B E F O R E W E B E G I N
Background
The effects of a quickly changing world on teaching and learning are central issues in the field of education today that will have lasting effects on the future. The U.S. Department of Education (2018) calls for global education to prepare all students for a globalized world. Our students need global education because our world is interconnected socially, economically, politically, technologically and environmentally. In addition to global interconnections, increased migration has led to more diversity in local schools (Boix Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). The U.S. is now home to a near record 13.7% foreign-born residents. And, though nationalist and anti-immigrant rhetoric may have increased since the last Census, immigration numbers have not slowed down (Center for Immigration Studies, 2018).
Our teachers must be globally competent in order for our students to become globally competent. Asia Society and the OECD define global competence as having the capacity to investigate local, global, and intercultural issues; recognize perspectives of others; engage in conversations with members of different cultures; and take actions for the benefit of everyone (Asia Society & OECD, 2018). Globally competent teaching transcends political and disciplinary boundaries and requires collaboration among teachers, students and community members to create, innovate and produce solutions to global challenges (Reimers, 2017).
Experts describe the pedagogy of exemplary global educators in multi-faceted ways. According to an extensive literature review by Yemini et al. (2019), global education pedagogies are often not brand new inventions but rather innovative takes on existing pedagogies. For example, Ariel Tichnor-Wagner in collaboration with a research group from North Carolina pinpointed six exemplary pedagogical skills of global educators: using multiple languages; creating a classroom environment that values diversity and global engagement; designing learning experiences that promote content-aligned investigations of the world; developing local, national, or international partnerships in real-world contexts with global learning opportunities; facilitating intercultural and international conversations; and developing and using appropriate global competence assessment tools for students (Tichnor-Wagner, et al., 2016). Similarly, Slamon, Gangotena, and Melliou (2018) suggest “through meaningful hands-on experiences, children can gain deep understandings of themselves and their surroundings, as well as a more global understanding of their place in the world. By gaining self-awareness, children are able to understand cultural diversity and values, customs and traditions,” (p. 302). While complex, each of these pedagogies is built on a foundation of global competence.
This grand seminar will focus on how to innovate your teaching by infusing global competence with an emphasis on fostering students' understanding of the world and supporting equity in education. We will discuss how to support PK-12 students across content areas to engage thoughtfully around issues of global significance.
Asia Society and OECD. (2018). Teaching for Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World, Asia Society, New York, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264289024-en.
Boix Mansilla, V. (2016/2017). How to be a global thinker. Educational Leadership, December 2016/January 2017, 11-16. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec16/vol74/num04/How-to-Be-a-Global-Thinker.aspx
Boix Mansilla, V. & Jackson, A. (2011). Educating for global competence: Preparing our youth to engage the world [PDF document]. Asia Society, New York, http://www.pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Leading%20with%20the%20World%20in%20Mind.pdf
Center for Immigration Studies. (2018) Retrieved from https://cis.org/Report/Record-445-Million-Immigrants-2017
OECD (2018). Preparing our youth for an Inclusive and Sustainable World: the OECD PISA global competence framework. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/education/Global-competency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf
Reimers, F. (2017). Empowering Students to Improve the World in Sixty Lessons. CreateSpace Independent Publishing System.
Tichnor-Wagner, A., Parkhouse, H., Glazier, J., Cain, J. M. (2016). Expanding approaches to teaching for diversity and social justice in K-12 education: Fostering global citizenship across the content areas. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(59), 1-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2138
Salmon, A.K., Gangotena, M.V., & Melliou, K. (2018). Becoming globally competent citizens: A learning journey of two classrooms in an interconnected world. Early Childhood Educuation, 46, 301-312.
US Census (2017). Foreign Born Data Table. https://www.census.gov/topics/population/foreign-born.html
US DOE (2018) Succeeding Globally through International Education and Engagement. https://sites.ed.gov/international/files/2018/11/Succeeding-Globally-Through-International-Education-and-Engagement-Update-2018.pdf
Yemini, M., Tibbitts, F., & Goren, H. (2019). Trends and caveats: Review of literature on global citizenship education in teacher training. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 77(1), 77-89.