It’s a Small World After All.” Anyone who grew up in the 60s and practically anyone who has visited a Disney resort can probably hear that song, which debuted at the 1965 World’s Fair, in their mind’s ear. It’s a cute, sing-songy way to say what Socrates did more than 2,400 years ago. “I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”
Now, more than ever, those words ring true.
Thanks to instant communication, relatively easy worldwide transportation, and other technology, our children should become global citizens to promote understanding and cooperation.
Students have being studying abroad for decades. Global education, however, is more than extended tourist study. Global Kids Connect outlines global citizenship as having responsibilities to each other and to the Earth. “Whether through sharing knowledge, volunteerism, advocacy, or philanthropy, everyone, including young people, can make a difference.”
Global Kids Connect offers students and teachers ideas and resources to becoming better global citizens. In Classroom Corner, you can check out real class projects from the US and Afghanistan. Also featured is the Central Asia School Connectivity Project for Tajikistan, where students and teachers in 15 schools from all over the country completed three activities. Lesson plans and results from Tajikistan are included.
The Global Education Benchmark Group (GEBG), made up more than 75 private-independent member schools, says that global education “develops the knowledge, skills, and emphatic orientation required to understand multiple perspectives and to thrive in increasingly interconnected works systems.” The consortium works to collect data and assess outcomes to create a nationwide standard for global education. Among its initiatives are national global education accreditation standards, collaborative programming, and a global learning handbook.
This summer you can explore global education at ISM Summer Institute in a new workshop Beyond Sightseeing: Developing Global Programs for the 21st Century, July 10-13, in Stowe, VT. Willy Fluharty, Director of the Nexus Center for Global Studies at Cape Henry Collegiate School (VA) will lead, and participants will return to their schools with a GEBG-vetted binder including multiple standardized forms, better practices, travel partner directory, chaperone training manual and K-12 global program guidelines.
Additional resources of interest
Make Your Students Aware of Their Place in the World
Private School News Vol. 8 No. 11 It’s a Small World After All
Global Schools Network: An International Partnership of Schools and Organizations Committed to Ensuring That Students Excel in an Interconnected World
Additional Resources for ISM Consortium Gold Members
Ideas & Perspectives Vol. 37 No. 5 Foreign Language in the Elementary Grades: Is It Worth It?
Ideas & Perspectives Vol. 35 No. 5 The 21st Century School: Students
