August Newsletter

Links to Summer Articles

California Global Education Summit - read more here.

Global Teacher Education Fellows Program - read more here.

 

Washington State Leaders Share Perspectives on Global Education

By Breese McIlvaine Arenth

SEATTLE: On March 6th, 2017, I left my office at PATH, a global health nonprofit, walked through the midday hustle of Amazon workers from all over the world, to a lunch to discuss a topic I care deeply about: empowering America’s youth with the skills and dispositions they need to be strong global citizens.

Twelve leaders in education from Seattle and broader Washington—ranging from administrators to teachers to independent education organization leaders to superintendents—gathered around the table. This lunch is part of a series the Longview Foundation is hosting around the country to hear from those working in the classrooms, on the curricula, and on the policies that determine how America’s youth will be educated on what the greatest needs and opportunities are, and what role can Longview play.

The Longview Foundation was founded in 1966, a turbulent time amidst the Cold War and the Civil Rights movement. It seeks to build a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world by equipping American youth with a global perspective and understanding of political, social, and environmental issues worldwide—global competence. The importance of strengthening U.S. education to build global competence is more widely recognized than when Longview started its work in 1966, but much work is left to be done. In celebration of 50 years of grant-making, we are focusing 2017 on looking back, looking forward, and learning from the field where the greatest needs for our resources lie today.

Our colleagues in Seattle reflected:

  •  There has been a broader shift in attitudes on diversity in schools from a challenge to an asset.
  •  Schools are increasingly demanding resources to help teachers to both teach a diverse student body and also teach a student body about diverse perspectives.
  •  Messaging is a key challenge. Educators feel a sense of overwhelm with the demands on their skills and resources to effectively educate their students, and baulk at the idea of introducing “global competence” as a new course topic that should be added to their work load. Many don’t know where to look for resources to help them do so.
  •  In Seattle, there are many groups, networks, and organizations doing great work internationalizing local education, but their efforts tend to be siloed and there are great opportunities to increase impact through better coordination and collaboration.

… and recommended:

  • Target the “root cause” and invest in teacher preparation—the most direct, cost-effective way to influence a wide range of classrooms is to start with the teachers and how they are trained. By empowering our teachers with global competencies, they can, in turn, incorporate global perspectives and international understanding into how they approach their classrooms for the rest of their careers.
  • Incorporate global perspectives across the curriculum, rather than pursuing the addition of globally-specific coursework as electives. The cases students focus on to apply their learning in any topic can draw from global examples.
  •  Increase awareness about the importance, value, and existing resources to support building global competencies into the US education system.
  • Learn from the diverse perspectives of those Longview seeks to serve to inform our strategy, and don’t assume we know what would be best for them.

And, in line with that last point, thank you so much to those of you who joined us in Seattle!