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Lifelong Learner & Educator
14th year in education; experience with grades 5-8
Southern California educator.
I am fortunate to be a part of this Fulbright Teacher exchange experience and I cannot wait to learn & grow as a practitioner.
Check out some of my favorite resources so you can learn more about Global Education!
I traveled to India this past summer! Read about some of my experiences & adventures as I analyze alternative education systems so I can become a better educator. I can't wait to share new insights and ideas with my colleagues on my blog.
Have a look at some of the lessons/tools I've created. This includes lesson plans, presentations to share with colleagues, and more!
Introduction
What is global education? Global education encompasses many core concepts such as empathy, understanding diverse perspectives, communication, sustainability, and more. Prior to this experience, I had a shallow understanding of global education and its importance. I thought it was just learning about other cultures. Now, I realize that global education can even incorporate local issues with global implications. A quote that I found particularly insightful was from the "Concepts and Cultures" (2015) text which stated: “Cultures cannot be clearly bordered; their edges appear, rather, as a confluence of diverse transcultural networks. Cultures are inherently uneven or fuzzy.” This resonated with me because as humans we all too often try to box, label, and define others. I am not sure this is always done intentionally or with mal intent. However, we often see the world through a very narrow lens, which is our lens (which tends to be highly ethnocentric or limiting). I mean this in the most non-condascending manner, because A) I include myself in this and B) we're human and flawed. I say all this, because this is how we understand and view educational systems from other cultures and countries. Yet, it's difficult to make broad, generalized obserations about a country's educational system when there's so much diversity and nuances within each nation. Therefore, this global education toolkit is NOT comprehensive by any means. It's a starting point and it's something that will evolve with time and as I continue to learn. The purpose of this little toolkit is to anchor colleagues and friends of mine into the world of global education if it's something you desire to do. Even if you don't, I encourage you to be bold, try something new, and incorporate the global competencies into your clssroom in some shape or form. You won't regret it and someday your students may thank you. They won't remember that standardized test they took in your class, but they will hopefully remember some of the rich, meaningful activities, discussions they participated in during your class that challenged their thinking.
My Guiding Question:
How do educators in India and the United States incorporate a social justice lens that includes but isn't limited to: cultural relevance, anti-bias education, anti-racism curriculum, student voice, agency, and identity? What impact does this have on student learning?
I know this may be an ambitious question, but I aim to incorporate a social justice framework in the work I do. The key word is "aim." I know I am not perfect. Afterall, I am a byproduct of the banking model of education, and I still work in this highly structured, antiquated system.
Our educational system is flawed, but it's fundamental we accept this. I often tell my students, "I know school isn't perfect," but let's do the best we can. My middle school students often tell me they hate school and that could be attributed to many reasons like rigidity, standardized tests, irrelevant curriculum, lack of choice, and more. We need to be bold and imagine alternative ways of learning and demonstrating knowledge. The sooner we do this then the quicker we will see higher engagement from our students. This in turn will yield a more communal and familial type of relationship in our schools. That is why I am eager to learn how educators in India incorporate social justice, so I can bring this back to my community and deepen my pedagogy.
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