Organically Grown Global Competence

Both readings were timely (overdue?) and interesting. I found myself jotting questions in the margins that were answered a page later-- convergent thinking at it's best... It is wonderful to join BB&N at this time of exploration. 

Having worked internationally for many years, including both host-country organizations and in independent international schools, global competence is a quality that I have often taken for granted. Working with children raised internationally (and having four of my own) I've seen the organic development of global competence due to living in the world rather than in a specific country, state, or city. It is difficult to quantify these skills but I see global competence in Third Culture Kids' acceptance of other people and other viewpoints, their willingness to try new things, their flexibility in travel, life changes, an empathy for others affected by world events, a resilience in the face of challenges, and an academic and personal perspective that reaches far beyond themselves. What strikes me, though, is the natural way in which these competencies exist. There is no obvious decision-making to be accepting, flexible, etc.--they just are. 

As an organization, the difference between add-on skill-building, versus the integration of experiences that foster a culture of global competence, will be the difference between students developing a skill set or becoming organically competent. Creating a globally competent school culture occurs through systemic micro-actions and habits of global mindedness, as well as larger gestures related to multi-faceted diversity, curriculum, travel, and interaction. 

Finally, this move toward global mindedness and global competence should not feel easy or comfortable. We must honestly assess Western-centric viewpoints and allow a challenge to our status quo as individuals and as a professional learning community. We have to be willing to let go in order to open ourselves to something new. I look forward to growing with BB&N in this!

Warm Regards,
Daisy Pellant 

Lower School Counselor

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daisy Pellant, Ph.D., LSC

Lower School Counselor

Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School

10 Buckingham Street

Cambridge, MA 02138

617-800-2445
dpellant@bbns.org

We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.                                                            -Pema Chödrön

Citizen of the Word

Though I have a great many questions about it in terms of practical day to day applications in my teaching, I like the spirit of this theoretical global initiative. As my mother always said, "You are a citizen of the world whether you want to be or not," probably because her father had immigrated here from Scotland. 

The best education is all about three basic questions: WHO am I? WHO are you? and WHAT do we have in common? From that comes clarity, honesty and true communication. Here, there, everywhere. While all politics (including school policies of all kinds I am assuming) is local, as Tip O'Neill famously said, the ideal of education has never been that narrow. While the worst of politics is often about winning and losing, hopefully education in the 21st Century should be about a different sort of math. 

So I agree with just about everything that was included in the reading. The need to stay curious, be open to creative risk-taking and committed to change seems basic to what is at stake here. It certainly is basic to what I try to teach. The fact that more than 200 million souls have risked their lives and livelihood speaks volumes about where we are headed. 

-John Norton

--
John Norton

Arts Chair / US Art Department

BB&N School

Cambridge, MA 02138

Preparing Youth to Engage the World

These readings emphasized the need for openness to different cultures and to change. In many ways the challenge of global living is a psycho-emotional one: how do we move past resistance to change and fear of the other. The obstacles are powerful. Rationales regarding globalization make sense, but the obstacles we face are our own powerful and primitive human survival instincts.

Mr. Leigh Hogan
History Teacher
Buckingham Browne & Nichols Upper School
80 Gerry's Landing Road
Cambridge, Mass. 02138

The really big things in life are never understood well, except at a
distance. Anon.

Reimer's three dimensions

Reimer's lists are very helpful-- He has a lot of them and they stimulate global thinking for sure. Early he lays out the three dimensions of global competency:

openness to cultural differences, 

command of languages other than one dominant language,

command of global history and geography

These things must begin in pre school  They then make a powerful basis for openness to change. This is what globalization requires. We need more than merely quick or clever minds, we need big, wide-open and fearless ones.

Mr. Leigh Hogan
History Teacher
Buckingham Browne & Nichols Upper School
80 Gerry's Landing Road
Cambridge, Mass. 02138

The really big things in life are never understood well, except at a
distance. Anon.

Rosario's response to summer reading

I found the readings on global competence fascinating and I agree that the Humanities broaden and deepen students understanding of the world, its diversity and its complexity and that they are also important to develop critical thinking and awareness of the diversity of the world. I am particularly happy to hear so much about the importance of learning world languages since they contribute so much to an interdisciplinary and global perspective. Besides linguistic instruction, language classes encompass literature, art, history, film, culture and current events. Personally, I am all for making it as authentic for students as possible by developing partnerships within the community like the idea of involving students with heritage speakers through local bilingual schools or community centers. However, in order to carry on innovative and creative projects like this, teachers would need a lot of flexibility from a school like BB&N. When a school gravitates around a tight schedule, exams, grades, and college admissions, just getting permission to go on a fieldtrip to the MFA presents itself as a challenging endeavor. At the same time, I am thrilled to learn about organizations such as iEarn and I plan to research the possibility of having some of my students work on a project with a school in Spain or Latin America through the iEarn network. I also think that serious language instruction has to start as early as possible with various options for students on what language to take as well as with frequent periods of immersion classes if we really want our students to reach as much language and cultural proficiency as possible by the time they finish high school. Finally, I would like to advocate for more interdisciplinary courses that invest in the different talents of good teachers whose creative dispositions are mostly limited by standardized education as well as alternatives to traditional testing. Most exams do not assess the whole range of students' abilities but rather a short-term memory of factual information. I think at BB&N we are good at many 21^st century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration but there is still so much more we could be doing just to keep up with the times. Definitely for creativity, innovation and global competence to happen, there has to be an integral purpose of the whole school organization.

