Global Citizenship Education for Every Classroom

Michelle E. Carton

Diversity is a defining feature of the Alaskan landscape, lifestyle, and its residents. People from all over the globe have found home in the Last Frontier. Isolation, also a key feature of the 49th state, creates a unique challenge for our young people, who are increasingly "social" via online platforms. No longer are those in the most remote communities completely blocked from the world.

With this development comes an exciting opportunity for educators to embrace the connectivity and make students feel less isolated in a protected and prepared fashion. Our students, especially those like mine, are part of an incredibly diverse and global world, but need exposure to digital citizenship through Global Citizenship Education (GCE) to break the physical isolation they experience in day-to-day reality. Many of our young people have never left the state, or even their own city or rural village, making the development of diverse perspectives through education necessary.

I created Global Education Alaska in 2016. This grassroots movement seeks to equip educators in Alaska and beyond with the tools to embrace GCE in their classrooms and to give young people resources to navigate the treacherous waters of a digital age, regardless of location. Though founded in Alaska, the program has been a springboard for educators and students around the globe to learn, connect, and be inspired to take action to create the world they want.

So how does one go about jumping on the proverbial bandwagon? Creating a flagship showcase in a place like Alaska, with its incredibly unique challenges, allows others to see how to embrace their own challenges and break the paradigm of a one-size-fits-all, archaic educational approach that is simply not preparing our young people to find success in a globally connected environment.

Global education is the best available tool to shake up traditional education, as it naturally embraces social-emotional learning, the ISTE Standards, the U.S. Department of Education Global Standards, and American Association of School Libraries Standards, without a lot of extra planning, money, or even time. In my live and webinar-based presentations, seminars, and workshops, I can sense the excitement—yet also trepidation—in the attendees and try to address their individual concerns about lack of time, excess costs, and stakeholder buy-in. Most teachers will share that what they truly desire is for students to feel confident in their voice, embrace the idea of community, discover how to relate to others in a healthy and productive manner, and to feel inspired to explore creativity, curiosity, and participation in something greater than themselves.

All it takes is one teacher to open a door for hundreds of students. We have the world as our classroom. We just need to bring the world to our students in an intentional way. Global educators are changing the face of education in a time when it is so desperately needed. Mandates, shrinking autonomy, and reduced budgets create a great need for educators to take charge of what happens in learning environments. Global Citizenship Education can be woven into every subject in every classroom, regardless of access to technology.

The first tenet of GCE is connecting students to the world. Regardless of where you reside, this means exposing students to the places around them to which they aren't familiar. Local culture is present everywhere and should be a key feature of education. Start by driving around your local community, larger district/county, and your state. Notice all there is that students have little understanding of or familiarity with. In my own community, I see big oil companies, pet stores, yoga studios, mindfulness coaches, as well as social advocacy agencies, to name a few.

Then, invite the experts who work and live in these spaces into the classroom or library to share their perspectives, knowledge, and expertise with students—a method for young people to see how their local world connects with the global one. I've brought in science experts to teach about the landscape, biodiversity, and the local impacts of climate issues; local native people to talk about customs and traditions; elders to talk about what they've seen change; and local artists and writers to share how to capture life. These experts have come for individual class periods, whole-school special assemblies, and before and after school. Wherever you live, the world is present and available to teach with zero technology.

That being said, using technology to learn about the world is another effective method for GCE. Ready-made programs and opportunities are available that engage digital literacy learning. One that I often showcase in presentations is collaborative learning through Pen Pal Schools, where students can join in multimedia global learning and projects with young people all over the world.

With my own students, I use the program Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants, which connects a small group of classrooms to live experts and game changers. They discuss everything from the life and journey of explorers, such as James Redden and James Ketchell (Gyro Around the World), to the amazing work of the Water Brothers to up-and-coming movers and shakers in space exploration, ocean exploration, climate change science, and women in science.

Skype in the Classroom is another valuable platform. Students are able to connect one-on-one with incredible people through virtual field trips and lessons, such as learning about the plight of sea turtles and plastic in our world's oceans with author and documentary filmmaker Jennifer Nolan, or connecting with authors such as Peter Raymundo and Lisa Thompson.

To learn about more platforms, programs, and opportunities that exist, visit my virtual learning resource page. Another way to get your students globally involved is to participate in international events, such as International Dot Day, International Day of Peace, and the Great Kindness Challenge. Or try one Global Education Alaska's slide deck learning tools (G.E.A.K. series) to teach students about Diwali, Dia De Los Muertos, or what schools look like around the world.

The professional development route is another approach. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State has a new self-paced, open-online course available called Global Education 101. Another resource I like is Growing up Global by author Homa Tavangar, who offers a multitude of approaches to GCE. and wants to connect with educators to expand their methods and approaches.

As the needs of our diverse learners expand, so will the need for implementing Global Citizenship Education. The most incredible part about embarking on this journey, outside of watching the love of learning, exploring, and creating expand in our students, is the lifelong learning we educators experience. With every connection, I learn more about the world, about students, and about myself. Now that is an incredible accomplishment.

Michelle E. Carton (@AkGlobalTeacher), also known as "MC the Global Librarian," is the librarian at Tudor Elementary School in Anchorage, Alaska, and the founder of Global Education Alaska. She has taught in both rural and urban Alaska and specializes in global citizenship projects and curriculum. She was named a 2019 Library Journal Movers and Shakers and 2018 School Library Journal & Scholastic School Librarian of the Year: Champion of Civic Engagement. In 2018, her library program, “Young Global Citizens” won the national Follett Challenge.

All photos taken by the author. 

ASCD Express, Vol. 15, No. 01. Copyright 2019 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.