21st Century Teaching And Learning: Impact Of Globalization And Social Change

21st Century Teaching and Learning

Our world is experiencing the great change at a very fast rate. This change affects almost all the fields including education. The pattern of learning and teaching is also changing these days as per the requirement of the knowledge by the students in order to compete in this competitive world (Jenkins, Purushotma, Weigel, Clinton & Robison, 2009). Students have to be successful in future and this focus on studies of the 21^st century students is demanding the change in the teaching and the learning process. This essay talks about the major changes that took place in 21^st century teaching and learning and the impact of two major factors that are, globalization and social changes on the 21^st century education.

21^st century teaching and learning can be defined as the improved education system that focuses on practical skills of the students. The four major competencies that is the main focus of this education system are collaboration, critical thinking, digital literacy and problem solving (Silva, 2008). These competencies are very important in order to teach the student to thrive in this world of competition. It has been analysed that 20^th century education is different from the 21^st century education because the 20^st century education is about the education of theoretical knowledge and 21^st century is about practical knowledge.

Globalization is the process that allows the businesses of the different countries to integrate and set up to the foreign land. It has impacted almost all the sectors of the businesses. Globalization has a great impact on the education system of the overall world. Globalisation results in internationalization of the education and this bring benefit as well as challenges for the education system. In order to develop the education system and providing improved education to the youth of the countries, the country tries to internationalize the education system in 21^st century (Garrison, 2011). The force that pushes the education system towards internationalization is the forces of society, politics and economy. Globalization and internationalization has brought up many choices for the 21^st century students to take up the education in different fields with different courses. Along with provision of choices to the students, globalization facilitates the students to take e-learning with the help of internet connectivity. This technological advancement proves to be very beneficial for the students of 21^st century (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). When any of the developing nations collaborates with any of the international organization or the educational institution for providing the services in their country, it raises the cost of education for the people (Hugonnier, 2007). This acts as challenge for the people and it results in concentration of wealth at one group of the society. This creates a poverty trap for the people. This is because the people from middle class or poor class cannot afford to take up the education that later on is valuable for their children to take up highly paid jobs. 

Impact of Globalization on 21st Century Education

This suggests that globalization not only brings benefits to the 21^st century education but also affected the same in the negative manner as well for the particular class of people. It has also impacted the teaching style of the teachers. The introduction of E-learning courses and classes result in less in-person communication of the students with the teachers. This may hinder the other important conversation between the teachers and the students which is also very important in terms of developing the practical knowledge.

Another important factor that has its impact on the 21^st century education is the social factor. Social changes can be defined as the changes that take place in the society due to change in requirements of the people, change in their income and their lifestyle. The social factors of the country or the place affect the way the students get their education nada los the teaching style of the teachers (Bellanca, 2010). This mainly affects the education at school level. It has been considered that individual cannot gain knowledge alone and they have to communicate with the society in order to apply the theoretical knowledge to the practical world. Society and its influence on the education can be beneficial for the students or can be harmful for them as well. The biggest change in the society that has come up from 20^th to 21^st century is about the gender education. In 21^st century, it has been analysed that females are equally taking participation in the courses that are earlier thought to be only for the males. Now the education is equal for all. Girls are also actively taking education and making their career. This is the very positive side of society because there are many programs introduced by the government of different countries to prohibit the basic education to the girls as well. Along with the positive aspect there is a challenge that the societal influence brings to the education. It is the influence of caste in the education (Jerald, 2009). It has been observed in Australia as well that the aboriginal people are still kept isolated from the higher education. This is the major drawback of the social impact on the education in 21^st century. 

It has been suggested that society has a great impact on the education system in 21^st century adversely (Brennan, 2008). This is because individuals have to interact with other people and have to use their knowledge and education in the practical and real world thus it is important to consider the societal aspects in education.

Conclusion:

It has been concluded from the above essay that 21^st century education is different from 20^th century education in many ways. The major reason is the theoretical and the practical aspect. The 20^th century education focuses on the theoretical aspect while 21^st century is about the practical aspect of the education. There are many factors that affect the change in the education in 21^st century. Globalization and social changes are considered as the most important part that affects the education system. Globalization helps in improving the education but internationalization creates the differences in the people who are rich and can have access to the international education and the poor who don’t have the access for the same. Social changes also affect the education in this century as the people are becoming aware of the importance and equality exists for the education of both the gender.

References:

Bellanca, J. A. (Ed.). (2010). 21st century skills: Rethinking how students learn. Solution Tree Press.

Brennan, J. (2008). Higher education and social change. Higher Education, 56(3), 381-393.

Garrison, D. R. (2011). E-learning in the 21st century: A framework for research and practice. Taylor & Francis.

Hugonnier, B. (2007). Globalization and education. Learning in the global era: International perspectives on globalization and education, 137.

Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robison, A. J. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Mit Press.

Jerald, C. D. (2009). Defining a 21st century education. Center for Public education, 16.

Silva, E. (2008). Measuring Skills for the 21st Century. Education Sector Reports. Education Sector.

Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. John Wiley & Sons.