Secondary education reform priorities under globalisation: the case of Ukraine in comparison with China, Germany and Poland

Abstract

The paper presents the analysis of the secondary education reform priorities in Ukraine in comparison with China, Germany and Poland under globalization. The following research questions were asked: (1) What are the education development benchmarks at the global and European levels? (2) What are the common characteristics of the reforms that countries are implementing guided by global and European benchmarks? (3) Is secondary education reform in Ukraine harmonized with the reforms implementing worldwide? The desk research was used. This manuscript targets the international (UN, EU) and national institutional plans/strategies/movements that have attempted to bring or are bringing systemic change into educational practices (curriculum reforms and operational structures). The study confirms the methodological proposition that globalization changes the very format of educational policy development – the national level is complemented by the supranational level in the face of international organizations. A comparative analysis of the education reforms directions in the analysed countries showed that the countries takes into account the key benchmarks of the international organizations, i.e. ensuring equal access to education and improving its quality. In Ukraine, the new legislation guarantees the enrolment in primary school without a competition; territorial accessibility of general secondary education; financing of educational institutions at the expense of state and local budgets in the amount sufficient to meet state standards; compliance with the requirements of the legislation on the accessibility of educational institutions for persons with special educational needs. The transformation of the content of education into competence bases is another important component of the current Ukrainian secondary education reform. It involves the change of the traditional philosophy – from the transfer of knowledge to the formation of students’ vital/key skills/competences (interdisciplinary, transversal competences, ICT skills, learning to learn, working with information, teamwork skills, participation in society, moral values, etc.). It is stated that Ukraine is to continue the reforms in order to further harmonise its education with the European and world education developments.