Theoretical Framework:
Teaching for Global Competence and Cosmopolitanism
Teaching for Global Competence
“Today’s students are entering a world increasingly characterized by economic, political, cultural, environmental, and technological interconnectedness. More and more, their lives will be shaped by the dynamics of a global economy, technological innovation, environmental change, and changing demographics. At the same time, our students, their families and communities are having a profound effect on people and places across the planet. …When less than 5 percent of the world’s people consume 35 percent of the world’s resources, there is a compelling need for young Americans to understand how they both affect and are affected by changes in the world’s use of land, water, and other finite resources, the development of new products, transfer of capital, and the daily lives of people across the planet. Today’s students need to see the world as one interrelated system…” (Merryfield 2008).
“Globally competent individuals are aware, curious, and interested in learning about the world and how it works. They can use the big ideas, tools, methods, and languages that are central to any discipline (mathematics, literature, history, science, and the arts) to engage the pressing issues of our time. They deploy and develop this expertise as they investigate such issues, recognizing multiple perspectives, communicating their views effectively, and taking action to improve conditions” (Mansilla and Jackson 2011, for Asia Society and the Council of Chief State School Officers).
“The traditional approach of filling the minds with facts and information that students are simply asked to memorize and reproduce does nothing to promote global awareness... Instead, students need experience in critical thinking, in taking part in cross-cultural experiences, and to make decisions and substantiate them… to think for themselves and to be able to stand their ground. …We need to instill in our students a curiosity of the world and a desire to work together in making our world a better place to live in. We need to create a place where all races and cultures of the world learn to respect each other's ways of looking at the world, where all perspectives are respected and encouraged. [Our goal], therefore, is to create a place where all students can practice and live as responsible citizens in a pluralistic society” (Bernouf 2004).
“It is one thing to have some knowledge of world conditions. …It is another thing to comprehend and accept the consequences of the basic human capacity for creating unique cultures – with the resultant profound differences in outlook and practice manifested among societies. …[I]n the context of mass populations and weapons of massive destructiveness, group solidarity and the associated tendency to deny the full humanness of other peoples pose serious threats to the species. …This is the primary reason for cross-cultural awareness” (Hanvey 1976).
Cosmopolitanism
“I am urging that we should learn about people in other places, take an interest in their civilizations, their arguments, their errors, their achievements, not because it will bring us to agreement, but because it will help us get used to one another. …[T]here’s a great deal of everyday life that is utterly, humanly familiar. …[H]uman societies have ended up having many deep things in common. Among them are practices like music, poetry, dance, marriage, funerals; values resembling courtesy, hospitality, sexual modesty, generosity, reciprocity, the resolution of social conflict; concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, parent and child, past, present, and future. …It’s a shared human nature…that allows us to make sense of one another” (Appiah 2006).
“[W]e have incredible obligations. …[Y]ou should do the most you can to minimize the amount of badness in the world. …People have needs – health, food, shelter, education – that must be met if they are to lead decent lives. There are certain options that they ought to have: to seek sexual satisfaction with consenting partners; to have children if they wish to; to move from place to place; to express and share ideas; to help manage their societies; to exercise their imaginations. (These are options. People should also be free not to exercise them.) And there are certain obstacles to a good life that ought not to be imposed upon them: needless pain, unwarranted contempt, the mutilation of their bodies. To recognize that everybody is entitled, where possible, to have their basic needs met, to exercise certain human capabilities, and to be protected from certain harms, is not yet to say how all these things are to be assured. But if you accept that these basic needs ought to be met, what obligations have you incurred? …For if there are people without their basic entitlements – and there are billions of them – we know that, collectively, we are not meeting our obligations. …[T]he obligations we have are not monstrous or unreasonable. They do not require us to abandon our own lives. They entail…clearheadedness, not heroism” (Appiah 2006).
“The golden rule of cosmopolitanism: Homo sum: humani nil a me aleinum puto. ‘I am human: nothing human is alien to me” (Appiah 2006).
“Today’s students are entering a world increasingly characterized by economic, political, cultural, environmental, and technological interconnectedness. More and more, their lives will be shaped by the dynamics of a global economy, technological innovation, environmental change, and changing demographics. At the same time, our students, their families and communities are having a profound effect on people and places across the planet. …When less than 5 percent of the world’s people consume 35 percent of the world’s resources, there is a compelling need for young Americans to understand how they both affect and are affected by changes in the world’s use of land, water, and other finite resources, the development of new products, transfer of capital, and the daily lives of people across the planet. Today’s students need to see the world as one interrelated system…” (Merryfield 2008).
