Rethinking U.S. education policy: four paradigms of the knowledge economy

Araya, Daniel

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/50373 Copy

Description

Title

Rethinking U.S. education policy: four paradigms of the knowledge economy

Author(s)

Araya, Daniel

Issue Date

2014-09-16

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Peters, Michael A.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Burbules, Nicholas C.

Committee Member(s)

• Peters, Michael A.
• Cope, William
• Waks, Leonard

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educational Policy Studies

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• U.S. Education Policy
• Obama Administration
• Public Policy
• Neoliberalism
• Knowledge Economy
• Creative Economy
• Network Economy
• Green Economy
• National Innovation System
• Human Capital
• Social Investment
• Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
• Peer Production
• Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
• Collaboration
• Creativity and Innovation

Abstract

It is no coincidence that rising demand for advanced education has developed in parallel with the globalization of a market economy. Theories on “human capital formation” are increasingly seen as the key to expanding economic growth and advancing creativity and innovation. At the same time, mounting concern about rising competition has triggered a wide-ranging debate about the kinds of skills and competencies needed for a knowledge economy. More recently, accelerating technological innovation has now called into question the value of conventional thinking on education. Many economists point to the strong likelihood that advanced artificial intelligence and robotics will begin displacing much of the global workforce by as early as the middle of this century. Today, 25 percent of adults around the world are either unemployed or underemployed. Indeed, in the United States rising numbers of university graduates face a very weak labor market and rising levels of student debt. This research study examines policy proposals for rethinking U.S. education policy in light of the globalization of the capitalist market and contradictory forecasts on the knowledge economy. It examines the genealogy of the discourses on postindustrial society and explores “paradigms” of the knowledge economy that now shape public policies in the United States. Drawing on discussions of the “Creative Economy”, the “Network Economy”, and the “Green Economy”, it critiques U.S. educational policies authored by the Obama Administration and considers the need for a new educational policy framework that is better adapted to an era of accelerating innovation.

Graduation Semester

2014-08

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Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 Daniel Araya

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