What is Global Education?
"Global competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance." (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011)
If you have been anywhere in Education recently, you know that the entire field is changing. With the Common Core State Standards being implemented across the country, changes to assessments, increased weight given to accountability and data collection, teachers are under immense pressure to improve their instruction across the board. Yet, all teachers know that unless students are engaged in their learning, the best lesson plans, tied to the best standards, are nothing more than scrap paper.
Global Education, or Globalized Education, is not just "flags, food, and festivals." It is helping our students to develop the skills to respond to the demands of a changing world. Our country is becoming more globally interdependent. These skills do not conflict with the Common Core State Standards; in fact, they enhance and deepen the educational promises that the standards give us.
According to the Mansilla and Jackson, there are four competencies that students need to have in order to have Global Competence. They are:
If you have been anywhere in Education recently, you know that the entire field is changing. With the Common Core State Standards being implemented across the country, changes to assessments, increased weight given to accountability and data collection, teachers are under immense pressure to improve their instruction across the board. Yet, all teachers know that unless students are engaged in their learning, the best lesson plans, tied to the best standards, are nothing more than scrap paper.
Global Education, or Globalized Education, is not just "flags, food, and festivals." It is helping our students to develop the skills to respond to the demands of a changing world. Our country is becoming more globally interdependent. These skills do not conflict with the Common Core State Standards; in fact, they enhance and deepen the educational promises that the standards give us.
According to the Mansilla and Jackson, there are four competencies that students need to have in order to have Global Competence. They are:
1. Investigate the world beyond their immediate environment, |
"Education for Global Citizenship gives children and young people the opportunity to develop critical thinking about complex global issues in the safe space of the classroom." (Oxfam, 2) |
When teachers implement even one of these competencies into a Unit or a Lesson plan, they help stretch the bounds of their classroom and bring authentic opportunities in for students to widen their horizons. We should be thinking of our classrooms and students like "an image of concentric circles that develop from a central one, encircling the self, to the family, neighborhood, other affiliations out to the largest circle of humanity. [Martha] Nussbaum states, “Our task as citizens of the world will be to draw the circles somehow to the center…making all human beings more like our fellow city-dwellers…We may and should devote special attention to them in education. But we should also work to make all human beings part of our community of dialogue and concern, base our political deliberations on that interlocking commonality, and give the circle that defines our humanity special attention and respect” (Prior McCarty, 2)
The Common Core State Standards already build from self, to family, neighborhood, state, and country; Global Education merely extends learning to the logical next step of the world.
The Common Core State Standards already build from self, to family, neighborhood, state, and country; Global Education merely extends learning to the logical next step of the world.
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How to Use this Resource Guide
This website is designed to be a resource for teachers not only at George Washington Middle School, but for all teachers. In it you will find sample lessons and units plans developed to include global competencies; Global Assessment tools; digital resources, community resources; International teacher travel opportunities; a guide for travel for teachers; my own travel blog; and other materials.
I have attempted to link to all articles, videos, and websites mentioned throughout the site to make this resource as easy as possible to use. There are several places throughout the website where you can contact me to either comment, add your suggestions, or ask questions. I highly encourage you to do so. |
Works Cited
Mansilla, V. B., & Jackson, A. (2011). Educating for global competence: Preparing our youth to engage the world. New York, NY: the Asia Society. Retrieved from http://asiasociety.org/education/partnership-global-learning/making-case/global-competence-prepare-youth-engage-world
Oxfam (2006) Education for Global Citizenship: A Guide for Schools London, England: Oxfam Development Education. Retrieved from http://www.oxfam.org.uk/~/media/Files/Education/Global%20Citizenship/education_for_global_citizenship_a_guide_for_schools.ashx
Prior McCarty, Luise Ph.D. (2011) "Cosmopolitan Education," Colleagues: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleagues/vol6/iss1/5
Mansilla, V. B., & Jackson, A. (2011). Educating for global competence: Preparing our youth to engage the world. New York, NY: the Asia Society. Retrieved from http://asiasociety.org/education/partnership-global-learning/making-case/global-competence-prepare-youth-engage-world
Oxfam (2006) Education for Global Citizenship: A Guide for Schools London, England: Oxfam Development Education. Retrieved from http://www.oxfam.org.uk/~/media/Files/Education/Global%20Citizenship/education_for_global_citizenship_a_guide_for_schools.ashx
Prior McCarty, Luise Ph.D. (2011) "Cosmopolitan Education," Colleagues: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleagues/vol6/iss1/5
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.