Rosario 

Dr. Rosario Sánchez Gómez
Spanish Department Coordinator
Buckingham Browne and Nichols School
Phone: (617) 800-2246
rsanchezgomez@bbns.org

reaction to readings

The notion that global competency includes skill components as well as attitudinal components rang true and significant for me. I think it will be important for all of us to remain mindful of the delicate balance between these two components as we move forward with this topic and develop new policies, programs and/or curricula. The American education pendulum is still swinging in the direction of increased levels of assessment, accountability and documentation of measurable student growth, and I think this poses an additional challenge to maintaining the appropriate balance between the global competency components. As schools begin to articulate their commitment to global competency, I can imagine that some will develop and point to lists of easily measured isolated skills, various knowledge bits, or global topics that students will encounter during their educational careers. Even with the best of intentions, this approach might miss the mark. In order to get it right, I think it will be critical to explore, consider and discuss age appropriate ways to foster the attitudinal components (empathy, tolerance of differences, peace, recognizing differing perspectives, equality, etc.), even when student progress in some of these areas will be difficult to measure, or when the ideas themselves are still considered to be controversial by some. Another wise (even if obvious) point made was the recognition that "what is engaging and motivating for students differs at various levels of education." I think that is an idea worth keeping in the forefront as we forge ahead. Looking forward to the discussions!

Bill Hritz

Global Competence

I thought it was interesting that the "Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World" publication began with a preface which stated: "From one admittedly privileged standpoint, this book should not be necessary".  Part of me agrees with this statement, but another part of me recognizes that many people have not been as fortunate as I have, and may not see the world through the same lens that I do.  In reading this article, I was reminded how lucky I was to have been afforded the opportunity to travel when I was young, that I was able to work overseas as an adult, that I was taught to be curious about the differences that I observed in my every day encounters (as well as in my travels), and that I was taught to value those differences.  While many other folks in the BB&N community may have been afforded similar opportunities, I must recognize that we don't always live what we have learned.

Since I began working at BB&N, we have done a fair bit of work as a faculty to outline our values, and among them, we have stated that "we value a diverse and inclusive community that fosters respect for the identities and perspectives of all".  This value in particular was in the forefront of my mind as I read these articles, as I wonder how well we as a community live this particular value.  It seems to me that we need to back-up a bit and look locally before we are ready to think globally.  This reading encouraged us to think about how we prepare our students to foster kinship, communicate effectively, value differences etc., in an effort to effectively engage the world, but I challenge us to consider how we can first get our students to engage - and value - each other.

MK

Thoughts on Summer Reading

I found both the Reimers article and the Asia Institute report thought provoking and at times daunting given the charge they present to us as educators.   

The Reimers article for me raises the tension that exists between two goals we seem to be working towards:  to rigorously prepare our students academically and to help them develop the skills and global competencies to enter life equipped to navigate the world that has become increasingly "flat." Though there are many activities and lessons already in place in our community promoting a global perspective, I feel there is great potential to increase an interdisciplinary focus in BB&N's curriculum in an effort to increase global competency.  In my position, I am able to see the range of projects/work students are engaged in across the curriculum.  I think there are opportunities for greater connections across content areas and to explicitly infuse a more global theme.  In doing so, I think the level of engagement of our students would be different – more in depth and self-directed - when asked to see cause and effect and the connections between concepts introduced in different domains.  But, as others have noted already, what would we have to "let go" to create more opportunities for this work and dialogue.  Would we risk losing time to cover content or risk losing rigor?  Such a shift would require sufficient time, focus, planning and most importantly a commitment to take root. 

On a different note, I am very interested in ways we can continue to connect our students with others whose range of experience is quite different from their own.  I was intrigued by iEARN and loved Christa's description of and experience with the Global Voices Initiative.  With the technology available, the opportunities for experiential learning to further more global awareness seem now more accessible and more possible.  I believe these real and "live" connections would have an impact on our students more lasting than the study or discussion of differences.  It is an area I would love to explore and discuss more with colleagues. 

Jamie

Two thoughts on reading the Reimers paper and a third from the Asia Society book

1. A lot of what Reimers is proposing kept making me think about Quaker education and what was called "holistic education" back in the day – emphasis on creating an ethical relationship between the individual and the world; the idea that "the light of God is in everyone"; the Quaker value of encouraging students to "make the world better; to become informed skilled agents of positive social, political, economic, and educational change" seems to be what Reimers is calling "motivation to act (as Peggy pointed out, sometimes that's the one that gives us difficulty).  Quaker education valuing the ability to reason and the ability to perceive truth regardless of tradition or government imperatives is what we call "critical thinking."

2. Reimers had tons of curricular ideas to develop "global competency" to encourage more "cosmopolitan views" and learn more geography and economics and "the nature of global trade treaties," etc. However, I kept feeling overwhelmed by his proposals – especially given the rapid changes the world is experiencing right now.   My second thought was about a speech Sylvia Poggoli gave at a BB&N commencement back when we had alum speakers - she graduated from the Buckingham School in '63 or '64.  Buckingham was a very small and somewhat eccentric school back then and, because the Head was interested in China all the girls had to study (extensively) Chinese history and culture.  She said that it taught her how to appreciate a country and a people she had known nothing about, but more importantly, the depth of understanding that was demanded of her taught her how to learn.

