Why a global curriculum makes sense
Headlines point to suffering in the aftermath of an earthquake in Pakistan, nuclear proliferation in Iran, Muslim riots over cartoons published in Europe, Canadians held hostage in Iraq. Here at home, when I call for computer help, the person who answers is somewhere in India. Last year, my teachers attended conferences in New Orleans and Bucharest, meeting teachers from the four corners of the world.
On every level, the planet is becoming smaller. We are better acquainted with our neighbours on other continents, we have more friends in far-flung places and the tensions burning around the world are becoming our tensions.
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) published a yearbook in 1991 dedicated to global education. Its authors posed persuasive arguments for the need for global education based on three momentous changes in the social structure of our world:
The first change, which has been underway for the past half millennium, is the accelerating growth of global interdependence. The second, which dates to the first decades of the 20th century, is the erosion of Western Civilization’s dominance of the rest of the world. The third change, which dates from the early 1970s is the decline of American hegemony in the world political economy.1
These changes have led people around the world to feel the effects of intensified global interdependence and to seek a response to it. Reminders of the issues challenging our fellow citizens are unrelenting. Stephen Lewis2 is a heroic Canadian fighting to save the children of Africa from the HIV-AIDS pandemic. Pollution crosses borders affecting distant ecosystems. The quest for oil has led to war and environmental destruction in many countries. Water will soon displace oil as the resource that causes the most conflict on our planet. The scope of our individual and collective responsibility is growing like the proverbial beanstalk. Will our children master the challenges posed by these issues of social justice on a global scale?
We cannot underestimate human action (and inaction) in our search for global justice. Is that not a prime reason so many of us became educators, out of a wondrous, idealistic notion that we can inspire the next generation, that our teaching will lead young people to become better, more caring citizens?
What are the elements of a global curriculum?
Philosophers have been pondering the purpose of education for millennia. “Only the educated are free,” Epictetus wrote, more than 2,000 years ago: free to think for themselves, to act upon their knowledge, to take responsibility for themselves and others. An international or global curriculum can help to design learning to prepare our young people for the challenges of an interdependent, conflicted world in the 21st century. The International Baccalaureate (IB) community of schools, to which my school belongs, is committed to developing such international mindedness in students. With its unique approach to international curriculum, the IB offers a meaningful model, but many other eloquent voices are urging schools to pursue a global education. It is instructive to follow the work of numerous wonderful educators, including some inspiring voices coming from Canada (Graham Pike, Roland Case).
Global education is an approach to teaching, not an addition to the curriculum. While travel, multicultural festivals and a resource centre rich in multicultural materials will enrich a global curriculum, these alone will not achieve a transformation in the thinking, perceptions and actions of our students. What are the lenses through which the learners in our classrooms will need to see the world, in order to become members of the earth community? Some key elements:
- Perspective
- World-mindfulness
- Interdependence
- Action
- Responsibility
- Culture
- Issues of social justice
- Peace education
As Canadians, we are fortunate to have provincial curricula that are infused with some of these elements of a global education. An examination of the curricula shows that the cultural perspectives are rich, the citizenship content embraces both global and local perspectives, and the skills pursued are often aligned with those of an international curriculum. However, the challenges at home and abroad mean we must persevere in developing these skills and perspectives.
I attended a workshop with Roland Case, who eloquently makes the point that perspective is the key to a global curriculum. He presents various methods to engage students in critical thinking, making multiple perspectives a lens for engaging learners of all ages.
Graham Pike3 suggests global education usually includes three main concepts:
- Perspective
- Interdependence
- Connectedness
This third concept, connectedness, includes a number of ideas: commonalities amongst all humans; links perceived among contemporary global issues; interlocking welfare of humans, other species and their environments; the relationship between education and the wider world; and the integration of subjects across the curriculum.
