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November 2002 | Volume 6 | Number 3 The World in the Classroom
Tim Dove
When Apollo 11 first touched down on the surface of the moon in 1969, it was hailed by many Americans as a spectacular achievement of modern science—many Americans who were U.S. citizens, that is. For those who lived further north on the continent, news of the lunar landing was received with a decidedly less enthusiastic response. I was 11 years old at the time, visiting Canada with my parents, and I remember the uncertainty and anger expressed by some of our Canadian hosts: How dare the United States go to the moon. What if the astronauts bring some kind of organism back that kills everyone, something that we don't know anything about? That experience forced me, for the first time in my young life, to see an international event through different lenses. I was beginning to view people, places, and happenings through a global perspective.
A global perspective helps us reflect on our own points of view and reminds us about the importance of understanding those of other people. Furthermore, global education is not a distinct course; it's a skill of being able to see events and activities in different ways. As teachers, we need to help our students develop that skill. We need to help students understand that we don't exist in isolation, that our actions affect others around the world. As a middle school teacher, I need to help my students see that what they think of as “exotic” is different, not strange or weird. There are many ways to infuse your teaching with a global perspective. Some teachers bring the world into the classroom by emphasizing environmental concerns, for example. Other teachers may point out the global nature of economic systems. Still others use the stories of their own travels and nonfiction accounts of other people from around the world to help students learn about cultures other than their own. Many teachers have begun to recognize a great resource sitting in their own classroom—the diverse students they serve. All of these approaches are valid, so long as the teacher strives to teach students about real-world problems, multiple perspectives, and interconnectedness.
Following are a few examples of how I strive to nurture my students' global mindset.
Look to your students to help you start planning lessons with a global perspective. The students in your classroom have different backgrounds. Find out where they've traveled and what they've read. Determine what your students already know about the subjects you teach. Then, connect what you're studying with the lives of the students that are in your room.
When I teach, I try to interject global perspectives in all my lessons, but I start with my students and their community. Then, I make connections to the rest of the world.
When we study geography, for example, I open the unit with a discussion about why Ohio is considered part of the Great Lakes region but West Virginia isn't. I ask my students to examine stereotypes they have about their peers in other states. What is interesting is to invite conversation from those students who have extended family in West Virginia. This discussion helps set a context for further research regarding the different cultural components in the regions across the United States.
When the class begins to talk about Africa, the discussion centers on the fact that although many Americans tend to think of all people from that continent as Africans, there is a lot of variety. For example, a new understanding can be as basic as the fact that people of Ghana speak a different language than South Africans. During the unit, the class studies other differences and similarities in the geography, history, music, and languages of different countries of Africa and the regions of the United States.
Taking this approach creates a learning community that's more open to differences. Instead of thinking, “I'm a very different person than you, and we don't really need to talk about this,” my students begin to see the similarities between themselves and others—in the classroom and around the world. More important, students come to accept some universal truths. They learn that people all over the world have similar values and core beliefs about the things that are important in their lives. This is an important step toward becoming a global citizen.
Many of my students recognize the limitations of certain media outlets. They know they have images and stereotypes that aren't accurate, but they have nothing to replace these ideas with. This gives me an opportunity. Analyzing the ways in which different media report on world events is a great way to introduce students to different perspectives. I ask students to locate different news services that are available online, such as the Associated Press and international press Web sites, and to make a list of the top news events being covered. Through this exercise, students get a sense of the major events occurring around the world, as reported by the many different people involved in providing news coverage.
Students then predict what stories might make the national news that evening on television. I then break the students into groups and ask each group to watch a different national network or cable news program and note which key events are reported.
In class the next day, we talk about television news and its limitations. Students see that, in certain situations, more information is available in the print media and online. This leads to an even deeper discussion about differing perspectives—not only among local and national news people, but also among journalists and reporters in other countries. Students begin to think about information and how it's presented, to look critically at what's being reported, and to question the point of view. They learn not to say “that opinion isn't worthwhile,” but rather, “this is what she said, and these are some reasons why she might think that.”
Students don't really know how much they have in common with people of different ethnicities, cultures, or generations. Through a fun research project I call Compare Yourself to History (or CYTH as the kids call it), students have a chance to explore the important commonalties and differences among us.
I assign students a historical figure—assignments which are not based on a specific geographical area, time period, gender, ethnicity, or religion. Students then research their person and must find three positive character traits that they share with the person. These character traits are discovered through a variety of reading, writing, reflective, and organizational activities. Students then write a compare-and-contrast paper summarizing their research findings and create a project to share these character traits in another way.
This project has positive results. One student was assigned a Chinese empress from the 19th century. Initially, the student thought she had nothing in common with the empress. As she finished her research, however, and began to identify the likenesses and differences, the student discovered that writing the contrast part of her paper became her toughest challenge. The student now feels she has a great deal in common with this 19th century woman. And the other wonderful result: When the student presents her paper and project in class, the other students want to know more about life in 19th century China as they study the best known people of American history during that time period. This project helps students realize that in the 19th century, there were things going on in places other than just the eastern United States.
Most global education programs have the same goal: to prepare children and young adults to participate intelligently in the changing world. Global education helps students realize that they are global citizens who must try to understand the varied perspectives of people in different countries. In helping students develop such a global perspective, educators are helping to also break down artificial boundaries between nations, and help prepare young people around the world to work together to safeguard planet Earth and its populace.
Editor's Note: Tim Dove is one of the featured educators in ASCD's Global Education PD Online Course. Review sample lessons from the course at http://www.ascd.org
Tim Dove is a social studies teacher at McCord Middle School in Worthington, Ohio. A teacher of 21 years, Dove has been an advocate of global education since being an AFS exchange student to Paraguay. Since 1985, he has worked with Ohio State University and other institutions to train teachers in how to teach with a global perspective. Dove was named the Martha Holden Jennings Master Teacher in 1996, Ohio Council for the Social Studies Middle School Teacher of the Year in 2001 and the International Educator of the Year by the Columbus Council on World Affairs in 2002. He can be reached via e-mail at dove.5@osu.edu.
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