 

3.  In reading about "global competence," I was struck by how the importance of understanding another's background and point of view and being able to effectively communicate across those differences are the same skills required to be an good negotiator, mediator, or teacher.  Third thought: we have a microcosm of global differences/perspectives right here in Cambridge. That is not to diminish the importance of international awareness and necessity for understanding the cultural and economic history of international players. However, "They will need to understand how differences in power, wealth, and access to knowledge affect opportunities for individuals and social groups" can begin right outside our classroom door. (though, as Rob said, we would need to watch out for  being paternalistic)

Sandy 

BTW, what are the "top 10 in-demand jobs" (Ch. 1, Asia Society) that didn't exist as recently as 2004???    All the lists I found (Forbes, U.S. News & World Report) included dentist, dental hygienist, car mechanic . . .

another BTW - did I miss it or are we good posters but pretty bad comment makers?  I liked what several people wrote, but felt too ridiculous to write "I agree!!" or "great insight!" all over the place.

Will you please globalize me…

I agree with a lot of the comments and reflections others have posted. So, I will take this opportunity to reflect on the two quotations that bothered me the most and the one quotation that gave me hope.  Remember, I liked and agreed with a lot of what I read...

"While the economic advantages that accrue to global competency have received more attention than the civic advantages, global competency is helpful not only from an economic standpoint but as a cornerstone of democratic leadership and citizenship (Reimers, 186)."

            Received more attention? Understatement of the decade! I guess I'm wondering how our population, elite private school students and parents, will see this as anything other than a tool that they can "master" so that they speak the right language to get high paying, innovative jobs. How do we break the culture of success being equated with financial gain? Do we recognize how elite private schools are culpable in promoting this culture? How do we break from the culture of keeping up with the joneses when we have to compete for affluent families to fill our seats?

If our students and parents want us to "globalize" them, they are going to have to be active participants in understanding that they won't be able to stand on the sidelines and watch "others" drive themselves insane trying to offer experiences that feel like add-ons, like diversity work has felt. It starts with self. If your motivation is financial, then your heart will not be opened to learning about yourself or other people.

"Students have to live their human rights; their schools have to provide authentic experiences in the practice of tolerance (Reimers, 192)."

This may be a word choice issue, but if we teach tolerance, we will continue to fail to create genuinely empathic, curious, ethical young people. Using the word tolerance sets up a power dynamic in which one literally decides whether or not to 'tolerate' the other. I am afraid that we are going to gloss over the importance of being inclusive and what that truly means.  

I hear "colonization" when I hear tolerance because if our population seems this as an "us vs. them" scenario, then we our community will suffer from "globalization-fatigue" rather quickly.

"Schools the world over bear a new fundamental responsibility: to prepare students for difference and complexity. They will need to prepare all youth—migrant and host alike—for new contexts in which multiple cultures coexist. Managing this complexity—fostering kinship, communicating effectively, working together, valuing difference, benefitting from diversity—is essential to success in a global world." (Asia Insititute, 4)

            Finally, I guess I didn't see anything I read as a "new" concept, which interestingly provides me with some hope. Diversity initiatives, for decades, have been trying to instill what this quotation says. I guess I need to know why those initiatives failed and why this one will be successful. Trust that I want it to be successful. It starts at home; it starts with self.  It starts with each person recognizing that s/he has a stake in the game because it's the right way to interact with others, both locally and globally.

Is boils down to teaching our students to "Do well while doing good." Thank you, Gustavo, for sharing that quote!

Alda

Global Summer Reading

"I define global competency as the knowledge and skills to help people understand the flat world in which they live, integrate across disciplinary domains to comprehend global affairs and events, and create possibilities to address them. Global competencies are also the attitudinal and ethical dispositions that make it possible to interact peacefully, respectfully and productively with fellow human beings from diverse geographies." -Fernando Reimers-

             Being part of three distinct cultures and having family members in every continent except Antarctica working in professions ranging from school teachers, doctors, businessmen, diplomats to United Nations employees, I have been surrounded by different languages, deep cultural, economic and political discourse. Thanks to the internet, I have been able to stay in touch with everyone via Facebook, Skype, face time, Gmail and Whatsup. Having lived and worked both nationally and internationally in schools, and multinational organizations I have experienced the need and importance for global competency first hand. As a mother of two children immersed in the "craziness" of keeping track of who's who in the family, where each family member is currently living or visiting from, and hearing culturally specific stories, I only hope that in their schooling they can find additional global understanding to help make sense of their world and the world at large.

             Thinking back specifically to my schooling and reflecting on BB&N today, I am amazed at how much teaching for global understanding has evolved. Although the concept is not new, I am excited to see that BB&N is focusing its attention to improving the teaching of global education.  I can think of many ways in which BB&N is a player in this arena: B-12 foreign language program, high school dual language option, 6th grade sponsoring students from Africa/Skype, LS Skype with a school in Guatemala and Mexico, 6th grade debates, Upper school international exchange programs, and hosting international exchange students.

            Time and schedules have been an obstacle for authentic and meaningful collaboration among disciplines and grades throughout my time here at BB&N. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds at BB&N in hopes that we can work together to create meaningful and powerful global experiences for our students.

            I am excited to see what the future holds at BB&N and looking forward to the August 27th speakers and discourse.

 

Interesting videos: http://asiasociety.org/video/education/global-competence-and-its-significance-american-schools

Thoughts on Reimers (J. Walker)

While reading the Reimers material, I found myself considering a line of thought similar to what Rob Leith's posted yesterday (Tuesday, 8/20).  Rob wrote about how his experience leading a trip to Venice last summer connected to the idea of an exchange within our own country.  Specifically:

"I wonder if BB&N has more in common with the schools abroad with which we conduct exchanges than we do with many schools in our own country, in the Deep South in particular."

