Going Global in Guilderland

What is the purpose of this site?

The purpose of this site is to educate the students, faculty, and administration of Guilderland High School as to what it means to be globally competent, why it's important, and how to incorporate global competencies into our school curricula and community. The following pages contain a variety of resources that may be useful in increasing our global competencies as a school and community. While these resources have been selected with the Guilderland community in mind, many of these resources are also applicable to students and faculty worldwide.

Guilderland CSD Mission Statement:

To inspire all students to be active life-long learners, able to achieve their highest potential in a demanding and ever-changing global community.

How can we help prepare our students for the global community?

In order for our students to be prepared for our ever-changing global community including right here in Guilderland, we must help our students develop their global competence. According to the Asia Society, which is a leading educational organization, "Global competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance. Globally competent individuals are aware, curious, and interested in learning about the world and how it works. They can use the big ideas, tools, methods, and languages that are central to any discipline to engage in the pressing issues of our time." (Excerpt taken from "Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage in the World" by the Asia Society)

For a student to be globally competent, they should have a natural desire and ability to investigate the world around them, whether it be within their community or abroad. Globally competent students should be able to recognize and appreciate perspectives that may differ from their own. These same students must be able to communicate effectively, both in the written and verbal form, with diverse audiences. Additionally, a student that is globally competent should be able to put their ideas into action in order to help better the world around them.

What does this look like in Guilderland?

There are many activities within the district that are helping to support these goals. The cultural fair at Guilderland High School is a great example of students investigating their world, recognizing perspectives, and communicating ideas. Additionally many of the clubs that our students are involved in such as STAR (Students and Teachers Against Racism), Key Club, Natural Helpers, Amnesty International, Best Buddies, International Club, and Model UN show that our students are not only curious about the world around them but that they are interested in making a difference as well. The goal of this site is to provide some additional resources to help us take the globalization of our students and community to the next level, within our classrooms.

On the Study page, you will be able to find resources that may help you to begin to globalize your lessons as well as resources for how to assess the four main global competencies (Investigating the world, Recognizing perspectives, Communicating effectively, and Taking Action).
On the Teach page, you will be able to find examples of lessons that incorporate the four main global competencies as well as resources that many help you to modify your own.
On the Travel page, you will be able to read about my experience abroad as part of the Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellowship. There is also a list of programs for both teachers and students that are interested in traveling themselves!
On the Contact me page, you will be able to learn about who I am and how I became interested in global education as well as several different ways to get in touch with me. If you have any questions or comments regarding anything on this site, please feel free to reach out to me. All feedback is welcome!

This site is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the grantee's own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.

Report abuse