Global Education

From WikEd

Contents 1 Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms, types of 2 Definitions 2.1 Global Education in the World and USA Classroom 3 Application in Classrooms 4 Additional Resources for Teachers 4.1 Critics and Their Rationale 5 Alternative Explanations due to Diversity considerations 6 Opinion 7 Evidence of effectiveness 8 Signed life experiences, testimonies and stories 9 Higher Education Funding Compared to Other Nations 10 References and other links of interest

Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms, types of

Expressions such as teaching in a "Flat World" and the One Planet Schoolhouse", are cropping up more frequently and can conjur various meanings of Global Education. Most would agree that Global Education is a result of our shrinking world due to access to technology. Wikipedia defines the “global village"as a metaphor to describe the Internet and World Wide Web. The Internet globalizes communication by allowing users from around the world to connect with each other… This new reality has implications for forming new sociological structures within the context of culture.” Education is certainly a key social structure being affected within this globalization.

Definitions

There are two definitions that best define Global Education.

1. The first is explained by the United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a goal to become aware of educational conditions (or lack of ) in developing countries worldwide and aim to educate all peoples to a certain world standard.
2. The second definition of Global Education is an idea of a curriculum that is international in scope and prepares today’s youth around the world to function in a one-world environment intellectually, professionally, and humanistically.

I will briefly overview the first view and the second will be more thoroughly presented with its implications for schools, teachers, and students in our curriculums.

1. The members of the United Nations have formed an agreement that the world’s people all have the right to an education. Resulting from this premise is World Bank Group Millennium Development Goals “The Global Education for All Movement”. The movement is an action list of six goals to have certain standards of education in place worldwide by 2015. The current list of goals is as follows and can be found in detail on these links:

• Goal 1: Expand early childhood care and education
• Goal 2: Provide free and compulsory primary education for all
• Goal 3: Promote learning and life skills for young people and adults
• Goal 4: Increase adult literacy by 50 per cent
• Goal 5: Achieve gender parity by 2005, gender equality by 2015
• Goal 6: Improve the quality of education

The goals are ambitious and face obstacles due to many internal factors such as infrastructure and accessability, however, an increasing impediment to this Global Education goal is increasing violence directed toward the local education communities in some Third World Countries. Brendan O'Malley is an author of a study named “Education Under Attack” for UNESCO. He describes the purpose of the violence against staff, students, and facilities as primarily political reasons, prejudices, and to instill fear and thwart progress in order to maintain insurgency control.

2.Global Education as an International Curriculum. The idea of a school curriculum that has a worldwide standard of teaching and learning to prepare our children to work together in an international marketplace and to gain a worldview of universal understanding is the basic premise by James Becker in his book, “Needed: A Global Context for the Study of Nations and People". Becker defines Global Education as “an effort to help individuals to see the world as a single and global system and to see themselves as participants of that system." Similarly, James Becker says in his article, “Goals of Global Education,” that the “overall goal of this aspect is to incorporate into the educational curriculum and the educational experience of each student a knowledge and empathy of cultures of the nation and the world.... (and to) draw into existing courses of study the illustrations and references to political, social and cultural themes. Students will be encouraged to take a global perspective, seeing the world as a whole". Children learn of various culture and cultural perspectives which makes them better able to relate and function effectively within various groups.

Global Education in the World and USA Classroom

Global Values Education One example, is Australia’s National Framework for "Values Education in Australian Schools" with a view toward Global Education. The framework of the principles, while similar to values education in US schools, encompasses a global attitude. Rather than focusing on how to behave just in the school yard, these values extend to one’s responsibility, place, and attitude toward diversity within the world. There is a focus on the individual’s “strong sense of identity and self-esteem” so that he/she can extend himself to care for others, the environment, and upholding the rights and dignity of all people. The values also encourage students to participate in community life on a local and world scale. There is emphasis on the thought that each child in his unique way can make a small, yet important difference. USA initiatives

