"Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be kept by understanding."
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Introduction to Global Education
Last year, I was fortunate to be accepted to the Teachers for Global Classrooms program, a year-long professional development opportunity for educators to learn how to globalize our teaching and learning. I participated in an online course, a Washington, DC-based symposium, and an international field experience that took me to the wonderful land of Ghana to learn about the educational system there. Along the way I've shared my experiences with students, friends and colleagues through a blog and social media. Here I attempt to summarize some of my learning experience and share it with my professional community in hopes that we may all broaden our and our students’ worlds through adopting an approach of global education.
What is Global Education?
The world we live in today is drastically different than the world our grandparents or even our parents grew up in, and it’s become a truism to state that the world is getting smaller and smaller. Forces of globalization move people, money, products, trends, and ideas across the planet at ever-increasing rates and speeds. If the number of migrants across the world—over 214 million in 2010—were in one country, it would be the fourth-largest country by population in the world. Forces of climate instability affect people’s lives in myriad ways, and solutions will need to be found. Our changing world requires an education that will develop global competences in young people to prepare them for the world they will grow up in. “Global competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance” (Boix Mansilla & Jackson, 2001, p. 13). Such global competence encompasses a number of dimensions, as portrayed in the image at the bottom of this page. |
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The rationale for Globalizing Teaching and Learning in Baltimore
An approach towards teaching and learning global competences aligns excellently with moving our work towards the higher standards of the Common Core. Students have to be able to access and apply information to real-world problems and be able to work effectively in diverse groups to communicate ideas and solutions. The emphasis on real-world problem solving can increase students’ interest and engagement as their important and meaningful work develops their skills. In our school of Digital Harbor, we work to prepare students for computer technology careers, college, and productive citizenship—all these arenas will require these 21st century skills. Our district, City Schools, states its vision as preparing all students to be “ready to achieve excellence in higher education and the global workforce.” Developing students’ global competences will be the best approach to achieve these aims.
An approach towards teaching and learning global competences aligns excellently with moving our work towards the higher standards of the Common Core. Students have to be able to access and apply information to real-world problems and be able to work effectively in diverse groups to communicate ideas and solutions. The emphasis on real-world problem solving can increase students’ interest and engagement as their important and meaningful work develops their skills. In our school of Digital Harbor, we work to prepare students for computer technology careers, college, and productive citizenship—all these arenas will require these 21st century skills. Our district, City Schools, states its vision as preparing all students to be “ready to achieve excellence in higher education and the global workforce.” Developing students’ global competences will be the best approach to achieve these aims.
In this Guide and Navigating the Site
In this guide you will find a sampling of tools and resources that I discovered or experimented with through my experience with TGC and learning about global education. These can serve as suggestions or ideas for your own explorations in globalizing your teaching and learning. Under the tab for classroom and teacher resources, you’ll find: a sample of a digital learning inventory that can serve as a starting point for thinking about digital tools you can use; samples of how content standards can be updated to reflect global competencies; some tools for assessing students’ work for global competencies; a list of international project-based learning opportunities; and a sample of a unit plan incorporating global competencies. Under the community resources tab, you’ll find a list of local and online globally-minded community resources, and an invitation to a global education professional learning community. In the international travel and education section, you can read my thoughts on the essential question I developed for my international field experience, a link to my travel blog, and a listing of travel and education opportunities for teachers and students. Finally, in the photo gallery you can see a small selection of photographs from Ghana.
In this guide you will find a sampling of tools and resources that I discovered or experimented with through my experience with TGC and learning about global education. These can serve as suggestions or ideas for your own explorations in globalizing your teaching and learning. Under the tab for classroom and teacher resources, you’ll find: a sample of a digital learning inventory that can serve as a starting point for thinking about digital tools you can use; samples of how content standards can be updated to reflect global competencies; some tools for assessing students’ work for global competencies; a list of international project-based learning opportunities; and a sample of a unit plan incorporating global competencies. Under the community resources tab, you’ll find a list of local and online globally-minded community resources, and an invitation to a global education professional learning community. In the international travel and education section, you can read my thoughts on the essential question I developed for my international field experience, a link to my travel blog, and a listing of travel and education opportunities for teachers and students. Finally, in the photo gallery you can see a small selection of photographs from Ghana.
The Asia Society has an excellent resource available online called, "Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World" (Boix Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). Click the button to the right to take you to its page:
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Globally competent individuals are aware, curious, and interested in learning about the world and how it works. They can use the big ideas, tools, methods, and languages that are central to any discipline (mathematics, literature, history, science, and the arts) to engage the pressing issues of our time. They deploy and develop this expertise as they investigate such issues, recognizing multiple perspectives, communicating their views effectively, and taking action to improve conditions.
(Boix Mansilla & Jackson, 2011, p. 13)
The Dimensions of Global Competence
"If we wish to create a lasting peace we must begin with the children."
Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
“This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and information presented are the grantee’s own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.”