The futures of education in globalization: Multiple drivers

This chapter maps out a cluster of key drivers which influence the development of education globally and locally. It also highlights the implications from the key drivers for designing the futures of education. Based on the author’s long term research project on education reforms, some global trends in education are identified as key drivers for discussion and analysis, including multiple disruptions of the pandemic, global expansion of higher education, multiple developments in globalization, paradigms shift in education, application of technological advances, and multiple functions of education at different levels. From these drivers and their related characteristics, some important implications, directions and insights are drawn to direct, change and reconceptualize education for the future development of students and the society in a context of globalization after the pandemic COVID-19. It is hoped that the analysis of these drivers can provide a macro-societal picture of global trends and views for policy makers, educators, researchers, and change agents globally to plan the futures of education at different levels of their education system. Copyright © 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG.