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Curricula going Global within K-12

Despite what many may believe, a discussion of global education does not, and should not revolvearound what happens within a Social Studies classroom !rue, Social Studies does perhaps lend itselfmore easily to the tenants of global education, but the reality is that global education isinterdisciplinary Certainly schools must teach s"ills transferable from one #ob to another !hese s"ills

will form the new 21stcentury "nowledge base Students enter the real world shaded different hues ofgrey with plenty of blurred lines and overlap, not the neat world where math stays in math class andhistory stays in history class $any of the curricula designed for a global education try to facilitate aconte%tual understanding of this confusing overlap, in addition to s"ill-based "nowledge

&n some cases, non-profits or educational management companies design these international toutedcurricula &n others, individual schools wor" to create their own global education curriculum

The International Baccalaureate Curriculum

!he &nternational 'accalaureate (&') curriculum is a world renowned program that involves more than*,2+ schools, +2, students, teachers, parents, and personnel in 1.1 countries (&'/) 0 non-for-

profit, the &' mission is to

Develop inuiring, "nowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and morepeaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect !hese programmes encouragestudents across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand thatother people, with their differences, can also be right (&'/)

&n 2, &' launched a community theme pro#ect to engage members of its school community aroundthe globe &' uses the theme 3Sharing our 4umanity5 as a way for &' schools to share currentinitiatives and inspire future initiatives around the topics of global poverty, peace and conflict,education for all, global infectious diseases, the digital divide, and disasters and emergencies !hroughits community theme pro#ect website, &' lin"s students, teachers, and parents in a dialogue centeredon real-world problems that are challenging human"ind at both local and

international levels

'eyond such innovative pro#ects, the core of the &' curriculum is its three programsof study for students between ages * to 1+ Developed by the &nternational SchoolsCurriculum 6ro#ect, the rigorous &' curriculum delivers a global education, or as it7sreferred to by &' an 3international education,5 through the use of the followingcriteria

developing citi8ens of the world in relation to culture, language and learning to live together

fostering students7 recognition and development of universal human values

euipping students with the s"ills to learn and acuire "nowledge, individually orcollaboratively, and to apply these s"ills and "nowledge accordingly across a broad range ofareas

providing international content while responding to local reuirements and interests

encouraging diversity and fle%ibility in teaching methods

providing forms of assessment and international benchmar"ing

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Comparing the criteria of the &' curriculum with the goals of global education, it is of little wonder whymany loo" to &' as a yardstic" in creating global citi8ens and a 21st century wor"forceSchools increasingly loo" to incorporate the &' curriculum, or at least components of it, into their ownteachings

Expansion of IB Curriculum and IB Schools

9ith thousands of &' schools around the world, students studying the &' curriculum have access to atruly international educational networ" !his is demonstrated by schools located in even some of the

most remote areas of the world

!he &nternational School of :laanbataar (&S:) in $ongolia providesan e%ample of the geographic reach of &' ;ocated in one of theworld7s most isolated capital cities with a population of only, the number of schools teaching &' in the :K ise%pected to double in ne%t two years (?oss 2+)

Critics of International Baccalaureate

9hile many would agree that the &' program prepares its studentsto compete in a global economy, it is not without critics Some argue that the &' curriculum @originallycreated so that the children of diplomats could earn a degree that would be internationally recogni8ed@is only accessible to an elite group of students

/thers contend that programs such as the &' 3create potential dissonance by the importation ofinternational education programmes, which have been developed in particular areas of the world andare conseuently infused with culturally specific pedagogical e%pectations, to other regions of theworld where different economic, political and cultural conditions e%ist5 (Dra"e, 2.) 'arry Dra"e,head of the Secondary ;eadership !eam at the Chinese &nternational School in 4ong Kong, argues thatwhile the goals of the &' are commendable, it in fact disseminates a western model of education thatmay be the euivalent of educational imperialism on non-western societies

0t the same time, there are staunch 0merican critics of &' $any of these critics have ideologicalreasons for not supporting &' and would mostly identify themselves as members of the conservativeright of the political spectrum Some of their criticisms spea" out against &' endorsement of the:nited =ations, the :niversal Declaration of 4uman ?ights, and the promotion of global citi8enship

(Auist, 2)

Public School Initiative to provide a Global Education: John Stanford International School

!he Bohn Stanford &nternational School in Seattle, 9ashington is a public elementaryschool providing an innovative global curriculum that includes a dual-language immersion programounded in 2, this elementary school conducts its math and science classes in Spanish or Bapanese&n addition to language immersion, the school provides an e%emplary model of a global curriculum thatalso integrates the arts and technology (Auist)

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ideo from Edutopiacom on Bohn Stanford &nternational School from this websitehttpFFwwwedutopiaorgF#ohn-stanford-international-school-video

&n addition to language immersion, the school provides students the opportunity for internationale%perience through its partnership with a primary school in 6uerta allarta, $e%ico !hroughout theyear, students and parents raise money to help this school with supplies and other needed resources

/nce a year during their winter brea", students can travel to $e%ico for a wee"-long trip to volunteerand attend this school Students are not only completely immersed in the language, but also theculture and a global e%perience to broader their perspective

http://www.edutopia.org/john-stanford-international-school-videohttp://www.edutopia.org/john-stanford-international-school-video