“Globally competent individuals are aware, curious, and interested in learning about the world and how it works. They can use the big ideas, tools, methods, and languages that are central to any discipline (mathematics, literature, history, science, and the arts) to engage the pressing issues of our time. They deploy and develop this expertise as they investigate such issues, recognizing multiple perspectives, communicating their views effectively, and taking action to improve conditions” (Mansilla and Jackson 2011, for Asia Society and the Council of Chief State School Officers).
“The traditional approach of filling the minds with facts and information that students are simply asked to memorize and reproduce does nothing to promote global awareness... Instead, students need experience in critical thinking, in taking part in cross-cultural experiences, and to make decisions and substantiate them… to think for themselves and to be able to stand their ground. …We need to instill in our students a curiosity of the world and a desire to work together in making our world a better place to live in. We need to create a place where all races and cultures of the world learn to respect each other's ways of looking at the world, where all perspectives are respected and encouraged. [Our goal], therefore, is to create a place where all students can practice and live as responsible citizens in a pluralistic society” (Bernouf 2004).
“It is one thing to have some knowledge of world conditions. …It is another thing to comprehend and accept the consequences of the basic human capacity for creating unique cultures – with the resultant profound differences in outlook and practice manifested among societies. …[I]n the context of mass populations and weapons of massive destructiveness, group solidarity and the associated tendency to deny the full humanness of other peoples pose serious threats to the species. …This is the primary reason for cross-cultural awareness” (Hanvey 1976).
Cosmopolitanism
“I am urging that we should learn about people in other places, take an interest in their civilizations, their arguments, their errors, their achievements, not because it will bring us to agreement, but because it will help us get used to one another. …[T]here’s a great deal of everyday life that is utterly, humanly familiar. …[H]uman societies have ended up having many deep things in common. Among them are practices like music, poetry, dance, marriage, funerals; values resembling courtesy, hospitality, sexual modesty, generosity, reciprocity, the resolution of social conflict; concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, parent and child, past, present, and future. …It’s a shared human nature…that allows us to make sense of one another” (Appiah 2006).
“[W]e have incredible obligations. …[Y]ou should do the most you can to minimize the amount of badness in the world. …People have needs – health, food, shelter, education – that must be met if they are to lead decent lives. There are certain options that they ought to have: to seek sexual satisfaction with consenting partners; to have children if they wish to; to move from place to place; to express and share ideas; to help manage their societies; to exercise their imaginations. (These are options. People should also be free not to exercise them.) And there are certain obstacles to a good life that ought not to be imposed upon them: needless pain, unwarranted contempt, the mutilation of their bodies. To recognize that everybody is entitled, where possible, to have their basic needs met, to exercise certain human capabilities, and to be protected from certain harms, is not yet to say how all these things are to be assured. But if you accept that these basic needs ought to be met, what obligations have you incurred? …For if there are people without their basic entitlements – and there are billions of them – we know that, collectively, we are not meeting our obligations. …[T]he obligations we have are not monstrous or unreasonable. They do not require us to abandon our own lives. They entail…clearheadedness, not heroism” (Appiah 2006).
“The golden rule of cosmopolitanism: Homo sum: humani nil a me aleinum puto. ‘I am human: nothing human is alien to me” (Appiah 2006).
Pivotal Texts, Resources, and Coursework
Few things have served as greater frustrations for me
in my first years in the classroom as the range of inept definitions,
understandings, and approaches to promoting global awareness through
content-area instruction which I have encountered. Before entering into a study of scholarly
literature on the subject, through international travel and conversations with
university professors, I had developed my own perspectives on how global
connections should be infused into my teaching.
When these approaches were criticized as “too time consuming” and “not
in my curriculum standards” by colleagues and supervisors, I turned to Hanvey
(1976), Burnouf (2004), and Merryfield (2008) for help. Hanvey’s work to define the scope of what is
meant by a “global perspective,” as well as his emphasis on attainability and
implementation in school contexts, empowered me to know the scholarly language
related to the study of global learning and its dimensions. Burnouf’s synthesis of other literature
helped me place Hanvey’s five dimensions along side of the work of other
scholars in the field, and allowed me to recognize that the study of “global
learning” was still journeying to define itself. Merryfield, frequently cited as the leading
scholar in the study of global education, assisted me in consolidating the many
definitions for “global learning” and understanding some of the key differences
in approaches supported by the literature.