I thought about this question in detail while working towards my last degree in Dublin, Ireland.  I was often asked whether I experienced culture shock living abroad.  Beyond some minor cultural and linguistic barriers, though, it really did not feel alien.  My sense was that people my age had similar goals and expectations from life, and that people living in urban Western areas had a number of cultural touchstones in common.  I agree that we may find a more dramatic difference in perspective within our own country - and that the skills that Reimers relates to cultural literacy can be effective in an analysis of the cultures within the US, especially in regards to the first and third dimensions of global competency (188, 189).

As a Russian teacher at the US who conducts the annual Russian Exchange with our sister school in Moscow, this line of reasoning led me to consider a few additional points.  I began to wonder if I have drawn too much emphasis on Russian as a way to connect to foreign countries, such as Russia itself and the CIS, at the risk of excluding connections through Russian that exist within our own society (such as the sizable Russian-language immigrant population in Brookline and surrounding areas).  I mention these groups during class, of course, but so much focus outside of class rests on the Russian exchange and drawing our gaze to the horizon rather than to our own back yard.

There are logical reasons for this.  BB&N students have BB&N schedules during our school year, and it is quite difficult to come up with an extracurricular program that will fit their time constraints.  I could, though, put more emphasis on field trips during our school day, and take advantage of local resources such as the BSO and the Harvard Slavic Department.

I was also left with a question and I would be grateful for any fresh perspectives.  I strive to incorporate the exchange experiences into the classroom, and utilize these to develop the "global competency" that Reimers discusses - from the feelings of empathy in the first dimension to the comparative cultural study of the third.  I have found this to be engaging for the students, and a welcome change from discussion that center around my knowledge of Russian culture.  I have found it difficult, though, to navigate around the fact that a limited number of my students have traveled to Russia on the exchange, while many others have not.  How can one facilitate a discussion that by nature excludes those who cannot draw on first-hand experience?

Josh Walker, US Russian

Summer Reading Response

I find readings such as these to be such wonderful reminders of why I teach and what I still need to work on to support my students and engender proactive, positive, thoughtful global citizens. 

Over the course of the readings, there were two quotes that really jumped out at me, one by Fernando Reimers and one by Howard Gardner.  First, Reimers writes, "It is important to gain knowledge and the capacity to act in ways that engage the students' moral reasoning skills and in ways that motivate them to act and to assume personal responsibility for their actions in the global realm."  I feel that this really sums up so much of the work that I do as a Lower School teacher.  The majority of my day is spent helping children make sense of a world that is largely unfamiliar to them.  I think that I have always focused solely on how their actions affect the people closest to them (i.e. family, friends, members of the school community), but I realize that I also need to make a conscious effort to provide a more global perspective to the conversation and provide my students the opportunity to think about how are their actions affecting the world at large.

In the preface to the Asia Society publication, Gardner writes, "Innovations are tolerated as long as they lead to adequate performance on traditional measures."  What interesting words!  I had never thought about it before, but he is most certainly right.  And yet, how innovative are these advancements if we are able to evaluate them based on our norm?  Shouldn't innovations push us beyond our realm of understanding?  Shouldn't they make our "traditional measures" seem obsolete and ineffective?  And why are we striving for adequacy in the first place?  Isn't that setting the bar embarrassingly low?  I am forced to think about the myriad ways in which my students respond to comprehension questions, demonstrate their understanding of a math problem, or endeavor to compare and contrast various cultures.  They are approaching all of this material devoid of bias and with immeasurable curiosity.  Have I been appreciating and encouraging their innovative thinking as much as I should be or have I been evaluating based on what I already perceive to be the truth?  Certainly something to think about as I proceed with caution.

Aaron   

Earth

I'm always excited when I see my students curiously flipping through the pages of a world atlas.  They have a natural curiosity about places near and far around them.  I remember my own wonderment with maps when I was younger, and today too.  It becomes even more exciting once you can visit places you've poured over on maps.  

After reading about global competence in the summer reading, I'm looking forward to doing more work with the working definition of helping children "understand and act on issues of global significance."  I find the second half of the definition, taking action, intriguing as I find real life experiences to be very valuable and memorable.  The idea of connecting "your classroom and curriculum to cultural and educational institutions" is an area I'm hoping to explore more.  I remember one year I had my students write letters to other students who were living on a Native American reservation.  It was a great way to try to come closer to another culture. I'm also interested in the idea presented of linking to schools in another country.  With Skype and the numerous technologies we have available to us today it would be yet another area to explore.  With so many possibilities around this work of global competence, I also look forward to collaborating with one another and continuing this dialogue around building global competence.

Nicky

Cosmopolitanism

I enjoyed thinking about these ideas and also felt that we are lucky to be based in Cambridge, where "cosmopolitanism" is not seen as negative; however, when I read the newspapers (yes, I still do that, dinosaur that I am), Reimers' admonition regarding the cultural conflicts that global initiatives might face acknowledges a major obstacle.

ln the last twenty years, the trend in educational governance has been

toward decentralization to communities and schools, for the purpose of

increasing the efficiency and local relevance of what is taught. It is not clear

how the localization of education might impact the development of global

civility. Some of the most traditional cultural conflicts Find expression at the

local level, where Communities have clear incentives to preserve the values

and memories that are a: the root of many ethnic, cultural, and religious con-

flicts. l see no reason to expect cosmopolitanism from local communities.

In some ways it seems easier to bridge international differences than it might be to get, say, much of Texas on board. Over vacation, when I butted heads with my very conservative brother about education (and English curricula, specifically), I felt that what drives his perspective is a fear of something being lost without a clear sense of what is being gained. Perhaps I will send him these articles! 

