Global Education as a Worldwide Movement.

Mr. Tye shares the results of his own survey of global education curricula and offers U.S. educators some ideas for connecting themselves and their students with the world.

IN THE 1990s, the global education movement in the United States took on a number of ethnocentric characteristics. Largely because of attacks from the political Right, global educators worked hard to avoid issues that were controversial. In addition, they often strove for what was euphemistically called "balance." That is, "teach about other peoples and countries, but do it 'patriotically.'" It also became clear at this time that, while many American educators advocated including the study of global issues in the curriculum, most did not particularly think to seek interaction with educators from around the world who also were concerned with the teaching of global issues.

For these reasons, I set out to discover what was being done around the world to include global education in the curriculum. I drafted a questionnaire, had it translated into French and Spanish, and sent it to people in 100 countries who were knowledgeable about global education. Responses were received from 52 countries. These data have been reported in other places.(n1)

In the remainder of this article, I will present highlights from this study along with updates on what is happening in the countries most involved in the global education movement.

The definition of global education given to respondents was the one from the 1991 ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) Yearbook, Global Education: From Thought to Action:

Global education involves learning about those problems and issues which cut across national boundaries and about the interconnectedness of systems -- cultural, ecological, economic, political, and technological.

Global education also involves learning to understand and appreciate our neighbors who have different cultural backgrounds from ours; to see the world through the eyes and minds of others; and to realize that other peoples of the world need and want much the same things.(n2)

The major finding from my study was that throughout the world, schooling is still seen as a major force in the building of national loyalties. This is true despite the inexorable movement toward regional and international cooperation and the growing interconnectedness of the global systems mentioned in the definition above.

The numbers and kinds of global issues identified as being emphasized in the schools' curricula varied across countries. Those most often mentioned were ecology/environment, development/sustainability, intercultural/multicultural relations, peace, technology, human rights, democracy/civic education, international organizations, population, health (including AIDS), racism and gender discrimination, and global citizenship.

An Update from Selected Countries

In my study, responses from 14 nations suggested that global education is a significant factor in schooling. What follows here is an update on what is happening now in six of those countries, as well as a report from the People's Republic of China, not included in the original survey.

Australia. Global education in Australia is supported by the national government and by many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs -- Catholic Relief, Oxfam, UNICEF, Communities Abroad, etc.) that develop instructional materials for teachers. Emphasis is on ecology; social justice; human rights; and economic, technological, and political interdependence. The Australian Agency for International Development funds global education resource and training centers in five of the eight states and territories. In addition, many state education departments are considering significant rewrites of the curriculum to reflect the necessity of educating young people for life in a global society. In South Australia, for example, the newly adopted curriculum identifies five "Essential Learnings" that provide the connecting threads for the whole curriculum: Futures, Identity, Interdependence, Thinking, and Communication.

Canada. Prior to 1995, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded global education professional development centers for many of the teacher associations across the country. When that funding was eliminated, many of the centers closed, although there still are active ones in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario that are funded by local sources. Courses in global education exist at several universities. The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto does a good deal of global education work internationally and continues to network with Canadian schools, providing workshops and instructional materials. There is a new Global Classroom Initiative sponsored by CIDA that gives grants to teachers and educational entities. The main goal is to encourage the integration of a global perspective into teaching and to instill a sense of global citizenship and increased awareness of the difference that individual and collective actions can make on issues of global importance.

Japan. In the 1980s and 1990s, major corporations put pressure on the government of Japan to develop what came to be called "education for global competitiveness." This movement led to official policy that supports international educational exchanges of various kinds, promotes international understanding in the curriculum (albeit, along with increased respect for Japanese traditional culture), and calls for improved foreign language instruction. The Japanese Council on Global Education provides leadership in promoting global education and produces a number of useful publications. Some teacher training institutions have begun to focus on constructivist pedagogy that lends itself to global education. Even so, the overwhelmingly traditionalist nature of Japanese education, the centralization of decision making and curriculum materials, and the pressure of examinations have militated against a rapid spread of global education.(n3) Perhaps the most promising programs to report are those of the United States-Japan Foundation. This organization has funded a number of schools that are developing curriculum materials that enable Japanese students to learn more about the United States. Also there are many grants that link teachers and students in Japan with partners in the United States. There are at least eight such programs currently under way, including ones at several U.S. universities and those under the auspices of the American Forum for Global Education and the World Affairs Council of Northern California.

South Korea. The 2001 national curriculum revision in South Korea added "Education for International Understanding" as an elective course in high schools. The ministry of education offers short-term training to prepare teachers to teach the course. The ministry and several regional education offices also have begun to produce textbooks and teacher guides. Many teachers in other subjects and at the primary level try to infuse global education into the curriculum. A striking development in global education in South Korea and in the Asian Pacific area was the establishment jointly by the South Korean government and UNESCO in 2000 of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Education for International Understanding. Its major tasks are to conduct research, strengthen school curricula, create support in the civil society, train professionals, promote international exchanges, develop and disseminate educational materials and information, and encourage international cooperation and networking.

Russia. There is a nationwide network of 10 global education centers in Russia. Each center is made up of a pedagogical university, primary and secondary schools, and a center for inservice education. >From 1994 to 1996, the United States Information Agency funded a grant that allowed Indiana University, Florida International University, and the American Forum for Global Education to assist in the development of the network in collaboration with the Russian Ministry of Education.(n4) An example of a school program within the network is the Humanitarian Gymnasium for Global Education in St. Petersburg. The school focuses on exchanges of teachers and students, student performances with global content for parents and the community, and a globalized curriculum. There also are 11 schools involved in the Baltic Sea Project, described below.