This model introduces the principal concepts that will move global education beyond traditional curricula as set out in our provincial guidelines. Pike also says learning to view issues and challenges from multiple perspectives distinguishes a global curriculum from a local one. To be able to view the world from multiple perspectives, students need to build a relevant body of knowledge.
What happens in the world happens to us. Still, our provincial curricula focus primarily on Canada. In the Manitoba K–8 Social Studies curriculum, for instance, Grades 3, 7 and 8 look beyond Canada, but remain Eurocentric. In Alberta, Grades 3, 8, 10 and 12 have a social studies scope and sequence that looks beyond Canada. In Ontario, Grades 4 and 5 teach history beyond Canada. Graduation from an Ontario high school requires one Canadian history and one Canadian geography credit. While wonderful courses are offered (World Issues is an excellent example) after Grade 5, there is no requirement for a history course that acquaints our young people with the world beyond our own borders. Without understanding the context of events in the world, how are our children to be inspired to understand and act with dedication and passion to make the changes required to promote social and environmental justice?
Proponents of global education are clear about the importance of grounding students in their own cultural and historic context before pursuing studies beyond their local experience. However, the content of a global curriculum will be balanced to include culture, social justice, peace education, environmental education, systems thinking, citizenship, human rights and responsibilities, and issues of power, authority and equity as well as examining relationships within these areas in a global context. This learning can begin at a very young age, by working with the concepts underlying the content.
It is this knowledge that represents a shift from multicultural education. While multicultural education examines the cultural and national differences between peoples, a global curriculum focuses on the political, the social, the environmental. It seeks to develop a perspective on the commonalities and interdependence of the human experience.
The development of world-mindedness, or global thinking, is another goal of global education. “World-mindedness is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for survival in the new millennium.”4 Taking this a step further, I propose the term “world-mindfulness.” While world-mindedness develops awareness, world-mindfulness becomes a personal stance, leading from knowledge to caringand action, and implies a holistic element.
As Canadians, we are uniquely able to begin our pursuit of world-mindfulness. Issues of social justice and equality are addressed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Multiculturalism Act that have moulded Canadians’ thinking and acting in the world. Anti-racism programs are a part of our school culture. We take for granted our obligation to offer insight into the multiple heritages represented in our classrooms. With all our successes in the area of human rights and equity, Canadians cannot rest on their laurels, not as individuals nor as a nation.
Education, it is argued, has a crucial role to play in the development of young citizens who demonstrate respect for people of other cultures, faiths and world views, who have a real understanding of global issues and trends, and who commit to acting for global peace and justice.5
A recent study concluded that “throughout the world, schooling is still seen as a major force in the building of national loyalties.”6 The historic purpose of national, provincial and state curricula has been to instill the values, history and perspectives of a particular society. In designing a global curriculum, educators choose to instill universal values, a broader history and multiple perspectives in their students.
Knowledge of the issues of social justice, environmental sustainability, equity, and peace and conflict is a prerequisite forcaring about the challenges faced by people the world over. Caring will lead to action, in both local and global contexts.
Our children will become citizens of the global village if we give them the tools, skills, knowledge and attitudes to see the world as their home, and its people as their neighbours. Through a global approach to curriculum, they will become passionate, active and caring members of the earth community.
1 Anderson, Lee F., A Rationale for Global Education, in Global Education, from Thought to Action, The 1991 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD, Alexandria, Virginia, 1990
2 Stephen Lewis, Race Against Time, CBC Massey Lectures Series, 2005
3 G. Pike in T. Goldstein, D. Selby, Weaving Connections, Educating for Peace, Social and Environmental Justice (Sumac Press, Toronto, 2000)
4 G. Pike, D. Selby, In the Global Classroom 1 (Pippin Publishing Corporation, Toronto, 1999)
5 David Selby, “Global Education as Transformative Education” (http://www.citizens4change.org/global/intro/global_education_introduce.htm)
6 Kenneth A. Tye (Phi Delta Kappan, October 2003)
About Irene Davy
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