• In addition, various school districts around the USA are making serious changes to their curriculums to meet the global challenges of the future. School Districts in North Carolina and Virgina have established what is called the"21st Century Learning Goals" and is the basis for their curriculums.
  • Core subjects: NCLB-identified core subjects.
  • 21st century content: emerging content areas such as global awareness; financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; health and wellness awareness.
  • Learning and thinking skills: critical thinking and problem-solving skills, communication, creativity and innovation, collaboration, contextual learning, information and media literacy.
  • ICT literacy: using technology in the context of learning so students know how to learn.
  • Life skills: leadership, ethics, accountability, personal responsibility, self-direction, and so on.
  • 21st century assessments: Authentic assessments that measure all five areas of learning.

• Global Education is not new around the world or in the United States. The American Forum for Global Education has been in existance since 1970 and its sole mission is to educate people from the US to become responsible citizens locally, nationally and internationally. The organization aids and consults with school systems that want to create a more global curriculum. Within this organization is The Center for Global Education which promotes” international education to foster cross-cultural awareness, cooperation and understanding. Living and working effectively in a global society requires learning with an international perspective. “We promote this type of learning by collaborating with colleges, universities and other organizations around the world to:
  • create new and enhance existing study abroad programs;
  • integrate an international and intercultural perspective into the US educational system;
  • increase the ethnic diversity of participants in study abroad and provide special resources to support their participation;
  • provide information to better prepare students and other travelers for their experience abroad; and
  • encourage research in the field of international education.”

• International Baccalaureate. The idea of an international curriculum is not new to the United States,in fact there has been an internationally recognized degree program in place for the last 38 years called the International Baccalaureate. IB as it is referred is considered the gold standard around the world for achieving a high level of education and a “humanistic worldview. The program is best described as a demanding college prepatory curriculum with an emphasis on global education. The degree program originally began in Switzerland to “provide a standardized, internationally recognized diploma"to the children of world traveling diplomats and business executives. The liberal arts curriculum's goal is to “inspire independent inquiry and instill critical thinking skills as well as humanitarian values.” The International Baccalaureate (IB) is governed by an independent organization the [http://www.ibo.org/ IBO. The IBO has programs for students from preschool through high school and states their intent to “help develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world.” Over 2,000 schools in 125 countries use the IB curriculum.

A recent article in Edutopia Magazine,"Global Super Power"(Nov 2006) points out that the program is growing domestically. In the United States, 521 high schools offer IB, an increase of 60% in North America over the past six years. The classes are described as more rigorous than typical high school fare, often involving team teaching, core cohort groups that stay together consecutive years, community projects and problem solving and other non-standard methods and practices in learning and teaching. An example of the course difficulty is the high school final exams which take “roughly twenty-five hours over the course of three to five weeks, and emphasize oral and written analysis and argument” according to the article. Elementary and Middle School IB prgrams have been developed and are also in place in many districts.

Application in Classrooms

Many teachers may not teach in a school district that has implemented a Global Education Curriculum. They can, however, still teach toward a global perspective in their more traditional classroom. Dr. Susan Bliss, NSW Manager Global Education,is described as a long time and passionate advocate of global education. She recently lead an e-forum that asks the following questions of teachers to explore ways that a global perspective can be applied across the classroom curriculum.

• "What is your understanding of teaching with a global perspective or global education?
• How do you implement it in your school and/or classroom?
• Global Education is not only ‘what;’ to teach but ‘how’ to teach. What does this mean?
• What are the suggested Global Education pedagogical practices?
• Swiftly changing global realities are affecting classrooms and increased educational efforts are required to help students make sense of the complex global age. Do you agree?
• Do you think this is justification for the subject Global Education, across all curricula K-12?"

