Study programme

Globalization and Education

The Department of Education at University Fribourg opens the study program 'Globalization and Education' for Erasmus students.

We understand education as fait social. In this sense educational science is critical social theory, which examines the reproduction of society and the possibilities of change. In these processes the special focus is on structural categories like race, class and gender, which are fundamental for the regulation and organization of political and societal power relations. Today education is a key factor for societal transformation processes and prosperity. In this program we analyze the interdependencies of societal transformation processes and education. In doing so we put a special focus on international and transnational developments and actors. In the modul Transformation of education and democracy we take a look at the structural transformation of the relation between education, state and society. Starting from a theoretical and empirical perspective this modul deals with the study of new actors within educational systems (e.g. OECD), with the transformation of education systems through political, economic and cultural change (e.g. Bologna scheme in higher education), as well as with the transformation of educational science, which is an important actor of societal change itself.

The modul pedagogy knowledge, institutions and action ability aims at the implications of change on pedagogical knowledge, on the interpretative frame of society and the action ability of individuals as well as on their inherent structural categories like race, class and gender.

The implications of global transformation processes on everyday life, on knowledge, on educational institutions and the action ability of individuals are the topics of this modul. Our everyday actions are based on interpretations, which are fundamental for our actions and how we justify them. Interpretative frames are created by society and are defined by expectations about the future. We deal with how such interpretative frames emerge and how they change in interactions. Action ability is a key competence, which is reinforced by knowledge and the reflection of interpretative frames.