A Global Curriculum? Understanding Teaching and Learning in the United States, Taiwan, India, and Mexico

Abstract

While educators recognize that teaching and learning are complex activities evolving from social and cultural contexts, pressure is mounting to be internationally competitive. This research relates a global and responsive discussion of internationalization in education through comparative analyses of current educational discourse about mathematics, science, and technology in the United States, Mexico, India, and Taiwan. Interestingly, changes in education in countries around the globe seem to be leading to a global curriculum. This research examines that phenomenon in several ways. First, we examine what has been happening in the United States. Second, we examine what has been happening in one area of Mexico. Third, we examine what has been happening in India. Fourth, we examine what has been happening in Taiwan. Fifth, we discuss what we have learned relative to the possibility of a global curriculum, specifically related to mathematics, science, and technology, and sixth, we make recommendations for teacher education. In our search for a “global” curriculum, we use an ethnographic procedure referred to as “walking around” culture, which includes participant observation, personal reflection, and cultural immersion. Four of us made several visits to the three countries: India, Mexico, and Taiwan. The findings show that, even though there is no actual global curriculum, there appears to be a de facto global curriculum. Based on that, six recommendations are provided for preparing pre-service and in-service teachers.