I have enjoyed reading the articles and my colleagues' comments and found myself thinking, as Ethan notes, how important what we do is. It is helpful to think more broadly about the ramifications of how all the parts work together in these last few leisurely days of summer before I grow consumed with the stack of papers, the piles of quizzes, etc. that move the larger perspective to the back burner.

I came away from the readings feeling both lucky to be where I am and energized by thinking about these ideas.

Jean

Summer Reading Response

As a history teacher, I have enjoyed reading these selections. Mostly because so much effort in education, at least nationally, is put on math, science, reading and writing. While these are valuable to the core skills of students, it is an understanding of our greater world, subjects best tackled by the history and social studies departments of traditional schools, that ultimately matters most for our global future. I like the idea that Gardner conjures in his foreword that young people by nature look to "do good" but ultimately model adult behavior by what they see adults do around them. That is such a hard thing for young people to overcome. You only have to spend one day in a city like Boston to see people both doing good and bad. It must be hard for young people to find clarity in that. But it was with the other reading, Reimers Educating for Global Competency, that I found greater connection with what I do day to day in the classroom. As a long time history student and teacher, and as someone who has taught and traveled in other countries, I have come to learn how profoundly isolationist our American culture is. It is truly shocking how little we, as Americans, care about the rest of the world. Our government sends billions in foreign aid around the world but it is the common person that really has no idea where that money goes and for what purpose. The study of foreign cultures and languages is not emphasized, nor really is travel for young people. Australians have a national pastime and passion for travel, especially as early 20 somethings, and as a result they, as a society, are far more integrated in world cultures than we are. Yet geographically they are as isolated as we are. But back to more practical and tangible matters: what we can do here at BB&N. For years, I have had my students participate in a classroom blog on current global events. Routinely, they say the blog is their favorite part of the class and that it keeps them up to date with what is going on in the world. That is progress. If I had ideas about how to improve upon what we do in the Middle School, I would take cues from the Reimer reading a suggest that we connect with a sister school in Latin America and exchange curriculum, letters, projects or even work on a service project together. This is an idea I have suggested before and one that would take a serious amount of work. Another, perhaps easier idea, would be to see more integration between the history and foreign language departments in both the middle and upper schools. Ultimately, I do think we at the middle school do a very good job setting our students up to be globally aware. With our 7th grade dedicated to Latin America, a subject rarely taught and our 8th grade focused on current political events, we are doing well. But, there is always something more we can do as educators to create globally competent students. 

Thanks - Miles

--
Miles Billings

7th Grade Dean, History Teacher

mbillings@bbns.org

617-800-2354

International travel experience

While I was reading Reimers' article about Educating for Global Competency, I thought of the eye-opening experience I had while living for a year in another culture.  Although that culture was European middle class, that is Germany, I had multiple times in conversations with the local people where I needed to think through and explain our US policies and then ask questions and come to understanding about their government policies.  Fortunately I had studied the language and as the year progressed, I grew to have a new respect for the differences in our culture.  It would be wonderful if every person could have the opportunity to live in another country and converse with the people there.

In our own classrooms we must model respect and help students understand our own culture and the lives of people in different countries.  We ourselves need to expand and show attitudes of understanding, tolerance and respect for the differences between people. Having a diverse group of students (& teachers) in our class allows us to have discussions with a variety of points of view and encourages students to consider other expressions.  Through it all we are working toward deep understanding of human rights throughout the world in a variety of cultures which will lead to respectful and peaceful interactions.

Beth T.

The Cutting Edge

As educators it is our job to foster the creativity, tolerance, and open mindedness of our students.  They are growing up in a world that is changing rapidly and asking them to adapt to that change just as rapidly.  "Response to change depends on how they are prepared to understand cultural differences and to think about globalization." (Reimers)    Reading the assignments really allowed me to think about how I, as an educator, deal with change and how I adapt accordingly when presented with a challenge.  I found that the willingness to change and adapt quickly fizzles when trapped within a public school system like NYC.  I was part of the minority for suggesting change and being willing to try new things. It is refreshing to read all of your posts and see a staff who want to be on the cutting edge rather than the cutting room floor. 

It is also our job to teach students that differences between one another are not a threat, but rather an opportunity to learn and grow.  Differences are a gift that will allow students to foster their cultural sensitivity and to bridge the gap between old and new values. 

All of this sounds very peachy!  How to we achieve all of it though?!?

I think first we have to change the way we think about educating our students…looking at curriculum as something that is flexible and not forced out of a cookie cutter.  Using our passion for teaching to inspire students to take control of their learning and begin to think critically about what they want from this life/world.  We need to accept responsibility to try to foster change and in turn our students will accept responsibility to create the world they live in. 

From reading all of your posts I must say that I am thrilled to be joining the BB&N community.  Two of the posts that resonated deeply with me stated "The attitudes that children develop in their earliest years will stay with them through their lives.  Their abilities to question, puzzle, create, & negotiate will be what they reach back to rely on."  and "Try to give the students tools that they can use to approach many different problems and better yet try to allow the student to learn how to build their own tools in the future. I think instilling basics in many different subjects is vitally important but what is even more important is pushing our students to be creative problem solvers that will be able to attack the issues of tomorrow that we will never foresee."

It is my goal to inspire my students to want to engage in the world.  It is so easy for them to disengage with technology and but it is also just as easy to actively engage with that same technology.  

All the best!

