Reimers (2009, para 7), “The challenge is not simply figuring out which specific
activities contribute to fostering aspects of global competency, but also
finding out how to integrate those activities into the regular work of schools
and how to align them with existing curriculum, assessment, and opportunities
for teacher professional development”.
As a teacher, hence,
my work would be three-fold:
Self-Development
I taught in an IB school till few
years ago. It is only now, as I am doing this course, that I am beginning to
understand fully the philosophy! The perspective for the work we were doing is
getting clarified.
One of the key areas that I must
work on, if I were to teach again, is to be constantly stay engaged in self-development
myself. The focus of this would be to understand for me what global competence
is and the method to develop it for myself. I would keep learning about myself,
notice the gaps, choose one at a time and work on myself. I would read, develop
hobbies, engage with colleagues from different countries beyond school hours
or/and travel with a focus on learning about culture. Axner (n.d., para 6) “(a)
Becoming aware of your own culture as a first step in learning about other people’s
culture and (b) Building relationships with people from many different
cultures”.
I would though keep it as a
journey and not a destination. Summed up well by What is global competence?
(2020), “Building global
competence is a journey, not an endpoint. It is an evolving, ongoing process
that we engage in throughout our lives — not a checklist or a
destination.”
Curriculum
Development
Reimers (2009, para
3) defines Global Competence as “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”. Keeping this as perspective, I would some very clear attitudes
that I’d like to build for each group, based on their psychology and age. Then
I would integrate my lessons around those attitudes by creating clear
experiences.
For example:
·
(Collaboration) Problem solving
in collaboration with 3 other peers.
·
(Inquiry) Research into a topic
with a partner.
·
(Empathy, Choice) Gifted students
to have a choice between helping others or doing advanced work, as
differentiation.
·
(Global issues) Creating project-based learning around global issues. For example, to check the girl:boy ratio
of all Indian states while learning ratio and proportion.
·
(Open mindedness) Compare and
contrast method of solving problems of any topic in different countries.
analyzing the effectiveness of each.
·
(Accepting failure) Have ongoing
formative assessment on daily basis.
·
(Critical Thinking) Bring in
discussions and reflections as a culture in the classroom.
·
(Critical Thinking) Engage in
creation of rubrics for assessment with students help.
·
(Critical Thinking) Bring in
self-assessment for the students in the class assignments.
It
is one thing to integrate skills and values in lessons. However, if it is not
measured against a framework, then one may be just following one’s own way
blindly. I would hence use V.I.F.I (n.d., pp.3) “grade-level frameworks for
integrating global awareness into classroom practices”. This would be a
reflection for me to learn about my own capabilities.
Beyond Academics
‘So, you can teach maths well. That is great. What else can you do’? The
director of the IB school I worked in would badger us with this question over
and over. Evans, Montemurro, Gambhir,
& Broad (2014, pp. 15, para 1) state, “It is a cliché that teachers wear multiple
hats in our work—educator, coach, caregiver, social worker, to name a few”.
There is a school beyond our
classrooms. It is the area of travelling with students, participating in annual
day preparations, engaging in community service or running clubs. Each of these
provides a unique opportunity to be with the students. A space without
academic’s pressure. This is where one meets the students face to face and can
do a lot to facilitate skills and values in the students.
Community service provides an
opportunity to explore the issue of wealth and inequality in society. Traveling
opens up the cultural differences between countries. India is so diverse that
traveling within one’s own country also gives space for cultural exploration. Camping
brings to forefront climate issues and what human beings are doing to the
planet. Cultural events bring forward skills and attitudes in the students. Sports
brings forward the subject of success and failure in our lives and how to face
them both.
For me, Evans, Montemurro,
Gambhir, & Broad (2014, pp. 15, para 2) “…teaching means creating a space for
transformative education…” and any area of work with students can be used for
the same, when one has the right intent in the heart and mind.
Conclusion
Reimers (2009, para 1) states, “Good teachers and principals, in the United
States and elsewhere, know that good education begins with clarity of purpose”.
If one is clear about the purpose as evoking critical thinking, empathy,
collaboration or other skills and values that go towards building a global
citizen, one can use any situation to one’s advantage for the same.
That is
the inner purpose of education, to use any external situation as a transformative
space for the students (and oneself). Keeping that on, one gives the students a
framework to face all events in life. As an ex-student of mine said, “You did
not just teach me how to face maths but also how to face life”.
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