18 - Anxiety, education and the nation: high stakes testing in global society

Should I get a good grade or just pass the exam? Since we begin to be part of an educational system we encounter the pressure of having good grades in order to have a better future, a better life, learning that exposing ourselves to anxiety and stress is good for us. But how much of this narrative is healthy and how much of it is actually constructed for certain dispositions? How much of these are actually enforcements of the larger political and economic context? The Baccalaureate is around the corner, so this episode is for all of you who have struggled to remember that multiple choice answer, struggled to achieve that high level testing, struggle to design a functioning system, struggled to make a better learning experience for the students, it’s time to relax and start to deconstruct. In a very specific context, such as South Korea, in a larger neoliberal frame, English education becomes a necessary skill for students to prosper in an atmosphere of increasing global competition. The computer courses and the English classes in the new curriculum, which initially were thought to help in international competitiveness, now become the norm of succeeding. Our guest is George Baca, professor at the Graduate School of International Studies Dong-A University in South Korea, currently writing a book about the English Education and the Politics of Globalization. George also held a course at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Babeș Bolyai on neoliberalism and keynesianism titled “preludes to neoliberalism”. Producers: Maria Martelli and Pati Murg Supported by: Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Babeș Bolyai Studio: Radio EBS (special thanks to Flaviu Petean) Soundtrack: KindStudios Visuals: Pati Murg and Maria Martelli Breakdown: 00:00 - 10:50 Pati and Maria talk about the Romanian Bacalaureate 10:50 - 17:00 George Baca on life in South Korea and curiosities that led to the study of globalization and education 17:20 - 28:25 English Education, international testing and anxiety 28:30 - 36:20 Students as political objects, the market and the state 36:20 - 41:00 Gender and education, order and management 41:00 - 47:20 Business, manuals and cultures of learning 47:20 - 55:40 Household debt, economic disparity and life in South Korea 55:40 - 1:03:00 Politics of education & teaching 1:03:00 - End: Personal trajectories of learning