Additional Resources for Teachers

• The Center for Global Education has a Global Education Checklist that is very indepth and serves as a thorough self-assessment for teachers wanting to incorporate Global Education in their classrooms. The assessment serves as a stepping stone to a comprehensive Action Plan for goals, strategies, resources needed, and time and talent needed to actually achieve a global view classroom
• Global SchoolNet Foundation (GSN), “founded in 1984 by teachers who believed that in a connected world, students need a global perspective, brings together youth online from 194 countries to explore community, culteral, and scientific issues that prepare them for the workforce and help them to become responsible and literate global citizens. Global Schoolnet’s free membership program provides project-based learning support materials, resources, activities, lessons, and special offers from GSN partners”.
• Center for Global Education Forum
• The Global Education & Learning Community- Curriki

“Our mission is to improve education around the world by empowering teachers, students and parents with user-created, open source curricula, and it's all free! We believe that access to knowledge and learning tools is a basic right of every child. Our goal is to make curricula and learning resources available to everyone”.

Critics and Their Rationale

The main obstacles or criticisms of establishing a global curriculum in our schools are the perceived costs in time, technology, and travel. The sheer thought of rearranging the curriculum may seem overwhelming to an already over burdened educational staff.

In regard to the International Baccalaureate, it is quite costly to set up and run and is a challenge for less affluent communities. In many cases there is extensive teacher re-training and reassignment, smaller classrooms that require more staff and extensive travel and equipment.

• Assessment- there is no standard at this time for measuring global education, and some feel that it cannot be measured. Argument exists whether global education can or should be measured.

• Not compatible with goals of No Child Left Behind
• No Time for teacher retraining and especially in the technology arena which is vast and ever changing.
• Cost of expensive Hardware, travel and field trips.
• In regard to the IB, several groups have declared its agenda as “Un American” and to have a “world agenda to discredit the US and our nationalistic view.”
• Lastly, some feel that some of the disciplines required in global ed, such as learning about themselves in relation to the world don’t belong in education- which should stick to the basics, Math Reading, Writing.

Alternative Explanations due to Diversity considerations

Global Education is all about diversity, both in understanding differences and in teaching to different cultural styles. The goal of UNESCO to educate all peoples employs various tactics and strategies. This article exemplifies ways in which children in the Australian Outback are being educated. "Bring the Outback In" "The Alice Springs School of the Air links far-flung Aussies","Educating kids in the remote and rugged outback of Australia's Northern Territory requires Aussie ingenuity and self-reliance -- traits learned from living great distances from each other in a barren desert twice as big as California. Such geographical challenges don't faze educators from the Alice Springs School of the Air. Dubbed "the largest classroom in the world," the ASSOA serves far-flung kids by employing the latest technology to connect and educate. Until 1995, the School of the Air depended on two-way radios for connectedness (hence the school's name), but now the far richer environment provided by computers and the Internet more easily spans the vast distances between teachers and students."

Opinion

There are many individual systems and methods beginning to take shape around the world in the name of Global Education. Some may have their controversies, however, the idea of a one world focus and teaching students to learn to live as a participant is increasing in importance to educators and is becoming a necessity in the world marketplace. Studies have shown that the U.S. is falling behind in marketable skills for the future. Technology know-how is of key importance as is knowing how to negotiate and problem-solve on an international scale. Measuring UP in a Flat World,"The Workforce Readiness Crisis" Nov 15, 2006,Susan McLester and Todd McIntire from Technology & Learning. The article, focusses on the increasing importance of classroom curriculums to meet the needs of our future workforce.

While many teachers may feel unprepared to teach a global application in their classroom, they have many resources already available to them. All that may be needed is a small effort to make classroom projects carry some international significance.

• In my view,television, computers, DVD’s, books, newspapers, can all bring the world into the classroom. Checking a different international newspaper’s headline each day on the internet can make the student feel that we all have our own concerns and issues worldwide.
• e-pen pals is a great way to show our students that people around the world have the same feelings, issues, and concerns.
• A typical classroom project can be tweaked slightly to help a student understand his world better. For example, a fourth grade project to study the SE region of the USA may ask the student to choose an aspect of the region to prepare and present. A child may choose to present on an economic factor such as mining in W. Virginia. In so doing, the teacher can ask the student to compare what they are studying (mining, in this case) to at least two other places in the world. Thusly, the project will explain and discuss Mining in the US , its processes, conditions, history, and effect on the economy, while learning how mining impacts other world locations.

