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Traditionally, American schools have been mandated to educate our youth about: 1) the mechanics and responsibilities of citizenship; and 2) the diverse cultures and peoples in the world. These mandates are usually met through separate social studies courses, such as civics, American history for the first mandate and world history, geography and culture studies for the second.
This curriculum unit bridges these two mandates. If the United States is to survive and thrive in the next millennium, students-future voters and leaders-need to be prepared for a variety of potential challenges and opportunities. If the past is a reflection of the future, our students will confront issues that have global dimensions with positive and negative aspects. To make wise decisions, our youth need wide preparation in understanding the world.
Our starting point is the "Guidelines for Global and International Studies Education" developed by H. Thomas Collins, Fredrick Czarra and myself, published in the September 1998, issue of Social Education. This remains a work in progress and we invite your comments and responses. The guidelines were developed by synthesizing previous conceptualizations offered by global education leaders, Robert Hanvey, Lee Anderson and James Becker. This framework contains three content dimensions: global challenges, culture and world studies, and global connections. Built into these dimensions are knowledge, skill and participation objectives.
One problem with past global education frameworks and conceptualization has been the lack of application to the classroom. Teachers and other practitioners have legitimately asked the question, "What does this mean for my classroom?" This curriculum unit is a first step in answering this question. Donald Bragaw has adapted over thirty activities commonly used in global education, as a first step to explore the implications of this framework for the classroom. The American Forum plans to develop new materials based on the guidelines in the future and we invite others to do the same.
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