Toward a new public education: Making globalization work for us all

Abstract

Globalization is a long-term, multidimensional process. If it is to benefit humankind rather than ruining the planet, a number of threats must be urgently addressed, and many global processes must be better managed. This article proposes that managing globalization for the common good requires, inter alia, an enhanced role for democracy, a role supported by a new public education that is inscribed with 6 key values - democracy, critical thinking, relational ethics, creativity, social justice, and solidarity - and is based on a particular image of the child and the school. The article concludes by asking how this new public education might gain ground in the face of strong obstacles and proposes democratic experimentalism and "glocal" networks (the global linking of local experiences) as important elements of positive change that is radical in direction but piecemeal in form. © 2008, Copyright the Author(s) Journal Compilation © 2008, Society for Research in Child Development.