Preparing US teachers for critical global education

Abstract

While recognising the nature and significance of the theoretical bases and dimensions of the range of theoretical orientations that inform the literature on global and international education, the central aim of this paper is to describe in a more concrete way 'critical global education (CGE)', an approach to global education that seeks to educate students about the causes and consequences of global injustices and that aims to support students to work in solidarity with the world's people towards transformative change. The particular focus of this article is how such orientations may most effectively be introduced into teacher education, a field that has so far not developed such a focus. Our purpose in defining both CGE and globally competent teaching (GCT) is to articulate the knowledge, skills and dispositions that we feel teachers need and to communicate the rationale for our work. We develop the idea of CGE in the main part of the paper alongside the concept of the 'globally competent teacher', which together form the conceptual basis for our efforts to internationalise teacher education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In doing so, we have attempted to distinguish our work from other efforts in teacher education in which the basis for the work is either vaguely defined or defined differently in the service of the neo-liberal agenda.

Globally-Minded Leadership: A New Approach for Leading Schools in Diverse Democracies

“…Fostering global competence in students requires a pedagogical shift in how learning takes place in schools and a dispositional shift toward situating oneself, students, and community in an interconnected web of local, national, and global affiliations. Globally competent teaching practices include integrating global perspectives and topics across all grade levels and content areas; using student-centered approaches where students actively co-construct knowledge through pedagogy that engages learners with authentic audiences and addresses relevant, real-world concerns; and intentionally connecting students to diverse people and places through facilitating international and intercultural conversations and partnerships (Boix Mansilla, 2016;Gaudelli, 2003;Merryfield, 1998;O'Connor & Zeichner, 2011;. Globally competent teaching dispositions include valuing diversity and multiple perspectives; embracing the unique identities of each individual and believing that people of all races, ethnicities, immigration statuses, and national affiliation hold universal human rights; and believing that teachers and students can take responsible actions that will improve conditions in local and global communities (Banks, 2008;Merryfield, 1998;O'Connor & Zeichner, 2011).…”

Expanding approaches to teaching for diversity and social justice in K-12 education: Fostering global citizenship across the content areas

“…The unprecedented rise in global migration and displacement has increased the linguistic and cultural diversity of communities and classrooms. Therefore, educators must be able to respond to the academic and social needs of an increasingly diverse student body and to teach all of their students to understand, appreciate, and respect similarities and differences across various racial, ethnic, and religious groups within a pluralist society (O'Connor & Zeichner, 2011;Suarez-Orozco, 2001). Furthermore, educators must prepare students to address problems of equity and justice not only locally but also worldwide as globalization has made environmental and social injustices even more apparent (Apple, 2011;Banks, 2008;Suarez-Orozco, 2001).…”

“…Global citizenship education scholars and NGOs supporting global citizenship education have outlined the competencies (i.e., dispositions, knowledge, and skills) that students engaged in global citizenship education should learn if they are to "secure a world that is more just, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure, and sustainable" (UNESCO, 2014, p. 9). This includes perspective consciousness, empathy, human rights and social justice, the interconnectedness of the local and the global, intercultural understanding and communication, and how to take political action across the local, national, and global arenas in which students are situated (Asia Society, 2014;Banks, 2008;Girard & Harris, 2013;Myers, 2006;O'Connor & Zeichner, 2011;UNESCO, 2014). Just as globalization affects multiple sectors of society, the specific issues arising from globalization that students should learn to take responsibility for and act upon cut across grade levels and academic disciplines (Gaudelli, 2003;O'Connor & Zeichner, 2011).…”

“…This includes perspective consciousness, empathy, human rights and social justice, the interconnectedness of the local and the global, intercultural understanding and communication, and how to take political action across the local, national, and global arenas in which students are situated (Asia Society, 2014;Banks, 2008;Girard & Harris, 2013;Myers, 2006;O'Connor & Zeichner, 2011;UNESCO, 2014). Just as globalization affects multiple sectors of society, the specific issues arising from globalization that students should learn to take responsibility for and act upon cut across grade levels and academic disciplines (Gaudelli, 2003;O'Connor & Zeichner, 2011). Therefore, to move global citizenship education from abstraction to action, advocates have called for global citizenship to be integrated into extant subjects (Asia Society, 2014;Klein, 2013;UNESCO, 2014).…”

Preparing Globally Minded Teachers through the Incorporation of the International Baccalaureate

“…Globalization affects human lives in powerful, often problematic ways that are inadequately addressed by our education systems (Apple, 2011;O'Connor & Zeichner, 2011;Wang, Lin, Spalding, Odell, & Klecka, 2011). The literature reports the demand for globally minded teachers (e.g., Colón-Muñiz, SooHoo, & Brignoni, 2010;Cushner, 2007;James & Davis, 2010), calls for increased internationalization of teacher education (e.g., Longview Foundation, 2008;Shaklee & Baily, 2012;Van Roekel, 2010), and describes both international and domestic possibilities for maintaining the rigor of teaching and learning in this rapidly changing environment (e.g., Boix-Mansilla & Jackson, 2011;Council of Chief State School Officers & Asia Society, 2008;Rajdev, 2011).…”