United Kingdom. At one point in the 1980s, over half the education authorities in the United Kingdom were promoting what was called World Studies. However, the imposition of the national curriculum in 1988 by the Conservative government resulted in the introduction of many reforms that were hostile to the methods and content of global education. These reforms included a focus on "British" culture, the prescribing of specific content, an emphasis on testing, and a return to whole-group, frontal teaching. When the Labour government took office in 1997, it continued most of these policies. However, the revised geography curriculum of 2000 includes global citizenship as a key element, and all secondary students in England and Wales take a new course, "Education for Citizenship," that also has many elements of global education.(n5) Further, a variety of handbooks and teaching materials for global education have been produced by such agencies as the Development Education Association, Oxfam, and various development education centers. In Scotland, with its separate education system, the education minister went on record in 2001 as supporting the inclusion of global studies in the curriculum.

People's Republic of China. In China, the term "global education" is not commonly used. However, there is a strong and growing concern for issues related to it, such as international awareness, international understanding, the global environment, population, globalization of the economy, and the Internet era. Major modernization of China's education system began in the 1980s in response to economic, political, and cultural changes in the greater society. The 1990s brought a new emphasis on international studies. World history and world geography now focus on current world issues. Science studies are concerned with the relationship between humans and the global environment as well as with science ethics and world interdependence in the new Information Age. In Beijing there is a new Project of Education for International Understanding that is working to update the social studies curriculum from kindergarten to grade 12 through the addition of more international issues to textbooks. Curriculum integration, teacher training, and inquiry-based instruction are also targets of the project.

International Network Projects

In addition to the many global education programs within individual nations, there are a number of networks that connect schools from several countries. Unfortunately, far too few U.S. schools are involved in such multinational projects.

Associated Schools Project of UNESCO (ASP). By far the largest international program is ASP. As of 2001, 6,600 schools in 168 countries were members of the program. The main purpose of ASP is to encourage educational institutions that have been selected by their national UNESCO commissions to organize programs designed to increase knowledge and understanding of world problems and cultures (www.unesco.org/education/

asp). The United States withdrew from UNESCO in 1984. In 1997 Interconnection 21 was started as a foundation to support ASP participation in U.S. schools. At this writing, there are 30 U.S. schools participating (www.ic21.org). There are a number of network projects sponsored by ASP, such as the Baltic Sea Project, the Blue Danube Project, and the Caribbean Sea Project. The Baltic Sea Project, launched in 1998, currently works with 200 schools in nine countries that border the Baltic Sea. The project seeks to raise student awareness of environmental issues in the region and to help students understand the scientific, social, and cultural aspects of human interdependence. Students and teachers share ideas and work through the Internet, newsletters, and face-to-face meetings.

COMENIUS. The COMENIUS program is one component of the European Union's SOCRATES initiative. It began in 1995-96, and to date there are approximately 1,200 participating schools in over 30 countries (www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates/comenius). Each project has from four to as many as 15 schools from different countries that collaborate on some curricular issue. Not all projects focus on global education, but many do, for example: Building Bridges in the Multicultural European Classroom, Human Rights Education in Curricula in Vocational Schools, and an inservice master's degree program on European and Global Dimensions in Education, which involves nine teacher training schools in six countries. It would be possible for American schools to collaborate in these programs if the United States government were to enter into a cooperative agreement, much as the government of Canada did in 1995.

Europe-Wide Global Education Congress. A very recent European initiative is the European Strategy Framework for Improving and Increasing Global Education in Europe to the Year 2015. This project was the result of the Europe-Wide Global Education Congress that was held in Maastricht in the Netherlands in November 2002. The conference was coordinated by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and involved representatives of a number of European governments and NGOs as well as representatives from developing countries. According to the council, global education encompasses development education, human rights education, education for sustainability, education for peace and conflict prevention, and intercultural education.(n6) More about the conference can be found at www.globaleducationeurope.net.

Classrooms Across Borders Project. Initiated by the School Association for Global Education under the sponsorship of the Council of Europe, the Classrooms Across Borders Project is highly focused. It brings together the 11 countries of the Balkans and the District of Kosovo to communicate about teaching methods and materials directed at preventing regional conflicts and ethnic confinement. One event was a summer school for students held in July 2001, during which art, culture, language, and hopes and dreams were shared.

iEARN. Perhaps the most accessible international network for American teachers and students is the telecommunications network known as iEARN (International Education and Resource Network, www.iearn.org). Currently, over 400,000 students at schools in more than 90 countries are involved in collaborative projects across national boundaries. While the focus is generally the medium itself, the substance of collaboration can often be considered global education. In addition, there are face-to-face conferences each year where teachers can share ideas.

Conclusion

In his foreword to my 1999 study described at the beginning of this article, Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1987, pointed out that globalization thus far has not marked a new age of moral progress but instead has signaled the solidification of a world economic order based on cynicism and individual profit. He argued eloquently that we should not allow the process of globalization to be merely a material transformation; our times demand a corresponding change in consciousness. Global education can make a significant contribution to such a change. My hope is that American educators will participate in bringing a global perspective to our schools and classrooms and that they will do this, at least in part, by seeking dialogue with global educators around the world.