This research survey was formalized in a review of scholarly literature that I completed for a course under Dr. John Lee, “Theory and Research in Global Learning” (ECI 524). My review resulted in a claim that global education scholars held the responsibility for clarifying and synthesizing an approachable framework for global learning that would empower school leaders to implement meaningful, authentic programs for students and teachers. While blame for the pattern of trivial global connections that has, until now, been found in many U.S. classrooms lies with classroom teachers and curriculum leaders, little forward movement can occur until greater consensus is achieved among researchers.
This research survey was formalized in a review of scholarly literature that I completed for a course under Dr. John Lee, “Theory and Research in Global Learning” (ECI 524). My review resulted in a claim that global education scholars held the responsibility for clarifying and synthesizing an approachable framework for global learning that would empower school leaders to implement meaningful, authentic programs for students and teachers. While blame for the pattern of trivial global connections that has, until now, been found in many U.S. classrooms lies with classroom teachers and curriculum leaders, little forward movement can occur until greater consensus is achieved among researchers.
Literature Review:
Finding the path to meaningful global learning in American schools
Finding the path to meaningful global learning in American schools
As I continued to study global learning theories and approaches, the writing of Mansilla and Jackson (2011) for the Asia Society’s partnership for global learning with the national Council of Chief State School Officers served as the most concrete resource I would use in understanding how global dynamics and educational research would translate into authentic, rigorous, global learning for my High School science students. The framework listed here, while not explicitly cited in other scholarly writings at the time, provides an excellent, in-depth rationale and clearly defined approach for developing students’ global competence: “Global Competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance” (p. viii). This also became the most reliable tool for validating my integration of global content to colleagues and administrators. In fact, the approachability of the “Global Competence Matrix” (Mansilla and Jackson 2011, p. 102) and the “Global Competence Matrix for Science” (p. 106) have served as tools for me to encourage many of the same teachers who were previously opposed to begin seeking resources and including meaningful global connections in their own classrooms.
Kwame Appiah’s (2006) book, Cosmopolitanism, may well have been the most complex writing I had ever encountered when it was assigned to me as a part of the same Global Learning graduate course. After poring over Appiah’s writing, annotating, decoding, and re-reading many sections, I was challenged over a period of several weeks to examine my own international understanding and experiences, and to question my inklings toward relativism and positivism (both of which suffer extensive critiques in Appiah’s writing). The text’s presentation of global citizenship as a complex balance of valuing diversity among peoples, places, and experiences, and ensuring equitable access for all of these to basic human rights, shifted my understanding of what the goal of global learning must be. It would also, eventually, served as a bridge between my passion for social justice education and my belief in the importance of global learning.
While I read this text prior to much of my study of social equity within the United States, Cosmopolitanism took on new meaning as I integrated it into my newer understanding of racial and economic disparities within American society. I found myself frequently referencing back to the book while reading and discussing the goals of Multicultural Education in later graduate courses. For example, Lisa Delpit’s (2012) discussion of “cultural legacy” aligns closely with Appiah’s explanation of the interconnectedness of all human cultural achievement: “My people – human beings – made the Great Wall of China, the Chrysler Building, the Sistine Chapel: these things were made by creatures like me, through the exercise of skill and imagination” (p.135). Appiah’s writing on the shared humanity of all peoples extends further, however, than cultural monuments. As he invites us to consider our responsibilities – our obligations – to the “strangers” of the world, he also reminds us that there are strangers even here at home, among us who do not have access to necessary basic resources (p. 159). If, as a cosmopolitan, nothing human is alien to me (p. 111), what are the responsibilities I hold to act on behalf of those “strangers,” and what obligations do I have to empower my students to do the same? Just as Appiah challenges me to connect with my “strange” neighbors and to seek justice for all peoples in our global society, he also reminds me to first act here in my own local context. I wonder: What are the implications of implementing social justice education and culturally responsive pedagogy in a classroom that is also founded upon developing globally competent, cosmopolitan world citizens?
Kwame Appiah’s (2006) book, Cosmopolitanism, may well have been the most complex writing I had ever encountered when it was assigned to me as a part of the same Global Learning graduate course. After poring over Appiah’s writing, annotating, decoding, and re-reading many sections, I was challenged over a period of several weeks to examine my own international understanding and experiences, and to question my inklings toward relativism and positivism (both of which suffer extensive critiques in Appiah’s writing). The text’s presentation of global citizenship as a complex balance of valuing diversity among peoples, places, and experiences, and ensuring equitable access for all of these to basic human rights, shifted my understanding of what the goal of global learning must be. It would also, eventually, served as a bridge between my passion for social justice education and my belief in the importance of global learning.