-Beth

Summer reading

I was glad to see in professor's Reimers' writing ( Educating for Global competency) the mention of the need of "attitudinal and ethical disposition to make it possible to interact peacefully, respectfully and productively". When I read the Asia Institute Publication, I felt there was something missing, I read about "civic participation, self expression, social life and health" and the emphasis on the common Core Standards in Math and Literacy. Where was the human dimension?

It was mentioned when they talked about countries like India but not as a definition of what is global competence.  

Interestingly enough it is an integral part of the Maastrich Global Education declaration where they mention a "world of greater justice, equity and human rights for all". 

I am therefore curious to see if the study led to interesting conclusions since I believe it was based in different countries.

 

Of course, after reading these two reports and as a language teacher, I am thrilled to see that there is some recognition about the need and benefits of learning a second language!

So..can you imagine if we taught more than one language as they do in many countries in Europe???  Soizick

Summer Reading

I enjoyed reading the two articles and in particular, Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World.  I liked the quote, "The world will not be saved by high test scores." It is in contradiction to the current trend of elevating students who receive high scores in our assessment driven society. We underestimate those who are creative and have the "disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance," but may not score as well on traditional formal and informal assessments. We need to nurture all students to become young people who want to "do good." I also liked the idea of teaching global competence through the examination of examples of citizenship in history, literature, and local life. In grade 4 we read Shiloh, and students examine the concept of lying and whether it is okay or not. This moral dilemma is a perfect focus for the ethical development of fourth graders. As students read about the character Marty's decision to do something he believes is morally correct, but lies to his parents to cover it up, student conversations about the topic occur in an authentic way. Finally, I look forward to hearing about what teachers already do at BB&N and then build and grow upon that.

Nina

Summer Reading Reactions, Novel Recommendation, and a Project Idea

Like many teachers, after completing the summer reading selections, I thought to myself, "This is great. What will this look like? (The Global Competence Matrix for ELA on page 104 of the Asia Institute reading was helpful, but overwhelming). How can I fit this into my English classroom?"

My own global education experiences have been outside of the traditional classroom—studying in Paris my junior year, teaching English in France after college graduation, teaching teachers about project-based learning in Mali, and most recently leading the MS Belize trip with Kelley.

When reviewing the global competencies, I feel like my ability to recognize diverse perspective is strongest thanks to my love of literature. Had I not read Julia Alvarez and Junot Diaz, I would know nothing about the Dominican Republic. My knowledge of Native American heritage and reservation life comes from Leslie Marmon Silko and Sherman Alexie. Please know that I don't profess to be an expert on Dominican or Native American culture at all, but thanks to reading the works of these authors, my global perspective has deepened. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author of my favorite novel of the week, Americanah warns readers of the dangers of a single story in her TED talk and recent text. I recommend both: http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html.

Finally, one of my teaching highlights this year was after school during a community service field trip to the Neville Senior citizens' center. At first my club members were hesitant to go—talking with old people did not seem nearly as appealing as cooking dinner for the fifteen previously homeless women now living at the Duley House. After completing a number of icebreakers, students engaged in short interviews with the residents. All of the community club members loved the experience and were wowed by the powerful stories the residents shared with them. How amazing would it be (and I'm totally stealing this idea from a school in Portland, Maine whose name I'm forgetting) if all MS English students visited the Neville Center, conducted in-depth interviews with the residents, turned their Q and A into feature pieces, and shared them with a group of younger students and with the residents themselves? The project, which wouldn't have to be limited to different perspectives based on age, would allow students to investigate their world, recognize perspective, take action, and communicate their ideas to diverse audiences. Anyone interested in a field trip?

Zoe

MS English 

Summer Reading Thoughts

It was interesting to read these articles since Youssef and I have been collaborating for the past three years participating in a program similar to what both articles suggest that educators could do to have students begin to think in more global terms.  We are using theatre as a means to connect our MS students with students in Morocco.  We are part of a program called The Global Voices Initiative. (www.globalvoicesinitiative.org) 

Youssef's students write a play in French and the students in Morocco write a play in English.  It is truly amazing how proficient the students from Morocco are in English after only two years.   We then exchange the plays and perform a reading via Skype.  Before the reading of the play, we try to Skype several times for the students to meet one another.  Both groups love asking questions about their daily lives and school. Our students learn so much about their world through the subject matter of the plays and the chatting with the students.  It is a highlight of my year!

I have always believed that art is a universal language and can connect people from all different walks of life.  I'd love to chat with people that might be interested in working with GVI in their classrooms.  It is a wonderful program and doesn't have to be centered on just the arts.

 

Christa

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Christa Crewdson

Theatre Teacher

BB&N Middle School

80 Sparks Street

Cambridge MA 02138

global competence and preschool/primary music

In this school, in this century, many adults have had the opportunity to be involved in projects around the world, whether through travel or internet or even old fashioned snail mail.   All of my global understanding was developed as an adult, outside of school.  In school – I love to share my understandings, songs, and instruments with young music class students.  Many BB&N students have a global sense of self already because of their birthplace, or that of their parents or grandparents.  They have connections to a variety of cultures.  They might be bi or tri lingual when they come to us.  They are citizens of the world.

 Chapter 9 (Taking Action) mentioned the homogenization of culture that happens with global music.  Yet learning the history of a culture is one way that students in Argentina took action.  They demonstrated a commitment to keep the Sikus (panpipes) of Andean music from disappearing from use in one village.  Students learned a lot in the process, and developed relationships with people from the culture they studied.

