.

• This is the selling of the schools themselves as the product.

Education Alternatives Inc.

• Many of these experiments in the privatization of public education have occurred in the United States. However, trade agreements like NAFTA and GATS open up the Canadian market by: - national treatment - seek to widen trade to include services as well as goods - entrenched is the principle of no return

It is important to remember; corporations, for the most part, do

not participate in public life for philanthropic reasons. Decisions regarding participation are made

by marketing departments looking to increase sales.

• As a result of globalization, the face of public education has and will continue to change.

• As educators, we must be aware of these changes and become active participants in the protection and direction of the changes if the preservation of democracy and equality is our goal.