I was watching this 30 minutes youtube clip and it really gave me a lot of thinking.
From the age of the 10 upwards, pupils learn about the politics and the world trade network. The teachers give the pupils a better awareness of international affairs in the elementary school.
Schools teach world languages alongside art, and 15-year-olds use role play to debate African economic policy.
Global citizenship in the United States, the term was used by U.S President Barack Obama in 2008.
In the increasingly interconnected world, the actions and decisions of ordinary citizen are more likely to affect others across the globe than ever before. This can be extremely beneficial but can also be extremely dangerous. Within the educational system, the concept of Global citizenship in education (GCE) is beginning to supersede movement such as multicultural education, peace education, human rights education and international education.
Many elements seen to spawn global citizenship, but one is noteworthy, the continuos tension that globalization has unleashed between local, national and global forces. While the world is being internationalized, at the same time its also being localized. The world shrinks as the local community
(village, town, city) takes on greater and greater importance.
Then I ask myself..
What if 9/11 never happened? Would USA change their way of looking at global education? What has to be done to truly make the world a better place?
Hi Andrea, you post an interesting question….
ReplyDeleteI know for a fact that many Americans do not have a passport because they haven’t wanted to or needed to or could afford to travel abroad. We do have to remember that Hawaii, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico etc. are a part of the USA so there are places to travel that are culturally different even though they are becoming more and more Americanized…
I moved to New York City in 2002 and lived there for 7 years. For the first 3 years I lived at a dorm, called International House, housing 700 students from around the world. We were all very aware of our differences and cherished the community we lived in. But NYC is probably the diverse city in all of the USA.
With time I am sure Americans would come to see the importance of looking outwards. The tragedy of 9/11 made Americans realize that they are vulnerable to the outside world. Schools saw the importance of teaching tolerance and viewing world news as a part of opening up to the global community. Let us hope this continues.