Why global education? How can it be used to empower my students of color? What is Global Education? These are all excellent and relevant questions. Turns out that many teachers are already using elements of global education without the official title. Field trips to museums, news and current events, embassy adoption, cultural celebrations and cultural studies. All of these activities fall under the umbrella of global education. The purpose of this guide is to help teachers use global education to intentionally empower students of color towards academic success and expanded life opportunities.
What is Global Education? Global Education is purposefully designed curriculum, unit plans, lesson plans and school cultures that teach students to be cosmopolitan citizens of the world. Global Education is interdisciplinary, incorporating cultural studies, social studies, history, service learning projects into all subjects from math to music. It is often technology driven and designed to connect students to the larger world through technology.
Empowering At-Risk Students of Color Not all students of color are at risk for academic failure. However, low income African - American and Latino students are. In Washington DC these are the students considered to be at risk because they are the students furthest from opportunity - college education, career options, travel, etc. Compared to students from other socioeconomic groups they have lower college attendance rates, lower high school graduation rates and large learning gaps as indicated by standardized tests. As teachers who work with at risk students of color, we have a responsibility to inspire them towards academic excellence. in doing this, we often are mired in trying to motivate students with a "do this so you can get a job" kind of reasoning. What if instead we facilitate academic excellence in our students by nurturing their curiosity and engendering an intrinsic motivation to learn that stems from curiosity and exploration? Global Education can be a powerful tool towards this goal. So in essence, instead of a "do it so you can get a job" motivation, which is abstract to many younger students, we motivate them with concretes like " do this so we can share with our classmates in Ghana when we have our skype meeting next week!" Global Education involves teaching students four core global competencies:
Appreciating and respecting differences in others
Recognizing Perspective
Connecting the past with the present
Taking Action
These are critical thinking skills and competencies that are transferable to all academic, social and career settings. Equipping our students with these powerful tools prepares them for a bright and limitless future.
Teaching Identity Historically, students of color like African - Americans and Latino Americans have had their own cultures marginalized and underrepresented in academic instruction. This guide can be used to appropriate methods of global education to affirm and inform the identities of students of color by teaching their history and culture as a launching pad for learning to appreciate and respect difference in others. Mainstream American society often does not include affirming representations of African - Americans or Latino Americans. When left unchecked, our students often develop an alienated relationship to their own culture, their identity and even their own physicality. Reference the well known 'Doll Test' from conducted in the 1940s and 1950s by psychologists. Attorneys of the Brown vs. Board of Education case used these tests to prove that segregated schools were harmful to African - American children. Exclusion is harmful to young people of color because they develop a warped and diminished view of who they are and an inflated view of mainstream culture and European - Americans. Conversely, when White students are educated in exclusionary environments where they are taught to only relate to those who look like them and share in their culture, they develop a conflated view of themselves and a diminished view of those who are different. When African - American and Latino images and cultures are systematically excluded from academic instruction and general mainstream media these students are harmed. They must first intentionally learn to appreciate and respect themselves, before students can effectively learn about the world around them. Methods in global education serve as an excellent vehicle for this purpose.
How To Use This Guide Educators can use this guide to learn global education teaching strategies, activities and professional development opportunities. I have included my experiences and lessons learned as a Teachers for Global Classrooms fellow. Navigate through the Study, Teach and Travel pages to learn more to learn how to internationalize your classroom and empower your students towards success.