Banks 17 - 47

I was disappointed by Banks’ approach to analyzing the issues of globalization and citizenship in regards to education, which he discusses in “Diversity and Citizenship Education”. The educational environment that I grew up in was very simple. Everyone was from the same socioeconomic background and spoke the same language, so the issues of immigration and diversity did not really apply. Even so, the points that Banks make in his article seem to me to be rather obvious. It is a given that people from different countries are educated using different techniques, and when borders are crossed this is bound to create all sorts of issues. Is this not the main reason for the study of comparative education?
Banks gives us a brief glimpse into the educational systems of other countries and offers both praise and criticism. We also get a little bit of history and assurance that things are generally improving. However, Banks signs off the article stating that there is not yet a solution and that these issues are still being worked on. I just feel as though he didn’t really discover anything new in this article or point out anything that was particularly startling. The fact that he ends the article with a series of questions suggests that Banks too is unsatisfied with his findings. I would have appreciated the article much more if I had been left with answers rather than questions.