Nomadic Teacher
As an educator who has gained so much from travel and international professional development opportunities, I realized that I wanted to integrate global knowledge and competence into my classroom, whether I was teaching World History or Economics or any other type of class. As a Social Studies teacher, I knew that I was already addressing global current events as well as world history and geography. But I wondered, was this really global education? Were there other components of global education that I was leaving out?
What is Global Education?
To start my investigation, I needed a good definition of global education to fuel my classroom ideas and curriculum. Putting together many different ideas from our online class, I have come to see global education as a multifaceted way to look at education in general. At a minimum it is cross-disciplinary or interdisciplinary in nature. It doesn’t matter what subject you teach, you can bring global knowledge and competence into your assignments, projects or outlook for a class. Global education includes a focus on particular content related to global issues, cultures, and connections. It also includes skills that can be used in the contemporary world such as research, understanding multiple perspectives, and interpretation. Finally, global education includes action, no matter how small or big. After a student has done an assignment or project, can they act on what they have learned through civic duty? (from Global Education Checklist in the Global Education Student Assessment Tools Inventory tab of my website).
One of the most useful ideas I have found is the EdSteps Global Competence Matrix. It defines what global competence looks like into four competence areas including 1) to investigate matters of global significance, 2) to recognize and respect various perspectives on these important matters, 3) to effectively communicate a position on these matters through a variety of media, and 4) to take action so as to have a positive impact upon the world. These four objectives have changed the focus of many individual assignments as well as the overall way I conceptualize my classes. (from CCSSO and the Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning in the Global Education Student Assessment Tools Inventory tab from my website).
Rationale for Global Education
As the world becomes more and more interconnected, educators need to make connections between their classrooms and communities and the larger world. We want our students to be able to take part in the world community as workers and as civically engaged people and for this they need global knowledge and skills. We also want our students to have a global understanding of the issues that we face in the world and how to connect their local communities and issues with the global.
Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellowship
The Teachers for Global Education Fellowship (TGC) provides professional development for classrooms teachers with the goal of embedding global education competencies within the minds of our students. For those teachers accepted into the program, TGC provides an interactive eight-week online course on global education, a pre-travel Global Education Symposium in Washington D.C. , a trip to an international destination to visit and interact with the schools and communities of native host teachers (2014 destinations included Colombia, Ghana, India, Morocco, the Philippines and Russia), and a post-travel Global Education Symposium.
The website you are viewing is the "capstone project" of Dana Van Tilborg who teaches in Denver, Colorado. This capstone project website seeks to help provide you with information showing the need for global education, important thinkers and ideas in global education, ways to assess global education within your classroom, and other resources to help incorporate global competencies into your existing curriculum.
This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and/or information presented are the grantee's own and do not necessarily represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.
What is Global Education?
To start my investigation, I needed a good definition of global education to fuel my classroom ideas and curriculum. Putting together many different ideas from our online class, I have come to see global education as a multifaceted way to look at education in general. At a minimum it is cross-disciplinary or interdisciplinary in nature. It doesn’t matter what subject you teach, you can bring global knowledge and competence into your assignments, projects or outlook for a class. Global education includes a focus on particular content related to global issues, cultures, and connections. It also includes skills that can be used in the contemporary world such as research, understanding multiple perspectives, and interpretation. Finally, global education includes action, no matter how small or big. After a student has done an assignment or project, can they act on what they have learned through civic duty? (from Global Education Checklist in the Global Education Student Assessment Tools Inventory tab of my website).
One of the most useful ideas I have found is the EdSteps Global Competence Matrix. It defines what global competence looks like into four competence areas including 1) to investigate matters of global significance, 2) to recognize and respect various perspectives on these important matters, 3) to effectively communicate a position on these matters through a variety of media, and 4) to take action so as to have a positive impact upon the world. These four objectives have changed the focus of many individual assignments as well as the overall way I conceptualize my classes. (from CCSSO and the Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning in the Global Education Student Assessment Tools Inventory tab from my website).
Rationale for Global Education
As the world becomes more and more interconnected, educators need to make connections between their classrooms and communities and the larger world. We want our students to be able to take part in the world community as workers and as civically engaged people and for this they need global knowledge and skills. We also want our students to have a global understanding of the issues that we face in the world and how to connect their local communities and issues with the global.
Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellowship
The Teachers for Global Education Fellowship (TGC) provides professional development for classrooms teachers with the goal of embedding global education competencies within the minds of our students. For those teachers accepted into the program, TGC provides an interactive eight-week online course on global education, a pre-travel Global Education Symposium in Washington D.C. , a trip to an international destination to visit and interact with the schools and communities of native host teachers (2014 destinations included Colombia, Ghana, India, Morocco, the Philippines and Russia), and a post-travel Global Education Symposium.
The website you are viewing is the "capstone project" of Dana Van Tilborg who teaches in Denver, Colorado. This capstone project website seeks to help provide you with information showing the need for global education, important thinkers and ideas in global education, ways to assess global education within your classroom, and other resources to help incorporate global competencies into your existing curriculum.
This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and/or information presented are the grantee's own and do not necessarily represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.