Promoting Global Education

Global education has become a buzz word in education in past years, however, a worthy buzz word. The concept of becoming a global citizen is that students around the globe would understand each other better and realize their responsibilities to each other and to the Earth. Education is a priority in creating citizens that are aware of the broader world, respect diversity, are outraged by social injustice, are willing to act and participate to make the world a better place, and are willing to take responsibility for their actions.

For all of these things to happen, there are many needed components. However, there are also barriers preventing knowledge sharing from happening. Students may be relatively isolated from other diverse students. Technology helps knowledge sharing between diverse groups or cultures, but it can also hinder those who don't have access. The current trend toward testing in education and the lack of knowledge about global issues are also barriers. The hesitancy of many parents or teachers to get into controversial or political topics with young people is also a barrier.

The good news is that we can do so many things to promote knowledge sharing. Many of these solutions hinge on education. We can make a concerted effort to educate this country about global issues, even the hard-to-face realities. We can teach the skills and values necessary for knowledge sharing to occur and provide the technology for this research and communication. We can use service learning in schools and other social organizations as a way to educate students about global issues.

Barriers

One obvious problem in the area of knowledge sharing for global education is simply the fact that students may not have the opportunity to communicate with students around the country, much less around the world. In other words, they suffer from lack of exposure. Without these connections, knowledge sharing breaks down. With many American schools more segregated than they were before the Civil Rights movement, American students can easily get caught up in their own "world view" and ignore the larger picture. We need to provide more opportunities for students to "stretch" outside their own realm and learn about the global picture. Maybe this could be as simple as providing global service learning activities where students could become educated or educate themselves about particular issues. Then, they could work with others toward solutions and see that their actions can and do have impact upon the world.

Another obvious challenge to knowledge sharing is the inequity of technology distribution. For example, many students both here in the United States and around the world, do not have access to technology. The Internet itself can be a wonderful source of the sharing of all kinds of information but only if students have access to this technology. When they don't have access, they obviously fall behind the curve of information sharing. We need to strive to provide the technology to even our poorest schools, so that these students can access the wealth of information out there about any global issue.

The most obvious barrier to information sharing in global education is the process of education itself. If teachers do not know what is going on in the world, they cannot teach about those events. Many teachers do not understand the important concepts of global education such as the fact that the world's resources are distributed without equity and are unsustainable for indefinite periods of time. Not all teachers clearly understand the ramifications of poverty and how that poverty cuts across all areas of life. For example, students whose parents earn less money are obviously more susceptible to illnesses and other medical problems due to a lack of medical treatment and/or a lack of proper nutrition. Students whose parents are poor score behind their peers on standardized tests, which mean they are less likely to graduate from high school or to attend postsecondary education.

Another barrier that falls within the realm of educations is No Child Left Behind and other similar laws or mandates. As we move toward more and more standardized testing, terms like global citizenship are falling by the wayside. Since the qualities of global citizenship cannot be tested with a pencil and paper test, they are deemed less important by many schools. Schools cannot "afford" to deviate from the curriculum that will be tested.

The last barrier to information sharing is the risk that many of the issues of global education are "political" ones. Many people, teachers included, have a tendency to avoid political issues. They are heavy, depressing, and may get one into "hot water" in a school district. If the teacher is afraid to share information with his/her students, how can the student learn the information? Teachers learn to teach so that they can avoid parental objections or administrative attention. So, if everyone is afraid of the consequences of sharing some more controversial or challenging information, then the information will never transfer or be shared. Buggs (1998) found that: "Too often our curricula focus on the past, often presented in Disney-like terms, and ignore the bleak realities of today. Such instruction is deceitful and inadequate. It does not prepare students to look the status quo head on and ask: Why? " (p.1) We must move beyond myth and misinformation about the world into knowledge and empowerment.

