By DUANE M. ELLING Vivien Stewart, senior advisor for education at the New York-based
Asia Society, believes “our shrinking global community” reinforces the need to rethink the country’s approach to cross-cultural learning -– particularly for K-12 students.
“Today’s youth will soon lead a globalized, 21st century world and the U.S. has to be sure that its young people are ready to connect, collaborate and compete with their peers across the globe. Their success -- or failure -- will enormously impact the future of this country.”
The nation’s afterschool programs can play a significant role in developing such skills, according to
Expanding Horizons: Building Global Literacy in Afterschool Programs, a resource “toolkit” produced by the
Partnership for Global Learning, a program of the Asia Society.
A student maps human migrations as part of an afterschool project. Photo: Allison Lucas/World Savvy |
The partnership is a national network of educators working together to promote programs and policies that can help students excel in the new global economic and civic environment.
Mott has made a total of
$350,000 in grants to the Asia Society since 2007, including support for the development of the Expanding Horizons toolkit, which features a guidebook and a
DVD.
Alexis Menten, an assistant director for education at the Asia Society, helped direct the toolkit’s development. She notes that global literacy is more than understanding other world regions, customs and ways of life. It’s also having the skills to communicate and collaborate in cross-cultural environments and share a respect and concern for other cultures, people and places.
“Many kids across the U.S., especially those from low-income communities, have never traveled beyond their own neighborhoods,” Menten said. “Expanding Horizons is about helping afterschool programs bring the world to these young people, sparking their global curiosity and providing them with the tools to function successfully in a global community.”
The toolkit, developed with input from over 100 educators and leaders in the afterschool field, offers a number of practical, creative and low-cost strategies for building such components into afterschool. Among them: invite young people and guest speakers from diverse backgrounds to share their families’ stories and traditions; use online resources to connect young people around the world in fun and engaging projects, and partner with international programs from local colleges and universities.
It also includes lessons learned from existing global literacy curriculums, which have uncovered ways to bring an international dimension to such core learning areas as math and science, as well as language and fine arts.
One example is Brighten Up, an afterschool arts and education program in Westwego, Louisiana. Designed for children ages 5 to 12 years, Brighten Up takes students on “virtual vacations” to different world regions, where they explore the music and theater of a selected country; prepare and eat culturally representative foods; learn and use words in the country’s native language, and play the region’s sports.
The flexibility to adopt new subject matter and present authentic learning opportunities makes afterschool programs an ideal place to help young people develop a deeper understanding, awareness and appreciation of the world around them, notes Menten.
“Creating the toolkit taught us that there is no single right way to build an effective global literacy curriculum,” she said. “Rather, afterschool programs can adapt the models that work best for local kids. Expanding Horizons offers a number of possible pathways to explore and test.”
And with the global stage becoming increasingly accessible, connected and complex, now is the time for the U.S. to act on those opportunities, say both Menten and Stewart.
“Technology makes it possible for people around the world to exchange ideas, experiences and other information almost instantaneously,” Menten said. “The resulting sense of connectedness crosses boundaries of geography, culture, politics and language, and is becoming engrained in almost every aspect of human experience.”
“Children have to see themselves as citizens of the world,” agreed Stewart. “Just about every issue that, as adults, they will have to understand and act on will have an international dimension. Without those skill sets, they -- and the country -- could be left behind.”