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You
are here: The Merge of Global Awareness and Classroom Culture:
Helping Future Teachers Meet New Challenges
Camille A. Allen
George P. Antone
Salve Regina University
In January of 2000, the Carnegie Corporation of New York brought together representatives from associations, organization, agencies, and foundations interested in strengthening American understanding of the world through education. They concluded that:
American students' knowledge of the world remains limited and that baseline data, assessment and dissemination of new approaches, and sustained commitment to implementation required for institutionalizing in schools do not yet exist." (Barker, 2000, p.2)
In order to rectify this situation the Carnegie Report asserted: "Start with the teachers; globally aware, internationally knowledgeable teachers are the key to all of these strategic opportunities." (p.11)
Proponents of international education in the elementary and secondary schools in the United States seem to agree with the Carnegie Report conclusions. They believe that "building students' world knowledge would enrich the curriculum, engage students, improve school performance, and help children deal with the increasingly diverse communities in which they live…(but) their success will require that they understand how culture, religion, politics, and history influence the world's social and economic well-being." (Manzo, April 20, 2005, p.5)
There are additional complicating factors. Catherine W. Sherer, an educator and the president of Simon and Barklee Inc., a Langley, Washington-based publisher of books with international themes related to content in core subjects noted that "The challenges are exacerbated, though, by the tendency of schools in this country to focus exclusively on the U.S. perspective, as well as by high-stakes standardized testing in core subjects, a lack of instructional materials, and limited classroom time"…she added, "…the reality is that there are 6 billion people in the world, and 95 percent of them don't live here [U.S.] …Our students have to have an awareness and acknowledgment of the world beyond the confines of [their own] city, state, and country." (Manzo, March 2, 2005 p. 5)
Not only do teachers have to face and surmount all these challenges, they have to do so in classes where the student population is ever changing and diverse. In 2002, Villegas and Lucas, in their introduction to Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers, commented on the realities of today's classrooms. More than one in three students in the public elementary and secondary schools is of an ethnic or racial minority (NCES, 2000). By 2035 this group will constitute a numerical majority of the K-12 student population (US Department of Commerce, 1996). More than one in seven children speaks a language other than English at home and over one-third of them are of limited English proficiency (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 1999). Due to immigration trends, the number of language minority students will also rise.
Although a variety of challenges face today's future teachers, preparing them to teach an increasingly diverse student population to meet the demands of an interdependent world requires a commitment on the part of universities and departments of education. How can we help?
Engaging Future Teachers in Study Abroad
We at the Office of International Programs of Salve Regina University believe that giving our future teachers the opportunity to study abroad during their undergraduate education is one way to prepare them to meet the challenges described above. We have approached this challenge in two ways. First, we have developed some strategies that inform students early in their academic careers about their study abroad opportunities, and, second, we have developed an International Studies major that includes a study abroad semester.Informing Students of International Study Opportunities.
The key to having education majors study abroad AND graduate within four years is early exposure to opportunities and planning during the freshman year. Before students even enter our university, they visit for Open House during the fall of their high school senior year. At that time, we have a study abroad table where we describe our different programs, our advising system, and our financial aid packages that make study abroad as viable as studying on campus for a semester.During the spring semester, when these high school students have been accepted, they often return to visit the campus once more to make their final decision. At this time we also make study abroad information available to them and describe again the importance of study abroad and the ease with which it can be accomplished IF planned during the freshman year. We encourage them to be sure to attend our Study Abroad Fair in September. We ask each person who attends the Fair to complete an Initial Inquiry Form. That contact information helps us reach them again during the year for small group information sessions or for individual meetings. These programs have been very successful in engaging both students and their parents in considering the options of study abroad.
Very early in September each year, our university holds an event called Celebrate Learning. It is a morning convocation attended by all faculty and students. During the afternoon the university holds workshops, one of which is ours where we discuss Study Abroad. In each of the last two years, approximately 100 students have attended our workshops.
When we meet with students individually, we complete a Four-Year Plan. Visually laying out each course education majors will take for each semester, enables them to see that there is room for a semester abroad. Since our university requires students to be at least juniors before they study abroad, we usually recommend that they go abroad the first semester of their junior year. When they return they can then devote their studies to their methods courses and then their student teaching. In the process of setting this plan, education majors who are not already double majors with special education, see how it might be possible for them to double major or minor in another content area.
What are Our Learning Goals?
One of the four Core Goals at Salve Regina is for our students to become responsible citizens of the world. There appears to be no consensus about the competencies students need to become world citizens partially because of the interdisciplinary nature of the competencies. Each discipline debates the issue from its perspective, but Olsen, Green, and Hill (2005) list the following range of competencies discussed to date:Knowledge
• Knowledge of world geography, conditions, issues and events.
• Awareness of the complexity and interdependency of world events and issues.
• Understanding of historical forces that have shaped the current world system.
• Knowledge of one's own culture and history.
• Knowledge of effective communication, including knowledge of a foreign language, intercultural communication concepts, and international business etiquette.
• Understanding of the diversity found in the work in terms of values, beliefs, ideas, and world views.