What To Do

First of all, what we can do is to promote knowledge of the global world. Encourage teachers and parents to find out about the global issues of all types, including social, cultural, economic, environmental or political. Require courses of educators that cover things like, fair trade, social injustice and equity, diversity, ethical consumerism, causes of conflict, awareness of the past and future, awareness of resources. Then make sure educators have the time and resources for planning and implementing curricula based on these ideas. The issues are much more complicated than pulling a worksheet out of a teacher's guide and having students complete it. There are not ready-made lesson plan sites for these kinds of lessons. They require research and knowledge and compassion. These lesson plans and subject areas must be embedded in the very fabric of the schools, not one-shot deals like "Diversity Day." For example, at a school serving rural communities in the Highlands of Scotland, global citizenship was stressed. The staff came up with a clear vision of "All pupils leaving the school and all staff in it will be active global citizens (Oxfam 9). They learned about child labor practices by doing creative writing and then sharing orally what they had written. Of course, these activities were preceded by research. They also manage a vending machine that supplies Fair Trade snacks. These are just two activities of the many that they do (Oxfam 9). There is a fantastic educational site called Global Education where educators can get all kinds of information.

Students need to hear some of the not-so-wonderful truths about what is happening in the world. For example, according to Sachs (1995) "millions of tons of hazardous waste generated by industrial countries are exported to non-industrialized areas of the world" (p.7). Or that according to Shiva (1997) "ancient knowledge of plants and animals, and even genetic material, are stolen every year form indigenous peoples and used to generate wealth for a few while the cultures which generated the knowledge are decimated (Shiva 1997). The first step to knowledge sharing in global education is simply educating our teachers and parents and passing the information along to our students.

To do this effectively we need to have knowledgeable teachers and engaging resources. In Ryan and Durning's book called Stuff: The Secret Lives of EverydayThings, these two authors ask us to consider the ramifications of our own daily consumption of goods on the lives of others. Many examples of everyday products are given, and these products are traced from their source through the production process to the ramifications of their waste. The authors give suggestions for people who want to help create a more sustainable world. This is the kind of material schools should be teaching.

We can redefine the goals of education in the modern world and go back to people like John Dewey. He believed that education should be grounded in personal experiences of the student with his/her world and community. Education has gotten away from this, if it was ever taught. Educators and parents need to question themselves about the purposes of education. Is it all about competition and competing for jobs in the world, or is there a larger goal in education of making students the "freedom fighters" for the next generation and righting some of the wrongs that have been going on for too long. William Ayers writes extensively about this, especially in the book Teaching Toward Freedom. I believe William Ayers (1995) sums this up best when he writes:

"Teaching toward freedom goes beyond presenting what already is; it is teaching toward what could be, what ought to be, what is not yet. It is more than most structures and guidelines; it includes an exposure to and understanding of material realities-advantages and disadvantages, privileges and oppressions-as well.
Teaching of this kind might stir people to come together as vivid, thoughtful, and yes, outraged.Students, then, might find themselves dissatisfied with what had only yesterday seemed the naturalorder of things. At this point, when consciousness links to conduct and upheaval is in the air, teaching
becomes a call to freedom" (p. 156).

In this excerpt, he basically sums up the idea of teaching globally and the benefits of teaching this way. He discusses the challenges of this way of teaching, but ultimately, the benefits it provides to our students and the world. Our students, no matter where they are, become students of the world.

To allow for more successful knowledge sharing, we can make sure that all schools introduce and practice the skills necessary for this to take place in a global world. These skills include discussion, role play, inquiry, ability to challenge inequalities, respect, cooperation, and conflict resolution just to name a few. These skills can be taught in various ways in education, and should be taught. They are designed, if nothing else, to make students more critical.

On the same note, make sure that schools and parents promote values necessary for information sharing such as self esteem, empathy, self identity, commitment, respect, concern, optimism. These values should be stressed greatly inside the home and in schools. We are failing students if we fail to provide these values.

References

Ayers, William. (2005). Teaching Toward Freedom, Boston. Beacon Press.

Buggs, R. (1998). Child Labor Component in the Twelve-Week Spanish Introductory

Class, American Research Association proposal component.

Global Education, Retrieved March 14, 2007 from

http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/search?qt=&x=8&y=13&sr=site#resulttab

Oxfam, Retrieved March 14, 2007 from http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/teachers/about.htm.

Sachs, A. (1995). Eco-Justice: Linking Human Rights and the Environment.

Washington, D.C.: WorldWatch Institute, p. 1-2.

Shiva, V. (1997). Biopiracy: The Power of Nature and Knowledge. Boston: South End

Press.