While I read this text prior to much of my study of social equity within the United States, Cosmopolitanism took on new meaning as I integrated it into my newer understanding of racial and economic disparities within American society. I found myself frequently referencing back to the book while reading and discussing the goals of Multicultural Education in later graduate courses. For example, Lisa Delpit’s (2012) discussion of “cultural legacy” aligns closely with Appiah’s explanation of the interconnectedness of all human cultural achievement: “My people – human beings – made the Great Wall of China, the Chrysler Building, the Sistine Chapel: these things were made by creatures like me, through the exercise of skill and imagination” (p.135). Appiah’s writing on the shared humanity of all peoples extends further, however, than cultural monuments. As he invites us to consider our responsibilities – our obligations – to the “strangers” of the world, he also reminds us that there are strangers even here at home, among us who do not have access to necessary basic resources (p. 159). If, as a cosmopolitan, nothing human is alien to me (p. 111), what are the responsibilities I hold to act on behalf of those “strangers,” and what obligations do I have to empower my students to do the same? Just as Appiah challenges me to connect with my “strange” neighbors and to seek justice for all peoples in our global society, he also reminds me to first act here in my own local context. I wonder: What are the implications of implementing social justice education and culturally responsive pedagogy in a classroom that is also founded upon developing globally competent, cosmopolitan world citizens?
Theory to Practice: "Global Connections" in Action
The chemistry of water goes
global: Building an international context for science learning
In an effort to provide meaningful context for my Chemistry class’ learning of water-based solutions and the interactions of dissolved particles, I worked with a team of Chemistry teachers to develop a theme-based unit that would extend our student’s “state of the planet” awareness (Hanvey 1976). The unit was built around using water pollution in fresh water rivers to demonstrate the science content as well its local and global consequences for environmental sustainability and human health.
In this unit, students were challenged to put their learning into action, exploring water filtration, sources and biochemical impacts of specific water pollutants, and the correlation between biological impact and pollutant concentration through lab activities, guided-inquiry, and collaborative problem solving. Along with the explicit science content, students were led to examine local and international issues of water quality and access. As our local fresh water system is threatened by both urban pollution sources as well as rural, agricultural pollution sources, students were able to study a range of fresh water contamination issues within their local context. Students expanded their understanding of water quality and access as an issue of local, national, and international concern while working with print and digital media resources to learn about a broader series of water quality threats. Students studied international water crises including drought, water scarcity, and municipal conflict in the western United States, ongoing international legal battles preventing the cleanup of oil spills in the Ecuadorian rain forest, and the spilling of radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean as a result of Japan’s Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster. Students were then assigned into collaborative groups where they were challenged with an inquiry-based, digital storytelling project (Ohler 2008). Here, groups of students researched, planned, created and edited their own video products to teach their classmates about the water quality issues facing an important international river system. Studying rivers such as Northeast Africa’s Nile river basin, Brazil’s Amazon river basin, and Russia’s Volga river basin, students were expected to fully and reliably answer two key questions about their assigned world river system: Where is the river located and why is it important? and What are the major water quality problems facing the river and its region? Students accomplished this while also integrating their understanding of how dissolved chemical pollutants impact the quality and biological sustainability of the rivers’ water.
By applying the Chemistry content to an important local and global issue, allowing students to actively engage in the content, and building a context in which students recognize their own connection to the issue, and extending that to include connections among the entire global community, science content became meaningful for students. In addition to the deep science learning that occurred in this theme-based global unit, students were also provided an opportunity to see themselves as a contributing member of a global society with pressing issues to solve. In the future, it is the hope of the Chemistry teaching team to incorporate a community service component to this unit as well.
In an effort to provide meaningful context for my Chemistry class’ learning of water-based solutions and the interactions of dissolved particles, I worked with a team of Chemistry teachers to develop a theme-based unit that would extend our student’s “state of the planet” awareness (Hanvey 1976). The unit was built around using water pollution in fresh water rivers to demonstrate the science content as well its local and global consequences for environmental sustainability and human health.
In this unit, students were challenged to put their learning into action, exploring water filtration, sources and biochemical impacts of specific water pollutants, and the correlation between biological impact and pollutant concentration through lab activities, guided-inquiry, and collaborative problem solving. Along with the explicit science content, students were led to examine local and international issues of water quality and access. As our local fresh water system is threatened by both urban pollution sources as well as rural, agricultural pollution sources, students were able to study a range of fresh water contamination issues within their local context. Students expanded their understanding of water quality and access as an issue of local, national, and international concern while working with print and digital media resources to learn about a broader series of water quality threats. Students studied international water crises including drought, water scarcity, and municipal conflict in the western United States, ongoing international legal battles preventing the cleanup of oil spills in the Ecuadorian rain forest, and the spilling of radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean as a result of Japan’s Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster. Students were then assigned into collaborative groups where they were challenged with an inquiry-based, digital storytelling project (Ohler 2008). Here, groups of students researched, planned, created and edited their own video products to teach their classmates about the water quality issues facing an important international river system. Studying rivers such as Northeast Africa’s Nile river basin, Brazil’s Amazon river basin, and Russia’s Volga river basin, students were expected to fully and reliably answer two key questions about their assigned world river system: Where is the river located and why is it important? and What are the major water quality problems facing the river and its region? Students accomplished this while also integrating their understanding of how dissolved chemical pollutants impact the quality and biological sustainability of the rivers’ water.
