GLOBAL COMPETENCY EDUCATOR TOOLKIT
INCORPORATING GLOBAL COMPETENCY INTO MY SCIENCE CLASSROOM
Throughout the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms fall course, we were responsible for creating a series of teaching artifacts. These could be classroom activities, lessons, ideas for field trips, professional learning opportunities, or really anything else designed to incorporate global learning into our school communities.
One of my favorite and most-engaging projects that I designed through the course was an argumentative essay for students to complete during our late-spring Environmental Chemistry unit (see below). In this essay, students had to find evidence in support or against the expansion of nuclear energy in the United States. While students worked individually or with a partner to write the essay, they then had to collaborate as a whole class on a debate using the evidence and analysis that they compiled in their essays. By grounding this essay in quite a bit of background about air pollution in Oakland, the greenhouse gas effect, fundamentals of climate change, and research into renewable energy sources, students were able to holistically understand the need for energy sources like nuclear power and they were invested in understanding how these models work internationally. As the Philippines is seeking to expand their nuclear energy infrastructure, I plan to use this as a case study for my students to examine prior to their application of nuclear energy in the United States this coming school year. Overall, students were very engaged in this topic, impressing me with their sensemaking, collaboration, and curiosity.
A second artifact that I hope to expand in light of the International Field Experience to the Philippines is the summative project that I developed for this unit (see below). Given students' engagement with climate change and environmental justice, students selected a topic that we had briefly covered to reteach in the form of a video, podcast, or presentation that incorporated integral scientific information and community impacts. In my next iteration of the project, I hope to embed both place-based learning and international research of a country of students' choosing to draw connections between the climate impacts that we face at home and those affecting communities globally. Through this, I hope that students can further develop their curiosity, empathy, and care for global communities and broaden their self-perception as agents of change.
By implementing student choice into both the Nuclear Power Essay and the Summative Projects, I found that students were engaged in the design and creation of both assessments. While I hope to expand the projects to increase their focus on global education, I was impressed by my students' existing desire to connect their research to countries outside of the United States. I found that implementing sufficient classroom time on developing background knowledge was important, whether through teaching time, documentaries, classroom activities, or collaboration with my Fulbright partner teacher in Missoula, Montana on our Inter-School Activity. Through this unit my partner teacher, Hannah, and I were able to introduce foundations of climate change along with facilitate discussion around these topics between our classes of chemistry students (see slide deck below). This learning was supported by the use of MIT's Climate Portal (linked below), which provides a number of excellent resources for teaching environmental science and sustainability. By creating connections between students in Oakland and Missoula, students were able to learn about the impacts of climate change in a different part of the country, building the curiosity and collaboration skills necessary to be a global learner. Overall, students were extremely excited to have a "pen pal" and were eager to carry their communication past the scope of the project. I hope to be able to continue this type of partnership with teachers and students at Philippine Science High School.
Digital Teaching Tools
Below I have highlighted five digital teaching tools/platforms that I found helpful throughout my Fulbright experience.
The first is the Pulitzer Center, an organization that offers discussions with journalists in your classroom. While this would be useful for all content areas, it feels particularly useful for science as we battle rampant online misinformation and a decrease in scientific literacy. This is a thought-provoking and engaging way to build critical consciousness in your classroom.
Secondly, I am hoping to embed some of Project Zero's Thinking Routines into my classroom this year. Offering a multitude of tools across subjects and categories, educators can explore free scaffolds to support student critical thinking. This builds students' consciousness and enables them to become more cognitively aware, helping them to communicate the different thinking moves that they may be making to solve a problem.
One of my favorite tools to use is Our World in Data. Gathering information from an array of sources, this has been useful to develop graphical analysis and presentation skills in my students. In exploring different topics, students build a curiosity and engagement with real-life scientific issues, giving them an opportunity to learn about a trend of their choosing and share it with their classmates.
UNICEF has a similar collection of resources on current statistics that allow students to explore various topics, countries, or issues of interest to them. I particularly like the "Climate and Environment" collection, as this collects data on climate issues and relates them specifically to children and teens.
Lastly, I would highly recommend perusing the U.S. National Science Foundation collection of Earth and Environment Educational Resources. Through this, I have found podcasts (like the anchor podcast above), videos, and activities to use in my classroom to build sensemaking. Furthermore, each of these resources embeds choice into my classroom, increasing engagement and critical thinking in my students.
LOCAL COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Below, I have included three Bay Area organizations working on the intersection of local and global education. All three of these are extracurricular programs that students can participate in outside of school, though Oakland High hosts on-campus sessions for each program. In addition to opportunities during the school year, each of them offers immersive cultural experiences that students can participate in during breaks. Given the nature of the programs, participation is typically free or scholarship-based for low-income students, making them accessible to a diverse array of scholars. These organizations can be contacted directly to create partnerships with your school.
The first program that I have included is an international outdoor learning program called Outward Bound. I have had students participate in trips in the Sierra Nevadas and in Colorado, providing them with place-based learning opportunities that offer insight into the benefits of exploring local landscapes, indigenous natural practices, and endemic species and their stewardship. In addition to building a respect for the natural world, students build global competency skills like collaboration, curiosity, empathy, and care for others. Through scholarship-based experiences like these, students can participate in experiences that they wouldn't otherwise be able to access and build integral outdoor skills that they can carry into their futures.
A second program that a number of my students participate in is buildOn. By engaging in service-based learning, students can build a deeper understanding of the issues that their communities face and begin to critically consider possible solutions. buildOn helps students strengthen their self-perception as changemakers in their communities through increased social awareness and collaboration with a vast network of local partners. In addition, many of my students have participated in scholarship-based international trips to help build schools and exchange cultural practices. This organization facilitates local and global learning and paves the way for students to become international leaders.
Lastly, another notable Bay Area non-profit is Summer Search. Through mentorship, after school programs, international summer travel, and structured college and career support, Summer Search offers valuable tools for low-income students to access local and global immersive education. Typically beginning with outdoor experiences, Summer Search grounds their program in place-based and community learning through partnership with local programs and wonderful mentors. Students continue their journey with Summer Search through high school and college, offering international experiences for cultural exchange, professional learning, and collaborative opportunities. All of my students have spoken highly of their experiences with Summer Search and have had memorable outdoor and travel experiences that have shaped them into the global learners that they are today.
We are fortunate in the Bay Area to have access to so many non-profit and extracurricular program for our students. Through these three programs, I have witnessed my students holistically grow into the collaborative, curious, and empathetic young people that they are today.
