What is Global Education?
To me, global education is best described as a filter through which you deliver educational instruction. Good news teachers, it is not something else you need to do with your limited resources and time (because we all know there hardly one more thing we can put on our plate)! Global education is merely getting students to look through another lens using whatever content you already teach. The goal of global education is to create global citizens. What does it mean to be a global citizen? Someone who identifies with not only being a member of their own country but a part of a larger world. A global citizen is someone who is aware of conditions and concerns that are greater than themselves and their nation. As a world history teacher, perspective is just a part of my subject. For example, did you know that just the concept of countries/nation-states developed less than 300 years ago? Before that people looked at the world through the lens of family, village, tribe, kingdom or empire. The idea of uniting (and dividing people into countries based on common cultural elements (language, religion, ethnicity, shared history, and values) is a relatively new paradigm in human civilization, historically speaking.
The whole point of global education is to make students aware that they are not merely members of their own family, town, country, ethnic or religious group; they are members of a world community of humanity. And by seeing what we share in common as people and understudying and respecting our differences, we can all work together to create a better world. Through understanding and collaboration, we stand a much better chance at peacefully solving the worlds problems such as of hunger, violence, human rights violations and just general inequality.
But global education is not merely esoteric ideals of creating a better world. It is also completely practical. Our social world and economy are changing at ever increasing rates. We are training students for jobs that don't even exist yet; we are preparing students to solve problems that we are currently unaware of. Thanks to technology, our world is becoming smaller. Our students must be taught how to problem solve and collaborate. They need to know how to use technology and also how to tap into the most wasted resource on the planet...their individual genius, creativity and human potential. These are the skills that the jobs of the future will need...Please see "global education standards.
Rationale & Purpose of this Website:
Through sharing the knowledge and experiences that I gained through IREX (International Research and Exchange Board) Global Teachers program I have created this website to introduce my fellow educators and teaching community to the basics of global and 21st Century Education. The website includes resources to explain what global education is ("global education standards") and description of what resources I had available when I started the program . It also includes snap shots of my experience in India (see "essential question," "travel blog") and a lesson plan AND a gifted and the pilot to a talented/global leadership program. There are also other resources for teachers or organizations that are interested in creating their own global education projects (see "project based learning" and "local community resource list")
To me, global education is best described as a filter through which you deliver educational instruction. Good news teachers, it is not something else you need to do with your limited resources and time (because we all know there hardly one more thing we can put on our plate)! Global education is merely getting students to look through another lens using whatever content you already teach. The goal of global education is to create global citizens. What does it mean to be a global citizen? Someone who identifies with not only being a member of their own country but a part of a larger world. A global citizen is someone who is aware of conditions and concerns that are greater than themselves and their nation. As a world history teacher, perspective is just a part of my subject. For example, did you know that just the concept of countries/nation-states developed less than 300 years ago? Before that people looked at the world through the lens of family, village, tribe, kingdom or empire. The idea of uniting (and dividing people into countries based on common cultural elements (language, religion, ethnicity, shared history, and values) is a relatively new paradigm in human civilization, historically speaking.
The whole point of global education is to make students aware that they are not merely members of their own family, town, country, ethnic or religious group; they are members of a world community of humanity. And by seeing what we share in common as people and understudying and respecting our differences, we can all work together to create a better world. Through understanding and collaboration, we stand a much better chance at peacefully solving the worlds problems such as of hunger, violence, human rights violations and just general inequality.
But global education is not merely esoteric ideals of creating a better world. It is also completely practical. Our social world and economy are changing at ever increasing rates. We are training students for jobs that don't even exist yet; we are preparing students to solve problems that we are currently unaware of. Thanks to technology, our world is becoming smaller. Our students must be taught how to problem solve and collaborate. They need to know how to use technology and also how to tap into the most wasted resource on the planet...their individual genius, creativity and human potential. These are the skills that the jobs of the future will need...Please see "global education standards.
Rationale & Purpose of this Website:
Through sharing the knowledge and experiences that I gained through IREX (International Research and Exchange Board) Global Teachers program I have created this website to introduce my fellow educators and teaching community to the basics of global and 21st Century Education. The website includes resources to explain what global education is ("global education standards") and description of what resources I had available when I started the program . It also includes snap shots of my experience in India (see "essential question," "travel blog") and a lesson plan AND a gifted and the pilot to a talented/global leadership program. There are also other resources for teachers or organizations that are interested in creating their own global education projects (see "project based learning" and "local community resource list")