discussion 4
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cf_edu562_w4.pptGlobal Leaders in Education
EDU 562
Global Perspectives in Teacher Education; Research and Practice
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Welcome to Global Leaders in Education.
In this lesson, we will discuss Global Perspectives in Teacher Education; Research and Practice.
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Topics
- Historical Tracing and Conceptual Framework
- Global Content
- Teacher Field Experiences
- Teacher Education Students’ Prior Knowledge and Global-Mindedness
- Teacher Education Faculty Development
The following topics will be covered in this lesson:
Historical Tracing and Conceptual Framework;
Global Content;
Teacher Field Experiences;
Teacher Education Students’ Prior Knowledge and Global-Mindedness; and
Teacher Education Faculty Development.
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Historical Tracing and Conceptual Framework
Selection and Evaluation Procedures
Research on Global Perspectives for Teacher Education
Let‘s begin this discussion with Historical tracing and conceptual framework. Teacher educators today are faced with an urgent responsibility to transform curriculum and pedagogy to better prepare teachers in educating the young generation about increasing global interdependence and their role in the emerging global society. Over the past two decades, colleges and universities have attempted to respond to these responsibilites by increasingly adding a global dimension to their teacher education programs. They have done so by encouraging the study of foreign languages, creating internationally focused courses, organizing cross-cultural fieldwork experiences, offering extracurricular activities that are internationally oriented, and other policies and practices to help prospective and practicing teachers gain knowledge, skills, and dispositions to teach from a global viewpoint.
Global education became the topic of choice during the late 1960s and early 1970s when educators and scholars introduced the public to what would happen if we had global interdependence. The first teacher education program for global perspectives began at the Center for Teaching International Relations at the University of Denver in 1969. It continued to grow with preparation programs opening in 1971, 1972, and 1973. In the early 1980s, more programs were initiated because this was known as the golden years of global education. However, progress was hampered in the mid-1980s by emerging attacks on global education.
Then in the 1990s, accelerating growth of global interdependence in the economy, technology, politics, and culture have brought global perspectives to the forefront of teacher education again. Colleges and universities have come to recognize that the United States is a part of an interdependent and interconnected global system. Now the question is what does it mean to teach from a global perspective? What are the core elements in teacher education programs that are globally oriented? Even though educators and scholars emphasize different aspects of interdependence, they all share the idea that a global perspective course is more than courses on world geography and world history and requires a holistic approach that gives students an understanding of themselves and their relationship to the world community. Global education should prepare teachers to build bridges across cultural boundaries and citizens to be able to communicate and collborate with those whose attitudes, values, knowledge, and ways of doing things differ significantly from their own.
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Teacher Field Experiences
- International Field Experiences
- Short term Field Experiences
- Long term Field Experiences
As a result of preparing teachers with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards global education, various articles, reviews, and books have been written. Much of this research examines effects of international field experiences, particular overseas student teaching, on the global awareness of teacher candidates. Field experiences have long been identified by both teacher educators and prospective and experienced teachers as a major part of preservice teacher preparation. Field experiences are the key components of preparation where teacher candidates learn to bridge theory and practice and develop pedagogical and curricular strategies for meaningful learning. In an attempt to improve the preparation of teachers with global perspectives, teacher programs have designed international field experiences. These international field experiences are organized in various ways, and range in duration from two weeks to daily full-time student teaching for a semester.
A good number of research studies have been conducted to examine both the short term and long term student teaching experiences on the development of global perspectives among preservice teachers. The students who completed a four week international practicum working with students and teachers in a private school in Italy showed overall benefits that included both personal change and professional growth, such as a better appreciation of and respect for differences of others and other cultures. The students who completes a full semester in an international student teaching long term experience, showed a shift in consciousness and perspective, an empathetic understanding of the world and its people, an appreciation for other cultures and perspectives, and awareness of both global and domestic diversity.
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Global Content
Earth Systems Education
Social Studies Education
Technology
Leading scholars in the field have long argued that global content should be an essential part of efforts in globalizing teacher education to help prospective and practicing teachers acquire the knowledge of the world and its people. A globally oriented science education program that is used in teacher preparation programs is called Earth Systems Education. This program evolves a concept of science literacy that is more attentive to the post Cold-War global intellectual climate that places Earth at the center of the science teaching and learning. This new paradigm of science education has influenced the curriculum development and teachers’ learning.
Social Studies teacher candidates learn global content, along with cross-cultural experiential learning, global pedagogy in the methods class, and practice in their field. Teacher candidates are encouraged to look at their entire program and take courses that will both prepare them to teach about various regions of the world and give them a global perspective on topics such as population or politics.
The promotion of technology in teacher education over the past decade has shifted emphasis from technology taught as a separate course to technology integrated into academic courses. Teacher education scholars have been particularly interested in exploring the potential of Internet based technology, such as computer-mediated communication, in building cross-cultural understanding and promoting global awareness among preservice teachers. Research has found that technology has shaped the student teachers’ understanding of the importance of teaching global perspectives and believed the potential of Internet-based technology lies in two equally important features: the advantage of instant access to updated worldwide information from various sources and a tool for communication across time, space, and culture.
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Teacher Education Students’ Prior Knowledge and Global Mindedness
- Teacher Education Faculty Development
Another line of research is to investigate student teachers’ prior knowledge of and dispositions toward global education. In most of the studies that were done, teacher candidates reported knowing most about the reasons for war and famine and least about the reasons for economic problems in less economically developed nations and human rights abuse. Teacher candidates’ perceived levels of knowledge varied according to the grade level they planned to teach and their own education level whether it be undergraduate or graduate. Some teacher candidates expressed a concern that global education issues are sensitive, controversial, and complex.
Many scholars in education have argued that to successfully globalize teacher education there is a critical need to foster teacher education faculty commitment to, understanding of, and support for the movement. The common core elements of teacher education development was leadership among administrators, collaboration among colleagues, and a sense of community between the faculty and the administrators.
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Summary
- Historical Tracing and Conceptual Framework
- Global Content
- Teacher Field Experiences
- Teacher Education Students’ Prior Knowledge and Global-Mindedness
- Teacher Education Faculty Development
We have now reached the end of this lesson. Let’s take a look at what we’ve covered.
First, we discussed what teacher educators are doing to increase the students’ familiarity with global interdependence and their roles in a global society. Over the past two decades, colleges and universities have attempted to respond to these responsibilites by increasingly adding a global dimension to their teacher education programs. They have done so by encouraging the study of foreign languages, creating internationally focused courses, organizing cross-cultural fieldwork experiences, offering extracurricular activities that are internationally oriented, and other policies and practices to help prospective and practicing teachers gain knowledge, skills, and dispositions to teach from a global viewpoint.
Next, we were introduced to three types of field experiences. The first was international. Designing international field experiences is one of the major ways teacher education programs have attempted to improve the preparation of teachers with global perspectives. The second is short term field experiences. These are around four to six weeks of experiences in a foreign country. Long term field experiences can last from a semester to a year long. These types of field experiences had overall benefits that included both personal change and professional growth, such as a better appreciation of and respect for differences of others and other cultures.
Then, we learned that leading scholars in the field have long argued that global content should be an essential part of efforts in globalizing teacher education to help prospective and practicing teachers acquire the knowledge of the world and its people.
Finally, we discussed how global content is incorporated into the social studies and science teachers’ fieldwork and course study. Students are now being encouraged to take courses that will increase their global awareness.
This completes the lesson.
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