As we herald globalization, we generally recognize that its processes and phenomena signal a shrinking of the time it takes to travel physically and electronically between locales. Globalization fosters increased connectivity across spaces and expanded social relations across distances (Galligan, Roberts, & Trifiletti, 2001). This “globe-talk” is indicative of the perception that we live and work in rapidly changing and uncertain times, and that our fate is connected to political, economic, and cultural happenings throughout the world.
The world in which our students live is also changing dramatically—and schools must change as well. Advanced communications and technology have transformed the world into a global village, where boundaries can no longer divide schools. Hence, the global marketplace of ideas places new and important demands on learning and teaching.
Despite the impact of the global age, few students in the United States are exposed in a meaningful way to international education. A recent study by the Modern Language Association reported that only 8.2 percent of U.S. students in higher education are learning another language, with more than half of those enrolled in Spanish. Research published in Asia Society's 2001 report, Asia in the Schools: Preparing Young Americans for Today's Interconnected World, and in National Geographic's 2002 Roper Global Geographic Literacy Survey shows that today's young Americans remain dangerously uninformed about the world beyond U.S. borders.
Because the U.S. public “has not yet embraced international education” (Bales, 2004, p. 206), education leaders have an opportunity and responsibility to educate students to meet the challenges of the interconnected world. University of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi adds, “It is imperative to begin thinking about a truly integrative, global education that takes seriously the actual interconnections of causes and effects” (1993, p. 276).
On a brighter note, the goal of developing an internationally literate generation is within our reach. The schools featured in Schools for a Global Age: Promising Practices in International Education, published by Asia Society and the Goldman Sachs Foundation, provide models of learning and teaching about the world that can be used by every school and school district. At Newton North and South High Schools in Massachusetts, the student exchange program with Beijing, China, promotes the study of Asia throughout the curriculum. The John Stanford International School in Seattle, Wash., offers its students a half-day language immersion program in Spanish (K–5) and Japanese (K–4). Morikami Park Elementary School in Delray Beach, Fla., an International Baccalaureate magnet program, follows a student-led inquiry learning model. The Metropolitan Learning Center in Bloomfield, Conn., attracts students from six districts with its interdisciplinary approach to international education. Clearly, the teachers in these schools are pushing the walls of their classrooms aside. They speak with passion about their international education work and the gratitude returned by their students.
Together, these schools and their communities are achieving real, sustained impact. They should inspire us to strengthen our efforts and expand the focus on international education in all schools. Their leadership demonstrates what is working in education today. It really does matter whether and how we connect our students in meaningful ways to international concepts, issues, and people. The fast pace of globalization lends urgency to the need for change. Surely, we cannot have a world-class education system if our students have only a superficial understanding of the rest of the world (Engler & Hunt, 2002).