If teachers avail themselves to the worldwide discussions taking place constantly in various global education forums, they will make their own world more global day by day and reap the benefit of widening their own and their students’ horizons and place in the world.

Evidence of effectiveness

Signed life experiences, testimonies and stories

eTandems eTandem exchanges between students can give them authentic conversations and knowledge of another culture. They are basically like penpals, but an e-mail or forum based communication system is setup to enable instant, rapid exchanges. I've done eTandems with my 9th grade English class (in Puerto Rico) with another class in Turkey. Why Turkey? Because it honestly was another country everyone has heard of but knows nothing about. My students became extremely enthusiastic about the exchange, and the minute they entered they class they'd check their epals e-mail account to see what type of new letters came in. I also did this between students in the Chinese club and a school in Taiwan. This had an extra sense of excitement because the students could actually practice with native speakers. Each of these activities helped my students (an myself) take a step outside the bubble of our school and country. Especially when the cultures are extremely contrasting, the participants learn as much about their own culture as they do of the partners. By stepping outside and reflecting back on their culture when an eTandem partner asks a simple question of "Why do you ______?" for items we consider basic instincts - it really creates of a sense of global education and expanding horizons. -Christopher Liang CTER 9

Higher Education Funding Compared to Other Nations

With many European Nation, including Ireland, providing free schooling through college for all their citizens, could this be an option for America as well? Some nations even provide complete funding for masters and doctoral work.

With America's educational system dropping further and further behind (we are 10th in the world), is it time to ask ourselves where are we lacking that other countries are exceling? Some research points to cultural factors. Research shows that some countries have traditions or expectations that exceed the ones that parents, teachers, or even students set for themselves here in the United States. After attending classes for about six hours a day, what do students do when they go home? If they spend at least three more hours studying at home, they would be about a year ahead. If students spend more of their time studying, teachers can move ahead and get through more content in a year thus making the students more advanced. This one small factor can change an educational system tremendously. That's more bang for your buck!

References and other links of interest

1. http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604144 Measuring up in a Flat World]
2. http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1694&issue=nov_06 One-World Planet,Edutopia]
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_village_%28Internet%29 “global village"
4. Goals for Global Education

James M. Becker Theory into Practice, Vol. 21, No. 3, Global Education (Summer, 1982), pp. 228-233 Director Mid-America Program, Indiana University http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0040-5841%28198222%2921%3A3%3C228%3AGFGE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-

1. Multicultural Education in a Global Society By Lynch, James book http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IarHlHMQ-TgC&oi=fnd&pg=PP10&dq=%22Lynch%22+%22Multicultural+education+in+a+global+society%22+&ots=92rzG_HXNE&sig=hbUZRjtYgSFmTxdtlK3Md9qaVBI#PRA1-PA35,M1
2. Global Perspectives: A statement on global education for Australian schools (2002) http://www.valueseducation.edu.au/values/ Values Education in Australian Schools
3. http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ 21st Century Life Skills
4. http://www.ibo.org/ International Baccalaureate Organization
5. http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1694&issue=nov_06 Global Super Power,Edutopia]
6. http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/119 Dr. Susan Bliss
7. Organizationhttp://www.globaled.org/ American Forum for Global Education
8. The Center for Global Education
9. Bring the Outback In he Alice Springs School of the Air links far-flung Aussies. http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1701&issue=nov_06
10. http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome Curriki Web Page
11. http://www.globalschoolnet.org/index.html Global SchoolNet Foundation (GSN),
12. Lasthttp://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604144 Measuring UP in a Flat World The Workforce Readiness Crisis Nov 15, 2006 Susan McLester and Todd McIntire from Technology & Learning
13. Balancing Change And Tradition in Global Education Reform By Iris C. Rotberg
14. Citizenship and the Challenge of Global Education By Audrey Osler, Kerry Vincent