Global Education
What is global education and why is it important?
Global education is the practice of fostering the dispositions, knowledge, and skills needed to address issues of global significance in our classrooms. World Savvy's framework, shown below, highlights the values and skills needed for students to become globally competent. By developing these in our young people, they will have the ability to work within a diverse group later in their careers to build solutions to the problems we see in today's world.
Global education is relevant to all content areas, but in science it's abundantly necessary. The next generation must enter the workforce prepared to utilize a collaborative mindset with the global competencies necessary to create solutions to pressing modern issues like climate change, the impacts of artificial intelligence, and direct effects of our rising population.
As a teacher of a largely immigrant and multilingual student population, encouraging students to bring their own lived experiences to the classroom is key to building their self-perception as changemakers in science. With a rich understanding of the world due to their own backgrounds and the diverse communities in which they were raised, they are specifically positioned to approach the world with the empathy and cultural understanding necessary to address the scientific issues of today. As an educator, I aim to facilitate my students' belief in their ability to utilize both their lived experiences and their understanding of scientific phenomena to create solutions to modern issues.
Centering students in North Philadelphia, "The World Is As Big Or As Small As You Make It" heartwarmingly depicts how vital global education is for our students:
Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms
The Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program aims to embed global competency practices into schools across the United States by building an understanding of global education and facilitating participation in an exchange to collaborate with international educators. The Program is carried out over the course of one school year and the following summer.
During the fall semester, educators from across the country engage in a global education course and design curriculum to expand global learning in their classrooms. In the spring, participants begin to prepare for their International Field Experience by attending a three-day symposium where they meet their cohort, create their guiding questions, and discuss the Field Experience with Fulbright Alumni.
The program culminates in the creation of a Global Education Guide following the three week Field Experience. Ultimately, the program supports educators in building a global network and collecting resources aimed to increase global awareness in their schools so that students may be prepared to create solutions to global issues.
About
Sarah Pallito
For the past decade or so, I have worked as a teacher of Chemistry and AP Chemistry at Oakland High School in Oakland, California. In addition to teaching, I have been in leadership roles such as the Science Department Chair, Law and Social Justice Pathway Co-Director, and Activities Director along with acting as a voting member in both School Site Council and the school's Teacher Instructional Leadership Team. Each of these roles has given me unique insight into the global nature of the issues that the next generation is tasked with solving, particularly in STEM fields. As a participant of the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, I traveled to the Philippines to better understand international science teaching practices and bring my experience back to my school and students so that they can move forward in their college and career paths with the global competency skills integral to their success.
OAKLAND & GLOBAL EDUCATION
Global education is particularly important for students at Oakland High as they are uniquely positioned to excel in the modern global world. With a large immigrant population, over 20% of our students are English Learners, and the majority of our students are multilingual. Additionally, we have a significant newcomer population, specifically preparing our students to play a key role in designing solutions to global issues based on their international backgrounds and diverse experiences. Furthermore, with rich Latinx, Asian, and Black student populations, the school is a microcosm of the broader world that students will grow their careers in following graduation.
Our mission at Oakland High is for students to not only build an understanding of the foundational knowledge necessary to be successful, but to also develop the higher level thinking skills needed to analyze issues and make informed and scientifically-literate decisions in their futures. By working collaboratively throughout their high school experiences, we also hope that students will become empathetic and open-minded members of their communities.
In this guide, I hope to share my development as a global educator in the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program to act as a tool for teachers working in a similar context who may be seeking to expand their understanding of the global competencies they would like to bring into their classrooms. Additionally, I would like to reflect on my International Field Experience in the Philippines to further develop my teaching practice and facilitate student sensemaking so that students can leave my classroom with the global competency skills necessary for their future success. This guide provides tools, platforms, and readings for educators hoping to expand global education in their classrooms along with local organizations that can be leveraged at schools in the Bay Area. While my blog and International Field Experience reflections can be found under the "Travel" section, I would highly recommend exploring the "Learn" section for recommended resources, and the "Teach" section for lessons that I have developed for my own classroom.
This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and information presented are the participant's own and do not represent the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, the U.S. Department of State, IREX, or Oakland Unified School District.