 I am not able to make Andean sikus with the young children in my classes, but I am able to share the music/instruments/dances of cultures they explore in their social studies classes.  One elementary school I know of took a whole school approach to cultural exploration by having the entire school study one continent each year.  Every grade/classroom/subject took on the challenge in a different way, and teachers were free to pursue any aspect of learning about that continent they wished.  This whole school approach allows teachers to combine at different grade levels to do hands on projects and learn from/with children of different ages. 

The attitudes that children develop in their earliest years will stay with them through their lives.  Their abilities to question, puzzle, create, & negotiate will be what they reach back to rely on.  The global projects I've seen at the Lower School are very exciting.  I would hope that our students will continue to want to participate and even initiate this sort of positive global interaction.

Ada

 

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Ada Park Snider

Lower School Music Teacher

Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Cambridge MA 02138

asnider@bbns.org

617-800-2446

Thoughts in no particular order

Reading these articles in England, while I am caring for my parents and house sitting for my sister, I am struck by my unconscious but permanent immersion in the global community. A legal alien in the US with my green card and currently living in my sister's house with her spanish and french lodgers I am as usual surrounded by cultures not my own. I have been so long in the US now that England feels like a well visited foreign country. I only know that empathy and curiosity have sustained me in my travels and for me they seem to be the two key forces driving both articles and therefore are our keys to achieving their goals. I kept thinking too about the 'Half the Sky Movement' http://www.halftheskymovement.org/ the statistics quoted there are shocking in the extreme and the solving of this problem would go a long way to balancing our global community.

LB

P.S. Must continue to nag my stepsons to get a passport and travel outside the USA!!

summer reading

I found the reading informative and positive as we move toward the future in education. I think our BB&N students B-12 are curious and interested about the world and how it works beyond Cambridge MA. Our job, as educators, is to help students become more aware, while learning to investigate the world as it is today and in the future. Wondering how I can incorporate this in our B-5 physical education classes but am eager to try new approaches and to model as a good citizen for our students.

I hope BB&N will provide an evening or more for parent involvement and learning as we move forward as a community with this wide topic.

Libby K.

Summer Reading: Another math perspective

Over the last decade or two, it has been evident to me that the world is becoming flatter.  I appreciate the summer readings because they gave structure in which to recognize and implement global competency as an educator.  I agree that it's more important than ever to evaluate our curricula with the goal to better prepare students to interact with diverse geographies.  

As a mathematics teacher, Al's question resonates with me, "How do we globalize math?"  Statistics and data analysis easily provides an avenue for global studies.  But what about other more basic math courses where the focus is traditionally to teach content?  Should math teachers make more of an effort to create word/modeling problems that utilize math skills to look at global issues?  The article by The Asian Society suggests just that stating on page 8 that the Common Core State Standards  "offer ample flexibility for teachers to create learning experiences in which students examine topics of global significance."  While it would be ideal to teach global competency through the lenses of math tools, the expectation have students master traditional content skills often takes precedence.  Fortunately an independent school such as BB&N doesn't have to worry about CCSS like public schools.  There are still however math content goals that need to be reached before college, and it will take time and creativity to structure math classes with global awareness. 

I am curious how other developed countries are evolving curricula for global competency, particularly with mathematics. 

Mariah

A Global First Grade

Last year, I found myself paralyzed by the task of teaching about "Mexico", which is historically a Social Studies unit taught in first grade. How could anybody teach about an entire country...and where do you even begin...and how do I make any generalizations without stereotyping...and what was the point? Maybe some of you have felt the same way before. 

After reading "Educating for Global Competence" I feel less paralyzed. First of all, I needed to realize that Mexico is not a unit, in first grade or 12th grade. We could research the Charles River, why cities are next to rivers, and make a meaningful connection to people in Mexico to learn about a city on a river in Mexico, like Mexico City. For example.

This gets me thinking about how schools decide how to assign units or areas of study in the first place. I can presume that other grades study other regions with the hope of nurturing a world view as students pass through the years. But it's tricky. How do you assign regions to study, but keep units fresh and challenging and relevant? Should it be more organic? Should I have more of a choice? If it were left to teachers' choices, might certain areas be overlooked? How do we prevent that?

Part of the challenge of my Mexico unit was trying to figure out what to teach. I consulted colleagues, but was left wondering, do teachers at an independent school need content standards? Do I use the Massachusetts standards? Do I make up my own? Again and again, "Educating for Global Competence" referred to standards in order to demonstrate how the projects delivered valuable content. Not to mention, they were relied up for assessment. 

In summary, might we BB&N teachers be better served by standards...rather than general assignments like "Mexico"? Or some combination of the two? Would this infrastructure change support our task in education global citizens?

Global Summer Reading

I am really struck by the idea of predicting what a student needs to
know to be successful in tomorrows world. It seems like such a hard
question to answer. It seems impossible for anyone to really put a
finger on what the specific set of skills a person will need to
overcome the challenges of tomorrow because we don't really know what
those challenges will be. This is not to suggest that we should not
attempt to predict the challenges such as climate change, flattening
of the global economy, and unprecedented migration but I think the way
to approach this issue is to instill great strategies of solving
problems in our students. Try to give the students tools that they can
use to approach many different problems and better yet try to allow
the student to learn how to build their own tools in the future. I
think instilling basics in many different subjects is vitally
important but what is even more important is pushing our students to
be creative problem solvers that will be able to attack the issues of
tomorrow that we will never foresee. We need to continue to make sure
our students look at the world through the global lens and try our
hardest to instill a high moral code(another very tough thing to
accomplish) so they will be ready to take on the problems in their
future.

