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Chapter 11

Helping Students Understand Local and Global Societies

Helping Students Understand Local and Global Societies

This activity contains 12 questions.

	Mr. Plank helps students become aware of many commonalities shared in the world. If Mr. Plank is planning on meeting the guidelines for global and international studies education, what else should he reflect prior to planning instruction?   His ability to help students become aware of differences in religion, language, and traditions. There is nothing else Mr. Plank needs to reflect upon in regards to global international studies. His ability to make his students aware of important dates from the Civil War. He should be able to protect his students from issues including terrorism, environmental pollution, war, health concerns, poverty, and hunger.

	The curriculum guidelines for global education are built around 3 themes. 1. Global challenges, issues, and problems, 2. Global cultures and world areas and, 3. ?   Global change and conflict Global connections; the US and the world Global perspective and economy Global health and environment

	Mrs. George has been teaching in-depth units on several countries over the last few months. She should be sure to:   Provide brief overviews instead of studying in depth, so more countries may be studied and "covered". Do nothing else; she just needs to "cover" the material. Provide a narrow, non-global perspective to save time. It is better to address many countries and cultures in brief so the students will have more of a global understanding. Provide accurate treatment of the content and avoid blatant stereotypes

	Four problems encompass the entire globe and serve as the focus of global education. If. Mrs. Ledford would like to lead her students through a lesson on future problem solving, what would be some of the problems she could engage her students in attempting to solve?   Peace, security, and human rights Environmental problems, national and international development. War, poverty, hunger, and education All of the problems listed encompass the entire globe. None of the problems listed encompass the entire globe.

	Mr. Moore is teaching about culture. Help him to become more of a global educator. Right now, he is struggling, only teaching on the surface. Choose the best advice so he may have more substantive culture experiences in his classroom.   He should start by using ONLY American sources to teach about other cultures, so the students can relate. He doesn't need to do anything else. There is no time to go in depth. He should present his lessons addressing cultures as "non-western" and present America as the ultimate superpower. He should use primary sources, literature, documents, newspapers, and websites from various cultures of study.

	What are some practices of global educators?   They address stereotypes directly and identify stereotypes students bring to class. They teach how to analyze perspectives of others as part of understanding different people. They have students interact with people from other cultures and teach cultural change. None of the practices mentioned are for global educators. All of the above practices will help with becoming more of a global educator.

	Mrs. Wood is a peace educator. What is a peace educator?   The peace educator feels that if nuclear weapons are removed---we will be safe... A teacher who teaches and preaches anti-war and has served in the Peace Corps. The peace educator seeks to preserve the world and to preserve the safety and security of our bodies and our consciences for all people. All of the above are characteristics of a peace educator.

	Teachers must make the decisions of what global issues to study and how to investigate those issues. When selecting a global issue topic to study, each teacher must ask the following question:   The teacher does not need to ask any questions -- no need to be reflective about global education. Will I be able to guide my students to my answers and my solutions from my ideology? Is the issue age appropriate? Are the students sufficiently mature and experienced to sufficiently study and understand the issue? Will the students have enough time to complete their more important assignments?

	What is the most appropriate instructional approach for teaching global education?   A "culture fair" where the students spend the entire day visiting tables learning about different cultures and countries around the world. Global education should not be introduced until high school. Teaching units that define the problems and investigate subtopics and alternate solutions, where students gain an in-depth knowledge needed to understand global issues. A special interest group sponsored event with free materials and activities for a "global study week"- easily sequenced into any curriculum.

	Mr. Lenhof wonders why his 8th grade students have never heard of the holocaust or genocide- even though he understands the great complexity of these topics- he thinks the K-4 teachers should have at least mentioned the terms and briefly discussed times in history when genocide is an issue. Is Mr. Lenhof correct to be concerned?   Yes, genocide is a topic that is appropriate for early elementary grades and should be studied in great detail- specifically the Holocaust. No. Mr. Lenhof should not be concerned. These topics are not appropriate for young children at all, especially negative issues. No, he should not be concerned. Primary teachers know it is best to teach bout topics such as the Holocaust by focusing on self-concept, caring for others, prejudice, and human rights in literature and stories about people from other cultures. No, he should not worry. There are many social skills that are taught in grades K-4 that will allow his 8th grade students to carefully consider negative topics such as genocide. Both answers 3 and 4 are correct. He should not be worried for the reasons mentioned in answers 3 and 4.

	Mr. Cope integrates current events and global education by allowing the students "free time" on the Internet. He tells them to find 2 current events, summarize them, and report to the class. They are also encouraged to visit global issues websites. What advice would you give to Mr. Cope?   Mr. Cope should require students to copy information and write a research paper from the current event. Mr. Cope should require less time on the computer. There are no real resources for global education on the Internet. He should protect his students. Mr. Cope needs to give the students more guidance. The students should be training to think critically about the information they are finding. Mr. Cope should share with the students that any information they find is true and if it is on the Internet it is correct and trustworthy information.

	Evaluating sources of data on the vast WWW requires critical thinking. Thinking critically involves the following skills: Deciding which parts of the information are valid or biased, what conclusions can be made from the information, and what else?   Analysis and evaluation of how accurate the conclusion might be. Accepting what is written on the Internet and other media as true and factual. Avoid the Internet and only use newspaper. Being able to memorize the facts from all sources.

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