By applying the Chemistry content to an important local and global issue, allowing students to actively engage in the content, and building a context in which students recognize their own connection to the issue, and extending that to include connections among the entire global community, science content became meaningful for students. In addition to the deep science learning that occurred in this theme-based global unit, students were also provided an opportunity to see themselves as a contributing member of a global society with pressing issues to solve. In the future, it is the hope of the Chemistry teaching team to incorporate a community service component to this unit as well.
Beyond the “5 Fs”: Challenging teachers and students to consider the complexities of their global connections
While always a high-profile, exciting event on our school’s campus, our annual International Festival has relied heavily on superficial representations of international cultures – their foods, flags, festivals, fashions, and famous people. When I joined the school’s International Festival leadership committee this year, I set the goal of expanding the festival’s reach, not only in terms of physical space and participation, but also in meaning and complexity. We began by selecting a theme that would challenge our teachers and students to think more deeply about their global community: Development, which we defined as “How the world changes and how we can in response to the world.” This emphasis on growth, change, and influence set a tone that pushed participants to expect more than just a sampling of great foods from around the world. Instead, four “big ideas” were promoted as the pillars of the theme – four issues that required immediate, inclusive, expansive consideration for our world’s development. These included environmental awareness, water quality, nutrition and health, and education.
Launching the first ever “International Festival Week!” (an attempt to broaden the visibility and presence of the festival’s theme in the school community), entire hallways of the school were transformed into representations of the four “big ideas of international development.” On our daily news show, students and teachers spoke about what the theme of “development” represented to them, how they saw themselves as a part of a response to one of the “big ideas,” and how these concepts had showed up in their various classes throughout the school year. Teachers were provided “lesson starters” in an effort to breathe the festival’s themes into each classroom throughout the week. Students were encouraged to dress up in daily color codes to promote awareness of one of the “big idea.” Students and teachers who were creating exhibits and performances for the festival also sought out ways to connect their work to our theme. By the day of the festival, our school was full of discussions and special events encouraging students to view themselves as an important part of “international development,” and the global community’s attempt to respond the our four “big ideas.”
This year’s festival was a HUGE success, full of diverse representations of the world and its development, across cultures, issues, and generations. But festivals and special events, while they may provide a great start, will not create a culture of global competence in our school on their own. It is my goal to continue working alongside of impassioned teachers and to recruit our school leaders to expand the work of the International Festival to infiltrate our classrooms, our teaching, and our learning, in ways that will help us investigate the world, recognize the diversity of perspectives that exist in our school community and in our global community, communicate the ideas that are important for becoming more globally aware, and take action to turn our ideas into results, impact, and change (Mansilla and Jackson 2011).
This year’s festival was a HUGE success, full of diverse representations of the world and its development, across cultures, issues, and generations. But festivals and special events, while they may provide a great start, will not create a culture of global competence in our school on their own. It is my goal to continue working alongside of impassioned teachers and to recruit our school leaders to expand the work of the International Festival to infiltrate our classrooms, our teaching, and our learning, in ways that will help us investigate the world, recognize the diversity of perspectives that exist in our school community and in our global community, communicate the ideas that are important for becoming more globally aware, and take action to turn our ideas into results, impact, and change (Mansilla and Jackson 2011).
Images: (from above) Students transformed the school hallways into reflections of the four "big ideas" of international development in Millbrook's first ever International Festival Week; (upper left) The "Chinatown" section at Millbrook's 2014 International Festival; (lower left) Students play "2 on 2" soccer at the 2014 FIFA World Cup fan zone, at Millbrook's 2014 International Festival; (center) Original artwork, by Millbrook student, Linda Ngyuen, 12th grade; (upper right) Sculpture students built a massive, 15-foot-tall "Tree of Knowledge," made from pages of text from famous literary works from around the world, at Millbrook's 2014 International Festival; (lower right) The Durham Capoeira Society performs for students at Millbrook's 2014 International Festival.