Global Perspective in the Early Years

The world is a small place, and getting smaller. I lived abroad for four years, and the flight to Boston from London was frequently referred to as a "quick hop across the pond." Meanwhile, my great-aunt would talk about how she also crossed the Atlantic as a girl, but she was on a massive boat, and it took the better part of a week. Change has come quickly, and I agree fully with the importance of global competence. I was certainly shaped by my many experiences abroad, and I am amazed how often in my teaching I share stories of my travels, and my times living in different parts of the world. At the same time, as a kindergarten teacher, I struggle with how to include that global perspective into my curriculum. Six year olds are by nature egocentric, and a significant amount of my time is spent getting them to even acknowledge the ideas of the child sitting next to them. I was pleased to see that in "Preparing Our Youth to Engage with the World," they talk of the importance of recognizing perspective and communicating ideas effectively. These are things that are practiced daily in kindergarten, and I feel what happens at this early age lays important groundwork for future years. 

The focus of these articles was about the importance of educating our youth, yet I was struck by how much we need to educate ourselves, and how we need to be active participants, not just teachers, in the many issues that are alive in the world today. I find myself paying more attention to the global economy, and understanding why the sale of a pork company to China can have severe consequences for the economy in the US. On the environmental front, I am more conscious of my choices, and hope to incorporate more environmental studies into my class this year. Howard Gardner's words certainly resonated with me: "As educators, we must model these positive virtues ourselves; we must explain the reasons why we do what we do and why we do not endorse other, perhaps tempting, alternatives." 

Christina DelloRusso