Essential question: How can I integrate global learning into my world literature course so that it organically stems from the opportunities presented in the reading?
I am a teacher of World Literature. In fact, in my career there has never been a year when I haven't been teaching a World Literature course. Fifteen years ago works such as Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe or Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya provided a struggle for many students. The culture, the names, the writing style were all seen as strange, and it was difficult to get freshmen and sophomores to move beyond their own cultural assumptions in order to fully embrace the idea of "the other." In the past, the focus of my teaching was centered on finding the similarities between cultures in order to increase the comfort level of the class when discussing differences. Due to our amazing advances in technology, students have become more and more exposed to events around the world; thus, I no longer have to focus on the similarities between peoples, but I can instead celebrate differences. As Roderick Paige, Former U.S. Secretary of Education said,“Ours is a world of 24-hour-news cycles, global markets, and high-speed Internet. We need to look no further than our morning paper to see that our future, and the future of our children, is inextricably linked to the complex challenges of the global community. And for our children to be prepared to take their place in that world and rise to those challenges, they must first understand it.” Using literature to provide students with an understanding of the world is a powerful way in which we can build empathy and cultural tolerance in our students.
Theory and research in global learning
ECI 524 provided multiple theories explaining ideas of global learning, global citizenship and cosmopolitanism. What became obvious to me through this course is that although there may not be one specific ideology that encompasses the multiple components of global citizenship, the understanding and teaching of the many philosophical currents associated with this term should be a prevalent concern across both the educational and professional spectrum. It is, I believe, a necessary mandate for all nations to consider the institution, in some form or another, of a global curriculum at all levels of a person’s education. I feel strongly that the definition of citizenship stretches beyond national boundaries and extends to all people. I was particularly struck by Kwame Anthony Appiah’s work, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, as the author sets out to define a global theory. Cosmopolitanism, as he notes, has two strands: “One is the idea that we have obligations to others, obligations that stretch beyond those to whom we are related by the ties of kith and kind, or even the more formal ties of a shared citizenship. The other is that we take seriously the value not just of human life but of particular human lives, which means taking an interest in the practices and beliefs that lend them significance”(xv). His ideas of showing respect for cultural differences as well as taking responsibility for shared citizenship are important values to instill in today's students.
personal_philosophy_of_global_learning.doc | |
File Size: | 44 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Product of Learning: For ECI 521 we developed an Action Learning Project. At the time I was teaching Dave Eggers' Zeitoun, and I wanted to explore ways in which I could foster empathy in my students using the novel as the basis for the discussion. With this in mind, I developed the following product for my class: ALP - fosering empahy.
This year I took the same idea but altered it somewhat after my students read Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. The assignment was to research an area of the world that has been or is currently involved in conflict and identify the biggest need for those affected by this conflict. Once this need was determined, the students were to develop an NGO that would provide relief to those suffering.
Student NGO - GRID
This year I took the same idea but altered it somewhat after my students read Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. The assignment was to research an area of the world that has been or is currently involved in conflict and identify the biggest need for those affected by this conflict. Once this need was determined, the students were to develop an NGO that would provide relief to those suffering.
Student NGO - GRID
lwg_project.doc | |
File Size: | 29 kb |
File Type: | doc |