THE IMPACTS OF GLOBALIZATION ON HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES

Abstract

This article will examine how globalization challenges the ways we have traditionally conceptualize higher

education curriculum and reviews how globalization may affect educational practices in higher education and

its implications. The primary objective of this study was to identify the impacts of globalization on higher

education curriculum and create awareness of the need for rethinking in educational practices in higher educa

tion curriculum.The information in this article was obtained through review of literature; articles published

in peer review journals from the search engines and published books. Although there are many definitions of

curriculum, here the focus is on the definition by Hass (1987) which states that curriculum is “all of the expe

riences that individual learners have in a program of education whose purpose is to achieve broad goals and

related specific objectives, which is planned in terms of a framework of theory and research or past and present

professional practice” (p.5). Findings reveal that globalization is complex system, involving a large number of

integrated components operating together and characterized by constant changes. Although globalization is not

a new phenomenon, current trends show that it is erupting every nation in a very high speed. Global issues chal

lenge higher education every day and thus, education can no longer be seen in a strictly national context.