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First Steps in a Course Unit on Globalisation
Approach 1: Questionnaire
Since globalisation is ubiquitous as a catch phrase, carrying out a
survey using a questionnaire provides a meaningful opportunity for introducing
as many people (if possible, outside the bounds of your school) as possible to
the topic. For instance, groups could be formed to question different groups of
persons in the local area (men – women; shops owners – administrative
personnel etc.). The questions answered with a tick should be evaluated
quantitatively, with the remaining questions being evaluated qualitatively, and
the results presented in the form of a graph.
Approach 2: Discussion Rounds
Since it can be assumed that some advance knowledge is available on
globalisation from the media, an open discussion provides a good method for
making an initial start on the topic. The following diagram may provide a good
starting point. The discussion round directs the participants attention towards
the diverse range of topics 'somehow' related to 'globalisation' (legitimisation,
environment, human rights, politics and commerce). Each bubble and both methods
of approach (clockwise and anticlockwise) could be used as an initial starting
point for the discussion.
Approach 3: Current Articles in the Press or Content from the Internet
We come across reports in newspapers, magazine and the Internet every day which
could amply serve as an initial approach in an course unit on globalisation.
This applies independent of the core emphasis to be set, and the didactic
perspectives which have been chosen. The following brief report emphasises the
economic dimension of globalisation:
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Levi
Strauss Axes 3,300 Jobs in the USA
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP, 09/04/2002). The jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss is
shrinking: the mainstream US company recently reported that it intends to
axe 3,300 jobs representing some 20 percent of its total employee base in
the United States. Moreover, six of the company's eight factories in the
USA are to be shut down over the course of the next year in order to
contract out production abroad, where wage costs are lower.
As a result, Levi Strauss will fulfill a plan according to which the
company will no longer manufacture its own clothing, but concentrate on
marketing and development. The company states that restructuring is necessary so that the company
can remain competitive. Two factories in the USA are to remain in
operation, to leverage short-term reactions to potential increases in
demand. Levi Strauss is the oldest jeans manufacturer in the world. The
company was originally founded in New York, in 1853, by the German
immigrant Levi Strauss and his brother. |
[Author: Ragnar Müller]
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