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Engaging and Empowering Students:
A Framework for Teaching about Global Issues and Solutions
by Gilda K. Wheeler and Kim Rakow Bernier
Some causes of poverty are controlled by the person involved, but most are not. These include the person's surroundings, the family they were born into, the amount of education they have, the way they are treated by others, and their luck. Also, poverty and hunger are definitely connected to population growth, because when there are more people, there has to be more resources. The problem is that the Earth may not have enough resources or the resources it does have may be inaccessible to those who need them. -- 8th grade student, after participating in a Facing the Future global issues activity
Six billion people and growing, increasing pressures on our planet's environmental systems, widening gap between the rich and poor, and international conflicts – these are some of the critical issues facing youth today. How can we ask young people to cope with these and other challenging problems without presenting them with the tools necessary to deal with complex issues? This article provides a framework, content, and specific classroom examples for teaching students about global issues and empowering them to make a difference both locally and globally. The program and framework is used in the classroom and beyond – in after school programs and in the community through service learning projects
Creating a Framework
Facing the Future: People and the Planet, a non-profit global issues curriculum and professional development organization, has developed a framework for teaching about global issues and solutions. The framework is grounded in four components:1.) Building critical thinking skills;
2.) Using one issue as a lens to address complex and interconnected systems;
3.) Providing interactive classroom activities; and
4.) Empowering students through service learning and personal action.Following is a description of how to implement this framework as well as some inspiring classroom examples.
Building Critical Thinking Skills
Critical thinking involves evaluating issues, identifying biases, understanding multiple perspectives, synthesizing information, and problem solving. The study of global issues offers a real-world context within which students can engage in critical thinking activities.Defining what makes an issue "global" rather than "local" is a valuable first step in thinking critically about global issues. Global issues can be defined as those that are:
- Trans-boundary and hold the potential for far-reaching impacts on large numbers of people regardless of political or geographic lines
- Persistent or long acting, both in their impact and the timeframe necessary to resolve them, and
- Interconnected to each other, such that a change in one will likely impact another
In Facing the Future's work with teachers we have seen that it is highly effective to begin a global studies unit with a lesson aimed at helping students define global issues. Through Facing the Future's activity "From Issue to Opportunity" students define, categorize, and prioritize global issues. Students begin by brainstorming and discussing criteria of what constitutes a global issue and then identifying issues that match their criteria. Students decide on categories into which similar issues can be grouped and prioritize the list of issues through a "voting" process. The activity highlights the interconnections of issues and helps students identify those issues that offer the greatest opportunity, or leverage, for solving problems. The process of identifying issues, grouping, prioritizing, and identifying leverage points are all important critical thinking skills.
Using One Issue as a Lens to Address Complex and Interconnected Systems
Students can feel over-whelmed by the sheer number and extent of issues facing them; the act of focusing on one or two issues can alleviate this sense of discouragement. The activity described in the previous section can serve to focus an entire unit of study on the global issue(s) that most interest the students. One advantage of this process is that it empowers students to identify the issue that most holds their interest.For example, after completing "From Issue to Opportunity," a Seattle area high school social studies class concluded that the issue of poverty was the most intriguing to them. Through reading, research, discussion, and hands-on classroom activities, the students began to see how the issues and solutions of poverty are connected to other global issues.
Interactive Classroom Activity: Teaching About the Cycle of Poverty
Since the scope and extent of global poverty can be difficult for students to grasp, using an interactive simulation can help students begin to understand and experience some of the complexities and interconnections of poverty.Facing the Future's activity "Shop Till You Drop" simulates (in the global shopping mall of human needs) the choices that people with relatively little access to income are forced to make as opposed to people with relatively high access. Students are given different amounts of "money" to spend on basic necessities such as food, water, and fuel. Those that can afford it can then purchase "non-essentials" such as health, education, and luxury items.
By simulating the options that people in different economic groups have, students are able to experience and understand some of the factors contributing to chronic poverty and ways that people can improve their economic situation. Students then assess the social and environmental impacts of their purchasing choices, identify personal decisions they can make to reduce some of those impacts, and identify actions that can be taken collectively to help break the cycle of poverty.
Service Learning and Personal Action: The Link between Global Issues and Action
We have seen that after students learn about critical global issues facing us today, they are eager to do something to make a difference. Based on a survey Facing the Future conducted in 2004, over 30% of students felt more hopeful about their ability to positively affect global challenges after participating in global issues curriculum activities and service learning projects. Survey results and anecdotal evidence from students and teachers confirm that educating and empowering students about global issues and sustainability has a positive impact on their learning and their view of themselves in the world.There are global solutions and personal actions that educators can help students identify and upon which they can act. Some of these solutions and actions can be found on Facing the Future's website at www.creativeaction.org.
In doing community-based projects that relate to their academic studies, students learn that they can make a difference. After studying global issues through the lens of poverty, a high school social studies class researched micro-granting programs. They then decided to do a service learning project supporting the work of Trickle-Up Program. Trickle Up is a non-profit organization that provides basic business training and seed capital in the form of grants (usually US$100) to impoverished people in the developing world .
This framework for integrating global issues education in the classroom is an effective way to help students understand and act upon critical issues facing them today. If we want to move students from knowledge to understanding to action, we must provide them with opportunities along the way to think critically, actively participate in their learning, and identify and act on solutions.
As Program Director, Gilda Wheeler, M.Ed oversees Facing the Future's education and training programs while continuing to develop curriculum and conduct educator workshops. Gilda has led over 50 teacher workshops around the country and developed hands-on experiential curriculum pieces on global issues. Before joining Facing the Future, Gilda spent four years teaching language arts at an independent high school in California. Prior to her teaching career, Gilda worked for 10 years as an Environmental and Land Use Planner with the County of Santa Barbara, California. She holds an undergraduate degree in Geography, and a Masters in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as California and Washington State Teaching Certificates. You may contact Gilda at gilda@facingthefuture.org
Kim Bernier, MPA is Outreach Director of Facing the Future. She develops and conducts teacher workshops and oversees our educator, community and service learning partner outreach program. She has presented over 35 educator workshops at in-services and teacher conferences including the National Service Learning Conference, National Science Teachers Association, National Council of the Social Studies, and Environmental Education Association of Washington.
Before joining Facing the Future, Kim worked as a coordinator for the Peace Corps Master's International Program at the Evans School of Public Affairs. She has conducted evaluation and program design and development work for an educational technology initiative called Global Classmates. Kim taught math and science in a community high school in the Solomon Islands as a Peace Corps Volunteer. She also worked at an independent school in Southern California. Kim's career in global education began with her work at an educational exchange nonprofit that administers the Fulbright Program for Latin American grantees. Kim holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations and Spanish from Tufts University and a Master in Public Administration and Certificate in International Development Policy and Management from the University of Washington. You may contact Kim at kim@facingthefuture.org
To learn more about educators who are using Facing the Future global issues materials and how you can take advantage of these resources please visit www.facingthefuture.org.
©June 2004 New Horizons for Learning
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