Mike Willey

Interdisciplinary Instruction

 

Many of the ideas in the two readings are not new and are things that BB&N already does well.  However, I do think our biggest challenge is making space for interdisciplinary studies and collaboration.  The very structure of our school makes this daunting.  It is difficult to work with other departments within my campus and even more challenging to work with someone across campuses. It also seems to be a challenge to teach both rigorous disciplinary knowledge and to promote quality interdisciplinary understanding.  I would love the opportunity to collaborate with teachers outside of my department (or campus) in a way that has real world relevancy to my student.  Ideally it would also include a local community connection (that promoted empathy and understanding).  However, this would mean, as others have pointed out, something else has to give.  What are we willing to give up in order to increase the global competencies of our students?  Significant changes would need to be made for all in order to have an interdisciplinary/cross-campus approach.  As we decide how we want to move forward, we need to be thoughtful and prudent with any changes that we do make as global education is still in a "pre-scientific" stage.

-Kelley

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Kelley Schultheis

Middle School Science

Buckingham Browne and Nichols

617-800-2339

diversity- creating global citizens

My initial response in reading this assignment was to be extremely encouraged that we are taking the time and energy to seriously consider the perspectives of the greater community.  Yes, diversity is a part of our mission statement, but there is so much more that we can do to truly create a diverse population across our campuses.  We need to continue to foster our language development, especially in the lower ages, work to make the arts not a secondary part of the curriculum, and continue to work on creating a school wide population that is more representative of the world at large.  This is critical to our functioning and growth as a school if we are to produce young men and women who will be able to be a part of the global community in all of its aspects.  

My second thought is that as a school we are already working towards these ends, but our colleagues in public education are often not given the freedom and the resources to do so.  How can we share our wealth and the realizations that we are coming to, so that more children will be able to take their place as global citizens?

Genieve

Global Competency and Teaching Empathy

As many of us have already commented, Reimer's words on the affective dimension of global competency struck a close chord with me. Perhaps because it's the "humanizing" of the three core competencies, or perhaps because I want to believe that the second two competencies - the ability to communicate with non-dominant cultures, and an understanding of the historical context of global issues - might somehow be cultivated by one developing a sense of empathy for others. That being said, I thought I'd post some resources on ways that some schools have gone about teaching empathy and emotional skills:

"Empathy: They Key to Social and Emotional Learning"

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/01/empathy-the-key-to-social-and-emotional-learning/

"How Do You Teach Empathy? Harvard Pilots Game Simulation"

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/05/how-do-you-teach-empathy-harvard-pilots-game-simulation/

and finally, a video of Ken Robinson speaking at the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education on educating the mind and heart:

http://dalailamacenter.org/learn/sir-ken-robinson-educating-heart-and-mind

Nick

Throughout my experiences of working with children, I am continually reminded of how much children are endlessly  curious about the world in which they live. Students are also interested in making connections between their classroom learning and the world beyond the classroom doors.  Oftentimes, this curiosity sparks an initial conversation; however it is one that is not regularly integrated into their daily learning.    The framework presented in this summer's learning offers a meaningful way to integrate this curiosity about the world.   It is clear that shifting classroom learning objectives to a more globally focused paradigm is not only one that creates a more dynamic learning environment, but it is also a change that is necessary in order to ensure students' future success in a "flattened global economy."  

In integrating a more global focus throughout the curriculum, one concern that arises is how to ensure appropriate implementation.  Lessons run the risk of being superficial and, therefore, becoming disconnected and less meaningful.  While global learning of any type is significant, it seems most important to structure learning opportunities which foster "intercultural sophistication."   Building a strong foundation upon the increased understanding of multiple perspectives and the ability to communicate effectively in diverse situations is the first step in preparing students to successfully participate in "transnational cooperation."   I look forward to discussing the many ways in which we can create this foundation in our classrooms at BB&N.

Lora

Global Competence - In Practical Terms

Both pieces are persuasive arguments advocating increased global literacy and competence in education.  Since I've been at BB&N, the school has made considerable progress in increasing multi-cultural inclusion in our curricula.  These articles argue for expanding these efforts to perspectives beyond American shores with a real and important emphasis on preparing students to take action in their adult lives.   The action can be defined in terms of both career preparedness and actions as citizens that promote global justice, physical well-being, and environmental sustainability.  I am inspired by these ideas, and am left wondering what this means for the MS and our English curriculum.

Currently, we have no easy way in the MS to do deep curriculum collaboration cross-departmentally.  Nor do we have an easy way to get off campus to take advantage of the city and its cultural and community service opportunities.  (The Belize Trip - an opportunity for a small group of students during spring break - is an excellent exception to these obstacles, but, as a rule, we are far from the kinds of hands-on work these articles suggest are necessary to achieve ideals of global education.)

So, where does that leave us in MS English?  We have a curriculum that reflects thoughtful attention to multi-cultural and international perspectives (although there is always room for improvement in this area.)  I will clarify, though, that our work with these texts has a clear and explicitly stated goal of honing students’ analytical and critical thinking skills, rather than what these summer reading articles seem to advocate, which is to use the texts to raise cultural awareness in students in order to increase their database of knowledge and someday to spur them to some action.  

Of course, when we read a story about the land yielding no crops in a rural village in Kenya or a poem about a son leaving his father's farm in a remote village in China, we discuss the content, look at maps, provide some historical context, etc.  But, the heart of what we do is to take these texts and pay them the respect (in literary terms) of close analysis of language, style, literary devises, and to connect them to other pieces and the students’ own experience.  In this way we focus on the specific as it relates to the universal.  The students connect to the world around them by using their imaginations.

Betsy