1. Global Problems In Education 1
Global Problems In Education
Desmond Randle
Texas Tech University
INTS 3330 Spring 2015

2. Global Problems In Education 2
Introduction
Somewhere along the way of coming up with an interesting enough topic to research and
write about I began to consider the interdisciplinary problem of education in itself. I believe this
can be labeled as an interdisciplinary problem because in order to solve the various different
problems within education, I believe that several different disciplines will be essential to a
realistic or even fantasy like solution. I have come to the conclusion that education can be a
problem for disciplines such as: political, psychological, economical, ethical, geographical,
technological and much more. These disciplines are each contributing to the problems of
education but will also be necessary to finding a solution to education because it is such a diverse
problem believe it or not. The problems within education are not limited to the students or the
teachers but these other perspectives as well.
In order to come up with an interdisciplinary solution to the problems of education, one
must first begin researching the different disciplines that contribute to the problem itself. I have
learned while researching that education is so much bigger than just going to class and learning
from a teacher. Problems can arise with getting to the school firstly, then dealing with the
pressures of school mentally, actually being able to learn from the teachers provided, being able
to use or even have the supplies and resources necessary to be successful in school, and much
more problems as well. These problems honestly just scratch the surface with education. The
reason I consider education a global complex problem is because it is not just limited to local or
national consideration. It is definitely a problem that is going on world wide for various different
reasons in each specific location. Education can also be as simple as a personal problem as well
in my opinion, and this is a smaller scale in the grand scheme of things but is just as important.

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The only rationale thing to do is to consider education from every possible level we can
possible come in contact with and from every different disciplinary perspective. With that being
said, it is important to find a solution to what makes education necessary or what makes people
want to become more educated also. I think education is so psychological in that it is so
important for the person trying to learn to have the right mindset and to be passionate about
wanting to learn more or else it makes everything else harder and more of a problem in my mind.
If a person doesn’t want to learn than how can they become a valuable citizen and what
constitutes whether they are valuable or not? Education is really more of a complex problem than
people give it credit for and solutions are needed to ensure the stability of the learning system
and societies in general.
Literature Review
The problem with education is really that it gets too complicated amongst other problems
or issues. For example, education is too intertwined with the political system and the problems
within politics. Education is also a complex problem because it revolves around people and the
many problems that people can have. Lastly education is a complex problem because it deals
with the biggest problem in the world which every thing deals with really, that being money or
economics in general. It is easy to ask the question of “ Why/How do each of these problems
relate to education?”. But it is harder to ask “ What is a solution to education by solving the
problems of how each of these things directly relate to education itself?”
I was able to learn a very valuable lesson while researching this global complex topic of
education, which I did not know nor did I even think related to education. This lesson was that
whenever you try to mix anything with politics, politics would always exceed importance over
the other thing involved. This is important because education has been for far to long intertwine

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with politics and is taking a back seat to politics as expected. I read an article that went into
detail about the problems between politics and education and it centered on the idea of No Child
Left Behind. I was somewhat familiar with No Child Left Behind but did not know exactly what
was expected of it and the circumstances. I found that the idea was for every single student to
become above average in their learning and test taking for school. This brought me to the
question though of what defines the line of average, and who sets that mark? In the article
Mixing Education With Politics this topic of everyone exceeding standards was brought up and
someone asked or somewhat stated, “isn’t that just impossible?”(Greene). This question was
answered with an even more complex answer of “well, which children do YOU want to leave
behind?”(Greene). I thought this was such an interesting response in that it literally showed just
how much more politics is relevant over education.
While on the topic of politics in education one can assume that there must be a logical
solution to the problem at hand. But as always a complex problem requires a complex solution. It
seems as long as we involve politics as a helping hand to education, we will come out will
political solutions to educational problems, which is no help at all. So when we begin to look at
how to solve the political problem we then realize the answer to most political problems revolve
around the other problem I stated earlier that is a worldwide problem, being money itself. The
people, who have the funds to make them disappear, brush so many political problems under the
rug. But how could this be of any help in the educational problem? The answer in my opinion is
that neither money nor politics will solve educational problems because those things bring in
more problems of their own.
With regards to economics in education it can be said that money can have several
different impacts on education and the students as well. Money can affect the quality of

5. Global Problems In Education 5
education, the finances and aids for students, and also the impact of affective evaluations. The
number of students that cannot afford higher education is an extreme amount that seems all too
common. Also it is common for schools to not be able to afford the necessary supplies or
teaching staff to offer the best education possible to the students involved. I have seen this first
hand where schools I have gone to had way more equipment available to the students than some
other schools in our same district. Also what I noticed was that these other schools that were less
fortunate also had more minorities and lower overall test scores. I think it is unfortunate that in
many cases you cannot choose which school you are able to learn at and are forced to whichever
school may be closest to where you live, which can in some cases be the less fortunate schools. It
is important to ask the question of “how can we fairly allocate finances and resources to prevent
such inequalities?” According to the article about Economics of Education, a great question is
asked that brings things back to politics, “how much is spent on education and what is the share
of the government’s expenditure?”(Education). Economics play such a major role in education
that it would be almost impossible not to address the issue when considering this global complex
problem.
Connections
There is and has also been a connection between politics and the economy because
money it what politicians thrive off of and strive for. As the saying goes “money makes the
world go around” and so politicians will also be in the hand of the people holding the checkbook.
This is bad in terms of education because then not only are many corrupt, money hungry people
getting involved with educational policies, but this intervening is also translating into the lives of
many young people. How can you solve and educational problem when education isn’t even the

