Curriculum Content

The number and kinds of global issues identified as being emphasized in the schools’ curricula varied greatly from country to country. The issues most often identified (in order of frequency) were: ecology/environment, development, intercultural relations, peace, economics, technology, human rights. Twenty additional global issues were identified as being part of the curriculum in a few countries (e.g., democracy, international organizations, population, health—- including AIDS, racism, global citizenship). It also seemed from these responses that there was great similarity throughout the world as to how curriculum content was organized. Most global education concepts and issues were said to be dealt with in the various social science or social studies classes. However, it was reported that in a growing number of cases other curriculum areas were being utilized; and thematic units, inter-disciplinary courses, special projects and courses, and even extra-curricular and travel programs were being developed and implemented. It would appear that educators around the world have a great deal to learn from each other about how to develop and implement global education curricula. Another very hopeful sign in these data was that most respondents seemed to believe that there was a growing interest in and recognition of the importance of global education content. A less hopeful sign was that some respondents suggested that teachers in their countries really were not aware of or were little concerned with such content. This points to the need for massive efforts at teacher education. We shall come to a discussion of that shortly. COUNTRIES FROM WHICH RESPONSES WERE RECEIVED AFRICA Burundi Sierra Leone Kenya South Africa Malawi Swaiziland ASIA Bangladesh Korea Brunei Pakistan Indonesia Singapore India Vietnam Japan CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA Argentina Nicaragua Bolivia Uruguay Chile Venezuela EASTERN EUROPE Albania Latvia Belarus Poland Bulgaria Romania Croatia Russia Czech Republic MIDDLE EAST Bahrain Israel Lebanon NORTH AMERICA Canada Mexico United States PACIFIC Australia New Zealand Solomon Islands WESTERN EUROPE Austria Malta Denmark Netherlands England and Wales Scotland Germany Spain Greece Sweden Italy Switzerland Luxembourg Responses that suggested a growing interest in such topics as development, environment, intercultural understanding, peace, and human rights seemed to fit into broad regional patterns. In the Eastern European countries, for example, there were expressions of concern for the creation of democratic institutions and the inclusion of ideas about democracy in the curriculum. Further, in those countries formerly dominated by the Soviet Union, there was interest in promoting indigenous language and culture as well as in promoting intercultural understanding—-e.g., relations between the majority ethnic group and minorities, including Russians remaining in the country. In general, responses from Africa all suggested that environmental issues had become important to schooling, as well as health related issues (particularly AIDS), and population issues. The one exception was South Africa where, understandably, race was seen as an issue along with the empowerment of those who formerly were disenfranchised under apartheid. Attitudes toward intercultural issues were acknowledged as important from respondents in all countries of Western Europe. A growth of interest in being European as opposed to being a citizen of any single nation was also reported, although some European respondents warned of a growth in Eurocentrism as a hindrance to the development of a broader global perspective. Programs sponsored by the European Union that promote the “European Dimension” have had a significant impact upon the curricula of many schools throughout Western Europe and, to a lesser degree, in Eastern Europe. Other regional patterns were present in the data and those also were described in some depth in Chapter Three. The chapter then moved on to a normative discussion having to do with the selection and organization of the content of global education. Those scholars and practitioners concerned with such questions tended to fall into three separate groups. The largest group felt that global education was best carried out by creating specific courses or units within which students were taught about global issues. Such courses were usually located within the social sciences (e.g., world history, world geography, world cultures), but sometimes were found in the sciences, or the arts and humanities (e.g., world music, literature, foreign language). A few advocates of this approach also called for at least a modest amount of interdisciplinary planning and teaching. A somewhat smaller number of global education curriculum scholars suggested that it was not a matter of creating special studies; but, rather, that it was important to infuse global content and a global perspective into most, if not all, existing subjects. Those who favored this approach also often were supporters of interdisciplinary planning and teaching. A third group, smaller still, believed that curriculum should be totally reorganized. Those who fell into this category called for the use of broad themes in the selection and organization of content. By its very nature, the broad themes approach called for interdisciplinary planning and teaching.