Globalization and the Changing Economic Context of Education - Literature review Example

The paper "Globalization and the Changing Economic Context of Education" is a perfect example of a literature review on macro and microeconomics.In the global economy, higher productivity is dependent on knowledge and information applied in production. The only way to ensure that people enjoy the benefits of the global economy is only by teaching them to be highly productive, high competitiveness. This means productivity is totally dependent on education. There is a clear turn from economic activities which used to be standardized production to flexible, markets, labor, information and technology organized across the boundaries.

These changes directly affect education systems, which results in science-oriented education. Education is a crucial factor for it brings competitiveness and productivity for regions and countries throughout the world. According to Castells, (2001, p.4), the society has to deal with a new techno-economic system which requires new skills and knowledge if the full benefits of the system have to be attained. He explains that the capacity to provide new technologies is necessary for a new economy to operate since the informational economy depends on the networks’ capacity.

Capacity determines the success of an informational economy just in the same way that electricity determines the growth of an industrialized society. Transformation of management and production relationships is necessary for this capacity to be developed and education is the only means of achieving this. With development such as the internet, geographical location is no longer a limitation to growth but an inability to operate a new system could result in economic redundancy. Castells (2001) considers education as a more important solution to the global economy today since it depends on creativity and capacity.

Emerging information systems are complex and connected to information sources and data bases. This demands that new skills, appropriate training, and knowledge for society be attained to maximize the benefits of these systems (Castells, 2004, p.40). Those without education are therefore excluded from the benefits of the new global economy. As Kaldor (1998, p.899) states, those without education offer generic labor and are therefore substitutable since they posses lower skills or are unskilled.

In addition, they are paid low wage. The new global economy requires a transformation such to self-reprogrammable labor whereby control and management of information are exercised with high creativity (Castells, 2004, p.40). Flexibility is thus necessary to be maintained in the labor market and this is achieved through continuous improvement in skills held. This indicates that education is a prerequisite to benefiting from the new global economy. As new processes and information systems emerge, people are required to gain these skills for effective operation.

This means that education is a product of the new global economy. Castells states that lack of skills to operate new systems weakens workers or may result to the workers being trapped in the system resulting to lack of housing, psychological problems, additions, illness or lack of health insurance. Individuals strive to become aware of the environments they live in. education is key to strive to understand new systems and skills to operate this system. New curriculums and teaching materials are thus prepared to address this.

For instance, emergency of online trading resulted in managers going back to class to learn how to transform their organizations to reach the global market without any limitation of time and space. New development in education systems aims at bridging the gap between what is taught in theory and what is done in practice with the aim of addressing human problems. This ultimately results in productivity as one gains experience and the knowhow. I can conclusively say that education is as important to the new global economy as the new global economy is to education.