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Globally competent students are lifelong learners who approach their learning both inside and outside of school. Among many qualities they share are the abilities to:
- Investigate the World
- Communicate Perspectives
- Weigh Ideas
- Apply Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Expertise
- Take Action
On the website sponsored by the Asia Society, the learning outcomes and rubrics are broken down into disciplines. These competencies, listed in rubrics and descriptions and performance outcomes, seem to be practical in terms of my teaching assignment as the Technology teacher for Grades 5 and 6. The performance outcomes remind me a lot of the Common Core standards in the way they are outlined and worded. I like how the rationales are specific as to how global thinking and encouraging global competence fits in with science - it treats the relationship as a necessary one.
I believe, as with any added standards, that integration with existing curriculum is key. As a Technology teacher, I am required to integrate Common Core standards into my lesson planning, units, and be able to show evidence of this in my TEVAL process. According to the Asia Society, Global Competence is "the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance." When you look at the ELA outcomes listed on the Asia Society website for grade 5, so many of them can be aligned with Common Core standards. The communication of ideas via multimedia projects, using digital technology for publication, and citing text to defend a position are all goals that both CCSS and Global Competency standards highlight.
The goal, I believe, is to stop seeing these standards as mutually exclusive and begin to understand that they are complementary and necessarily beneficial to each other.
#2 Mastering Global Literacy, Chapter 1
I have a reputation for being a very 'eco' teacher and person. We have solar panels on our house. We compost and use cloth napkins. We have a 900 square foot vegetable garden and preserve a lot of the food we grow from seeds. I plant for pollinators and do not use pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers on my yard. I have rain barrels, chickens and honeybees. Environmental issues fascinate and frighten me at the same time.
As I have mentioned before, I am responsible for integrating Common Core Standards into my teaching but have a lot of flexibility with the topics I cover. Often, I choose some type of environmental issue for students to research and present on. As Mansilla and Jackson argue,
"globally competent students are able to investigate the world by identifying an issue, generating a question, and explaining the significance of locally, regionally, and globally focused researchable questions." In the section on Climate Instability and Global Environmental Stewardship, they go on to say that studying the why and how of global issues, framing local problems for study, and building informed arguments are essential if students are going to gain an understanding of future climate conditions and their associated impacts. (Jacobs, 2014)
One of the projects I have worked on in the past with fifth grade students is one where they choose an environmental issue (based on some websites I give them to peruse for a period), conduct research, and publish a multimedia presentation on the topic for their peers. (Click here to see the form students are asked to fill out for this part of the project) We work on finding reliable resources online, citations, publishing tools, etc. Students generate questions they want to research about their topic and record their findings in Coggle or Popplet.
After reading this section, I was struck by a significant absence of global perspective on the issues students research. When a student chooses habitat loss, for example, they typically focus on one area, like the Rainforest in Brazil. Wouldn't it be great if they could compare their findings to another region in the world? This approach and small tweak in the assignment would not only allow for deeper understanding of the topic, but for the fostering of "individuals who understand environmental systems around the world well" because "such individuals will find opportunities to act now as global environmental stewards preparing for the work of their generation." (Jacobs, 2014)
#3 Mastering Global Literacy, CH. 1
The New York Times noted that 2014 was the hottest on record. There are no pollution lines drawn between countries, or towns, or states. While Connecticut creates plenty of its own air pollution, prevailing winds carry much polluted air to us from the south and the midwest sections of the United States. (Turmelle, 2013)
I can honestly say that I do not do an adequate job of teaching global interdependence. I help students with geography, social studies and we do our projects on environmental issues, events like the Iditarod and Olympics and elections, but rarely do I make a point of comparing countries, shared issues, and concerns.
#4 Global Literacy PowerPoint
The learning objectives and assessments listed in Stambler's PowerPoint seem to be worded in a more advanced context than I believe my fifth and sixth graders would be able to understand. That said, the topics could be altered slightly along with the verbiage used to be more appropriate to those grade levels. Slide 15 sounds promising:
Collaborations with other cities could be established, but not necessary, to extend the activity. It would be interesting to have students generate questions that arise while they are researching and reach out and try to find a teacher/individual/school to communicate with. Skype would be ideal, but email could also be sufficient. The members of my PLN (twitter, Google+, Facebook) could possibly, through their own PLNs, extend the reach of my search.
#5 Service Learning
Full disclosure: I am always a little bit uncomfortable when our school-aged students first enter a service-learning environment. The point is to be helpful and to also expose them to new environments and people. Often, however, the responses from our students are less than compassionate, understanding, and open-minded. Even assemblies brought into our mostly-white school district with the intention of fostering diversity and cross-cultural competence are met with giggles and snyde comments.
This quote from a 2013 Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement speaks to this point:
"Ivan Illich’s (1993) provocative speech, “To Hell With Good Intentions,” calls into question the very idea of international service-learning. Illich makes known his opposition to North American “do-gooders” in Latin America and challenges the value of the work conducted by international volunteers for the communities they hope to serve. He concludes that international visitors are welcome as travelers or students, but not as volunteers. Illich (1993) writes: “Come to look, come to climb our mountains, to enjoy our flowers. Come to study. But do not come to help” (p. 460). He challenges international organizations to think not only about the training of their volunteers, but also about “spending money to educate poor Mexicans in order to prevent them from the culture shock” of meeting with Western students (p. 459). "
While I do believe that service-learning projects are important, I think it is critical for students to be deeply prepared for their service-learning opportunities. Ideally, students will gain a better understanding of themselves in the broad scope of 'humanity' and what it means to be a citizen of the world. It is also important to provide a 'moral framework' for the project so that students do not see the group they are working with as 'lessers' but as human contemporaries. Opportunities should also encompass more than just a 'one-shot deal' and participants must be given time, space, and the forum for reflection. Service-learning projects, when done well, can be a powerful vehicle for encouraging and supporting globally literate students.
Garcia, Nuria A., and Nicholas V. Longo. "Going Global: Re-Framing Service-Learning in an Interconnected World." Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement 7.2 (2013): n. pag. Web.
Gillis, Justin. "2014 Was Hottest Year on Record, Surpassing 2010." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 16 Jan. 2015.
Jacobs, Heidi Hayes. Mastering Global Literacy. Indiana: Solution Tree, 2014. Print.
Turmelle, Luther. "Connecticut to South, Midwest: Stop Polluting Our Air."Connecticut to South, Midwest: Stop Polluting Our Air. N.p., 9 Dec. 2013. Web.
"Global Competence." Asia Society: A Partnership for Global Living. Web.
Global Literacy Power Point by Leah G. Stambler