Education as an Instrument of Globalisation in Developing Countries, by Erwin H. Epstein

 Abstract

As nations intensify political and economic investment in access to schools, the content and organizational contours of education become more universalistic, resulting in an expanding compression of consciousness throughout much of the world.  This process of globalization has resulted in the displacement of indigenous cultures, accompanied by social class reproduction, human capital production, and national economic development.  Yet despite the reach and importance of education in transforming lives under conditions of globalization, its impact at the world periphery has not been explicated sufficiently.  Professor Epstein proposes a “filter-effect” theory to explain how schools penetrate the cultures of traditional societies and why this process has been poorly understood.

Erwin H. Epstein is Professor Emeritus of Cultural and Educational Policy Studies at Loyola University Chicago and Adjunct Research Professor of Comparative Education at University at Albany, State University of New York. He is a past president of the Comparative and International Education Society (USA) and is currently that organization’s historian. He is also a past president of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies and a former editor of the Comparative Education Review. His current primary research interests focus on the impact of education on the national and cultural identity of children in marginalized communities and on comparative theory.

The research seminar will be held at 3.00 pm on Thursday 9 February 2012, in Committee Room 3 at the Institute of Education, University of London. Admission is free, but places should be reserved by e-mailing llakesevents@ioe.ac.uk.