Zhao, Y. “The Wrong Bet: Why Common Curriculum & Standards Won’t Help, World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Learners. Pp. 23 – 45

I have to say that when it comes to talking about the global aspect of education I take it personally, and I can't help my view being influenced by my personal situation. My family situation is one that is becoming the norm when it used to be the exception: two people from different countries get married and have children in yet another country, and then go and live in a fourth country, that happens more and more these days and we can't stop thinking about our own children's education and future.
"The world our children live in is global, not local as before... one's birthplace no longer determines his or her future living space or whom he or she may be working for or with... they require the knowledge and abilities to interact with people who are not born and raised in the same local community"
It is not right to believe that one country deserves better opportunities for their children than any other, the way technology is moving forward and considering how borders have become more permeable, common core education would be an obvious consequence, but the truth is that globalization doesn't necessarily follow a fair path. Developed countries are not ready to give up their advantages and developing countries are not prepared to embrace an unfamiliar sense of self esteem and pride.
A common core curriculum also tends to diminish the importance attributed to values we should be embracing dearly, values that define us as humans, give us personal and national identities. Like Zhao says "It is not the money, energy, or political and social capital that should be of most concern... The most important is the children's future"
In my opinion, education could be seen as the luggage we provide our children with to send them out into the world. It would be a big inconvenience if they didn't have all the right things with them, but it would be tragic if they were not prepared to acquire what they need along the way.
There is so much richness in individual talents, in family values in cultural traditions and in countries historic heritages, that it would be a terrible loss to standardize anything that could be enriched by any of them.
I would prefer to think that my children are four times richer because of their background than thinking that they can decide which country will give them the biggest economic reward for their work.
As educators we have a big responsibility to protect all things that make us individuals, and even if governments impose standardized core curriculums and tests, we are the ones spending time with children on an everyday basis and it's upto us to make the right bet, even a small group of children in a remote developing country can make a difference in the world's 7 billion people.

Zhao publishes an interesting blog with his views on education. You can follow him on http://zhaolearning.com/category/blog/