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main priority? This problem is the important one that needs to be addressed before anything else
can begin being solved.
With education as the main priority I do believe the other perspectives can become of
assistance to solving the problems within education. For instance if politicians set more policies
focusing finances on education and the students involved, instead of on the politicians
themselves and maybe even the higher officials or boosters involved with the schools, than more
students could have chances at becoming better educated. So much of schools money revolves
around things that have nothing to do with the education at all. And so many politics in the
education system are far more important than the learning. I do not think it is all the fault of
economics and politics though. I personally believe we students need to become way more
involved in our own studies and successes in school. So many of history’s public figures were
able to thrive under worse educational circumstances, but became successful not because of the
policies in place or the financial opportunities their education systems afforded them. They
became successful because they applied themselves and were far more interested in becoming
educated than today’s world. Many of us are spoiled with the successes of those who have raised
us, while others have become ignorant to the fact that being educated is a blessing and a privilege
not a chore.
It is unfortunate that politics and money have a dark cloud over education but I do think
there are ways to reverse this affect. Firstly to be clear, money can improve the quality of
education. The thing is, not everyone has the same access to larger amounts of money as some
more fortunate people do and therefore cannot afford better quality education. Also there are
beneficial polices in place that make for better education. According to the Economics of
Education article, “public policy requires evidence of what works, and what does

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not”(Education). This can be beneficial for the obvious reason that if you know what is working
you can do more of it, while if you know what doesn’t work you can cease that option. Either
way each discipline has a beneficial perspective to it that we need to take more advantage of to
improve the education system.
Integrative Framework
I recently was speaking to a friend of mine and somehow the topic of school and
education came up. He was telling the group how he found out he had a learning disability that
made him struggle throughout school all his life and still present day. His disability was that he
saw things differently from how they actually were somewhat similar to dyslexia, which caused
him to have to read things over and over or caused him to perceive things in an abstract manner.
He said because of this his grades suffered tremendously, which I already knew because I had
many classes with him but I just assumed it was because he didn’t apply himself and wasn’t very
book smart. Looking back on it I know can see how this wasn’t the case. He came from a
military family so he was very discipline at home because his parents forced him to be, making
him study much more than I can remember me studying myself. But he still did not see the
results from the efforts he put in. He was in remedial classes because of his grades and teachers
told his parents that he probably would never graduate high school.
I bring this story up not only because it relates to education and learning but also because
it shows that sometimes psychologically and mentally, students cannot attain the standards in
place for them. Not only is it a psychological blow to hear a teacher say that you are not going to
pass something that you work at, but it is also a psychological and mental blow to a person when
they literally cannot control their mind when trying to do something. I myself have been blessed
to not have any disabilities like my friend and I still find ways to slack off and not apply myself

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the way I should. I really want to do better out of pride but something about the education system
just does not excite me to learn the way I would like because I have not have many
circumstances in which I felt the knowledge was applicable to my life. I feel as if so many other
student suffer from this same mentality as well, so now not only is education becoming a
problem because of politics and money but also because of students psychological mentality’s.
I believe that if we can find a way to bring back the importance of school and learning
new things to present day students then we can begin to make improvements to our education
system. Also if we can continue to explore new ways to aid students who have these such
disabilities and find ways to test them for what will best be of assistance to them then maybe
school will be more motivating for them mentally and psychologically. I have learned from this
class that everyone is different in so many ways and has a different way to contribute to society
that someone else may not. But at the same time I have also learned that certain disabilities and
mentalities are more common than we may think. If we could bring politics, money, and
education to be more aiding to the people then I think everything will be more practical, but of
course that is easier said than done.

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References
Greene, P. (n.d.). Mixing Education With Politics. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/education-politics_b_5308328.html
Education. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2015, from
http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/economics-of-education

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Final Paper Grading Rubric
Criteria
Points
Possible
Points
Earned
General
Paper adheres to APA formatting (title page, citations,references page,etc.).
Filename is correct. This rubric pasted at the end of the assignment.
10
Writing is clear with appropriate grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Headings
are appropriately labeled
10
Introduction (500 words)
Student clearly identifies a complex problem or issue. It is clear from the writing
that the problem is interdisciplinary. The student provides a clear rationale for the
use of interdisciplinary research process.Incorporates feedback from first
assignment.
20
Literature Review (750 words)
Student provides a brief background for the problem/issue. The student identifies
and discusses meaningful interdisciplinary questions that should be asked about
the problem/issue (inequality, conflict, and environment). Student identifies and
discusses at least 2 (no more than 3) disciplinary perspective for addressing the
problem/issue. The rationale for choosing those disciplinary perspectives is clear.
Incorporates feedback from first assignment.
20
Connections (750 words)
Student identifies the common ground between the disciplinary perspectives.
Student discusses howthis common ground will address the problem in a more
precise way than disciplinary research might.
20
Integrative Framework (500 words)
Based on the common ground, student discusses a new, holistic, integrative
framework for understanding the problem/issue. Utilizes global perspective
concepts learned in the course.Provides a clear understanding ofboth the
interdisciplinary research process and global perspectives in constructing the new
framework for understanding the global problem/issue
20
Total 100
Instructors Comments: