Learning about Global Education

Global education:

What is it?
Why here?
Why now?
Resource links

In the photo above, Mrs. Larance is seated at the teacher's desk of the one-room Second Street School in Waterford, Virginia. Second Street School was founded in 1866 as a school for African Americans, shortly after the U.S. Civil War and the end of slavery in Virginia. Today it is a living history exhibit restored to its 1880 appearance.

What is Global Education?

Put simply, global education means teaching and learning in a larger context. Instead of being bound by the walls of a one-room schoolhouse, teachers and students use the world as their classroom. To teach globally is to join an international community of educators seeking to prepare global citizens to collaborate and solve the problems of the future.

Students...

investigate and understand.

Walk Within - study one's own culture, background, biases, and individualities

Journey Outside - learn about diverse cultures and ways of life

empathize.

Take the perspective of others (cannot occur until you first Walk Within and Journey Outside)

respond.

Communicate (with diverse audiences; includes multilingualism)

Act to solve problems (in collaboration with others)

Definition adapted from World Savvy. www.worldsavvy.org.

Global education is NOT...

Something extra or separate
Only “food, flags, and festivals”
Limited to the wealthy
Only for the upper grades
Study abroad or travel
Out of our reach!

Why here?

Diverse community
Organizational culture of innovation and engagement
Educators as collaborative professionals

Manassas Park City Schools

Mission Statement

To cultivate and inspire our diverse school community to achieve academic excellence and make positive connections to the global society.

By the numbers:

miles between Manassas Park and Washington, D.C.

175

embassies in Washington, D.C.

- a truly global city

ranking of our metro area in diversity of population in the U.S.

- #1, 2, and 3 are all in California

percentage of Manassas Park residents born outside the United States

percent of Manassas Park households speak a language other than English

1 in 5

jobs in Virginia tied to international trade

4 billion

people estimated to use the Internet for communication and information

Statistics from Mapping the Nation, Asia Society, U.S. 2010 Census Report, & UNICEF

Virginia's Profile of a Graduate: The 5 C's

Critical thinking

Creative thinking

Collaboration

Communication

Citizenship

+ Career Readiness

Why now?

With the threat of global climate change, our young people are growing up in a time that requires urgent action. We need to help them study for "Earth's final exam."

“Why should we wait until we’re adults to be significant? We want to do something now.”

-- Isabel and Melati Wijsen, age 12

Meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

aka UN SDGs

aka The Global Goals

In 2015, the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The 192 member countries agreed to work together to meet targets in solving global issues by the year 2030. The goals all help support a sustainable future, with international collaboration to innovate solutions.