Attitudes
• Openness to learning and a positive orientation to new opportunities, ideas, and ways of thinking.
• Tolerance for ambiguity and unfamiliarity.
• Sensitivity and respect for personal and cultural differences.
• Empathy or the ability to take multiple perspectives.
• Self-awareness and self-esteem about one's own identity and culture.
Skills
• Technical skills to enhance the ability of students to learn about the world (i.e. research skills).
• Critical and comparative thinking skills, including the ability to think creatively and integrate knowledge, rather than uncritical acceptance of knowledge.
• Communication skills, including the ability to use another language effectively and interact with people from other cultures.
• Coping and resiliency skills in unfamiliar and challenging situations.Current and Future Programs
An International Studies Major. The Office of International Programs is currently proposing an International Studies Major that we feel would provide our education majors with an interdisciplinary approach to studying the world. It would also require them to spend a semester abroad and write a thesis at the end of their university experience.The BA degree in International Studies would offer capable, motivated students the opportunity to design an interdisciplinary major tailored to their unique academic and creative interests. The key rationale for this approach is the observation that the issues and problems confronting our society and world are not defined by disciplinary boundaries; understanding comes through the integration of knowledge. The major would require students to 1) choose an area of concentration, 2) integrate knowledge from a minimum of three disciplines, and 3) include at least one semester abroad.
We believe that the International Studies major, including a semester abroad, offered as a second major to education students, will give our aspiring teachers a greater understanding of the world and our place in it. It will also confirm many of the competencies as specified by Olsen (2005).
Short-term Study Abroad Options. In addition to helping our education majors study abroad for a semester or helping them to double major in International Studies, we believe that any time spent studying abroad will open their eyes to the differences in culture. To get them exposed to the value of study abroad, or provide for those who cannot spend an entire semester away from Salve, we also offer many three-credit, short-term programs that range from eight days during inter session or spring break to six-credit programs that run in May/ June at the end of each academic year. Our efforts to date have proven successful in seeing a good percentage of our education majors study abroad.
How Successful Have We Been?
One of the goals of our university's strategic plan is for each of our students to have an international experience. We see our attempts to bring education majors a more well-rounded international perspective by meeting them early and often to plan their four years, offering them the chance to major in International Studies, and inviting them to participate in one or more of our short-term programs as ways to help them develop as responsible world citizens.The national percentage of university students from all disciplines who study abroad is about 1 percent. According to the Open Doors 2005 report (Open Doors, 2005), 191,321 students studied abroad during 2003/2004. Of the total, 7,918 or 4.1% were education majors. At Salve Regina, we graduate between 80 and 100 education students per year. During the 2005-2006 academic year, we have 80 education majors completing their student teaching. Of those 80, 19 (23.76%) participated in a semester-long, or short-term study abroad experience. From the summer of 2002 through the summer of 2006 we have had 81 education students who have studied abroad and 24 (29.6%) of those participated in an internship in an international school.
We agree with Villegas and Lucas (2002) who have concluded that:
The task of preparing culturally responsive teachers is complex and demanding. It involves supporting future teachers in developing a set of fundamental orientations, including an awareness that their world views are apt to be dramatically different from the world views of children who are racially, culturally, socially, and linguistically different from themselves, an appreciation of and respect for cultural diversity; and a willingness to teach in ways that challenge existing inequalities and promote social justice." (Villegas and Lucas, 2002)
References and Resources
Barker, C. M. (2000)."Education for international understanding and global competence." Report of a Meeting Convened by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, January 21, 2000.
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. (1999). America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Institute of International Education. Open Doors. (November, 2005) New York: Institute of International Education.
Lewis, T. L. and R. A. Niesenbaum. (June 3, 2005) "The Benefits of Short-Term Study Abroad." Chronicle of Higher Education.
National Center for Educational Statistics. (2000.) The Condition of Education 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Manzo, K. K. (April 20, 2005)" International Studies: a Hard Sell in the US." edweek.org Vol. 24, Issue 32, Pages 1-16.
Manzo, K. K. (March 2, 2005) "Group Promotes Global Studies in Curriculum." edweek.org Vol. 24, Issue 25, page 5.
Olson, C. L., Green, M. F., and B. A. Hill, (November, 2005) Building a Strategic Framework for Comprehensive Internationalization. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (1996.) Current Population Reports: Population Projections by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1995 to 2050. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce.
Villegas, M. and T. Lucas. (2002.) Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
Camille Allen is a professor in the Education Department at Salve Regina University and serves as the Faculty Coordinator in the Office of International Programs. She is the author of two books on teaching of reading and language arts and has presented papers and workshops internationally, nationally, and locally.
Education Department
Angelus Hall
Salve Regina University
100 Ochre Point Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
allenc@salve.edu
George Antone was a professor of History at Appalachian State University and currently serves as the Director of the Office of International Programs and Academic Grants at Salve Regina University. He has published and presented papers in the field of business history.
Office of International Programs
McAuley Hall
Salve Regina University
100 Ochre Point Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
antoneg@salve.edu
©April 2006 New Horizons for Learning
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