Today my students finished answering the pre-travel questionnaire I created, and as predicted, they knew very little about the Morocco and its culture. I have a great group of students who work hard and enjoy learning new information, so when I told them they couldn't look up the answers to complete the questions, I had some pretty frustrated kids. I began hearing "oh man, this is so bad," and "this is so embarrassing" being murmured across the room. I felt bad for my students, as they had been given an impossible task- yet I want them to realize their inability to answer correctly is not their fault. Much of our ignorance of other cultures is due to our relative geographic isolation as well as our country's role as a leader in foreign policy, economics, and mass media. This isolation, however, is diminishing with new technology and we are being joined by other countries in leading the world economy. While it may not have been necessary to have global awareness in the past, our students will be facing a world where interaction amongst cultures will become the norm. As my students turned in their papers with sheepish faces, I was encouraged by the reactions students were experiencing. The fact that my kids felt bad about not knowing even the most basic information about Morocco suggests that they recognize their deficit of global knowledge. Within a few minutes of turning in their papers, students began asking about the questionnaire- showing an eagerness to learn the answers. I love working with teenagers because beneath what others may see as a stubborn adolescent façade, there is still a genuine desire to learn more about the world around them, particularly when they feel content is relevant and important. Even some of the most intelligent adults do not demonstrate this desire for knowledge. I think the culture of being an adult often coincides with the notion that adults have all of the answers- unfortunately resulting in less inquiry when faced with topics we know little about. In the past few weeks, when asked where I will be traveling, I answer with simply "Morocco." Most adult responses consist of, "nice!" or "that sounds like fun". Whether or not they have any knowledge of Morocco is never revealed. On the other hand, when answering the same question from students, I am instantly bombarded with shameless questions. If anyone deals with insecurities in life- it's a teenager, yet they do not hesitate to admit their lack of knowledge and eagerness to become more informed. As I get ready to depart for my journey, I am making notes of the questions they have asked, and am excited to learn the answers- not just for my students, but for my own understanding as well.
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The days spent in D.C. left me with a much better idea of the TGC, IREX, and State Department's goals for our travel. We heard from some amazing speakers, had time to meet with our cohorts, shared global teaching strategies, heard a bit about our country of destination, and worked toward creating an essential question to guide our travel experience. My essential question addresses my students' prec0nceived notions about Moroccan students- how much do they know? Where have they gained this understanding? Are their ideas about Moroccan students accurate? If not, how can I facilitate a new framework of cultural understanding? Likewise, I am curious to know Moroccan students' thoughts about American students. How much do they know? Where have they gained this understanding? Are there ideas about my students accurate? Perhaps Moroccan students know more about American students than American students know about Moroccans? What can I do, as a liaison between my students and my host teacher's students, to challenge stereotypes and facilitate cultural understanding? Please feel free to comment or make suggestions on my area of focus- TGC stressed that our essential question is an active entity- likely to change as we go... so the more feedback, the better!
Funny how time flies... it doesn't seem like long ago that I was sitting at this same desk, struggling with the first discussion board prompt provided by Craig Perrier... "what is global learning?". I remember thinking that I had a pretty good idea of what this global learning business was all about, but once the question was posed to me, I had difficulty articulating my understanding. I was not alone as it turned out, and as the online course progressed, my TGC colleagues and I began to develop a better understanding of how to address this candid question. Many readings, videos, and webinars later, I sit at this same desk, writing Skype in the Classroom requests and watching TED talks that will apply to my upcoming lessons. As I was reading up on Skype lessons, I came across one that had intrigued me a few weeks ago- a project based on the sharing of students' daily lives with students in Southeast Asia. I decided to contact the creator of the project (my seventh or eighth email of the evening to various teachers across the globe) in an effort to create some sort of connection for my students. Interestingly enough, the project designer's profile noted that he/she worked for IREX, as a coordinator for the Vietnam and the Philippines Connections and Exchange program under the U.S. Dept. of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The world of global educators, I'm finding, is a small one. I am becoming familiar with a network of educators dedicated to creating authentic global experiences for students... an exciting idea for a teacher coming from a background of having little mention of global learning pedagogy. With two days until the Global Education Symposium, I am a bit overwhelmed by my almost obsessive efforts to create global lessons while also writing sub plans, picking up the dry cleaning, grading essays (read: looking at the stack of essays), packing, collecting student examples of global learning, creating my blog, and imagining what the symposium will have in store. Perhaps in a few days I will have a better idea of what can reasonably be achieved, but for tonight I'll take a deep breath and appreciate being chosen for the program... for one year ago from today, I sat at this desk and completed my TGC application.
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AuthorI'm a high school AP geography and world history teacher, traveling to Morocco with Teachers for Global Classrooms to bring cultural insight back to my community. Archives
May 2014
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