Conclusion: The Dynamics of Global Teaching Reform

Around the world, governments have increasingly come to regard education as the key to economic success. National boundaries and regulations are less and less significant in an increasingly integrated global economy characterized by high capital mobility, where workers find themselves in competition not only with their fellow citizens but also with their counterparts in other countries. The impact of globalization is further reinforced by the steady move toward an economy based on the control and exchange of information rather than the local production of goods and services. Under these economic circumstances, the race to occupy the high ground in the international division of labour is intensely competitive, and the ability to keep up is presumed to depend to an ever-growing extent on the ‘quality’ of the national labour force.