Global citizenship education

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 “Global citizenship education refers to a pedagogical approach that fosters K to 12 students’ inquiry skills and their ability to be agents of social change”, (Evans, Montemurro, Gambhir, & Broad, 2014, pp.22).

I have taught maths to middle and high school. I’d like to focus on my subject. I think maths can integrate into it any topic of global significance as everything boils down to data and analyses. However, here are 3 topics of global significance that I have used in my middle school as projects or research work.

 1.      Gender

“Sex Ratio” (Aayog, n.d.) India, is biased towards men in most of the states. Here is how I wove it into maths curriculum for grade 7.

Topic: Ratio and Proportion

Task: Explore the gender ratio in India or the boy:girl in the Indian states.

Strategy:

a.       Students worked alone (we have quite a few states and they keep breaking further as everyone wants to be free! As of today we have 28 states and 9 union territories/UT.)

b.      Each student chose a state or UT and researched based on questions such as, (a) find the boy:girl ratio for past 10 years; (b) write any 3 observations; (c) write some reasons for the ratio to be what it is from the culture of the state.

c.       Write a short reflective piece describing your feelings at the end of the task

When the class regrouped, and each student shared the finding, everyone realised that most of the states had a very low place for women and the students were stunned. The best part was when I asked the class, “how does this affect your life?” The answers I got were, (from a boy) “I will help mum and sister in housework” and (from a girl) “I will not allow my brother to bully me”.

Olds (2012, para 4) says “…awareness of the world around each student begins with self-awareness”.

                2.      Health

“Body Mass Index is a simple calculation using a person's height and weight. The formula is BMI = kg/m2 where kg is a person's weight in kilograms and m2 is their height in metres squared. A BMI of 25.0 or more is overweight, while the healthy range is 18.5 to 24.9. BMI applies to most adults 18-65 years, (CA, 2020, para 1).”

Grade 8 students calculated their BMI. They worked in pairs, measured weight and height and then calculated BMI.

The actual work was following questions:

a.       What is your BMI?

b.      Where does it place you: Overweight, healthy or under weight?

c.       If healthy, what are your healthy habits? How will you sustain them and what more can you add to them?

d.      If not healthy, how will you change your life to accommodate better health?

3.      Education

When students come from primary to middle school, the first thing that shocks them is the amount of work in academics that increases for them. It stresses them out.

For the topic Data Handling, students were asked to choose topics to do a survey and then draw graphs. A group chose “Does academics become very hard when we come to middle school?”

They devised their own survey tools, conducted the survey and presented their findings. It was extensive with details as to which subjects are most stressful and what can be done about them. They took the presentations to the school with the principal present and ended up changing the timetable for grade 6.

Olds (2012, para 7), “Global citizens feel a connection to their communities (however they define them) and translate that sense of connection into participation”. This group of students felt a disconnect with the level of academics in middle school and paved the way for a change.

In none of the 3 tasks, I had predicted the outcomes. I had a clear intention of them creating a shift in the mind-set of the learners and the rest happened. Classrooms where global issues are integrated need to have a certain openness about them in order to allow the learning to happen. It cannot be caught in a formula.

 

References

1.      Aayog, N. (n.d.). Sex Ratio (Females/ 1000 Males). Retrieved from https://niti.gov.in/content/sex-ratio-females-1000-males

2.      CA, D. (2020). Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.diabetes.ca/managing-my-diabetes/tools---resources/body-mass-index-(bmi)-calculator

3.      CA, D. (2020). Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.diabetes.ca/managing-my-diabetes/tools---resources/body-mass-index-(bmi)-calculator.

4.      Evans, M., Montemurro, D., Gambhir, M., & Broad, K. (Eds.).  (2014). Inquiry into Practice: Learning and Teaching Global Matters in Local Classrooms. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE).  URI:http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/oise/UserFiles/File/TEACHING_GLOBAL_MATTERS_FINAL_ONLINE.pdf

5.      Olds, K. (2012). Global Citizenship – What are we talking about and why does it matter. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/globalhighered/global-citizenship-%E2%80%93-what-are-we-talking-about-and-why-does-it-matter.

 

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