Sunday, March 9, 2014

PLACE-BASED EDUCATION AS PART OF GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT




To everyone who is engaged in developing global citizenship:

This time the focus is on local awareness and pedagogy of place because …
- the local, the national and the global aspects of citizenship complement each other;
- because first hand local experiences supplement all the second-hand experiences of students;
- because love of nature and appreciation of sustainability is closely connected to local experience.

Place-based Education is a movement in education that is growing and expanding:
“Place-based education promotes learning that is rooted in what is local—the unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature, and art of a particular place – that is, in students’ own place or immediate schoolyard, neighborhood, town or community. According to this pedagogy, grade school students often lose what place-based educators call their sense of placethrough focusing too quickly or exclusively on national or global issues. Place-based education is often hands-on, project-based, and always related to something in the real world.” Quote from (Wikipedia)

Introduction to Place-based Education (20 pages):
1. Place-based Learning
2. Civic Engagement and Place-based Learning
3. Getting started: launching a Place-based Learning & Civic Engagement Program in your Community (pdf)

Lecture by David Sobel on how Place-based education connects students to resources and learning in their local communities and landscapes. “Authentic environmental and social commitment emerges out of firsthand experiences with real places on a small, manageable scale over time” (video, 47 m.)


Examples of Place-based Education in practice:

Connect with nature through community-serving projects:
Student projects at Horace Mann Magnet Middle School, in Little Rock, Arkansas (video, 10 min.) (article on webpage)


Development of Ecoliteracy:
This model of education "takes the cultivation of emotional and social intelligence as its foundation and expands this foundation to integrate ecological intelligence. But rather than conceive of these as three separate types of intelligences, we recognize emotional, social, and ecological intelligence as essential dimensions of our universal human intelligence that simply expand outward in their focus: from self, to others, to all living systems. We also conceive of these intelligences in a dynamic relationship with each other: Cultivate one, and you help cultivate the others." (webpage) 

Resources from Center for Ecoliteracy: 
https://www.ecoliteracy.org/resources


Five vital practices that integrate emotional, social & ecological intelligence:
1. Developing Empathy for All Forms of Life 
2. Embracing Sustainability as a Community Practice 
3. Making the Invisible Visible 
4. Anticipating Unintended Consequences 
5. Understanding How Nature Sustains Life  (webpage)

The school garden movement:
- “The school in every garden”. A garden in every school....What a great idea.” (webpage)
-“Rethinking School Lunch. Cooking with California Food” (Excellent cook book & English learning text on dishes, flavor profiles, and fall, winter, spring & summer recipes)https://www.ecoliteracy.org/download/rethinking-school-lunch-guide
- ”What would happen if we declared that the garden was at the center of the school's life? (webpage)- "Why do you want to work here?" "Because your school looks like a prison yard, and I'd like to change that,"  (So much magic around the garden, webpage)

Outdoor schools: A comparative perspective is in use in this article in Danish on "Danish Outdoor School in an International perspective": "Dansk udeskole i et internationalt perspektiv"
The focus is on relations to nature, to each other and to yourself especially in Norwegian "uteskole", Swedish   "utenomhuspædagogik" and Danish "udeskole" compared to broader international trends.
(webpage) (translate in Google Translate)


Conclusion: "The concrete, the local, and the individual has a global dimension. This perception can help us to understand the link between our own nearby environment and worldwide developments, and, in doing so, to better comprehend globality. (Quote from page 44 in "Becoming a Global Citizen. Proceedings of The international Conference on Competencies of Global Citizens", (97 pages, pdf)


This text is "Teach GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP" network newsletter no. 10
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To read any of the previous newsletters simply visit the blog http://teachglobalcitizenship.blogspot.dk/

Yours
Egon Hedegaard,
Educational consultant, independent instructor and Developer of Education
Email: eghedegaard@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________
Everyone is welcome to receive these newsletters, just send me email addresses. Please, network by sending me questions, inspiring links and texts to use in future newsletters.



"The Third Planet from the Sun" - a global dimension case



                                                                         
                                                                                                                            

I learned of this true story at a Danish national conference in November 2013 on ‘Den Globale Dimension I Uddannelserne’ arranged by ‘Timbuktu Fonden’ in Copenhagen.
See Danish conference papers & ppt in English: ‘Mobilizing Support for Global Education: The case of Finland’ (website)

The two student councils at a suburban Copenhagen school were given $ 20,000 each from local authorities to use as they considered best. The council members representing younger students asked the teacher, who was leading the meetings, how the council representing older students had decided to use their money.

When told the older students would use their money for several small purposes, one student said, "we want something different, like one really big thing!" The younger council all agreed on this, and then someone said that it should be something, that would show "who we are!". When the teacher asked "so who are you?",  the students said "We are students from all over the world!". The brainstorming went on for some time, but finally everyone agreed that a globe would be a good idea, and it should be so big that you could climb on it!



The school contacted an architectural firm known for developing unique and safe playgrounds. The architects came up with a project called "The third Planet from the Sun": A huge globelike structure that seems to have crashed on the playground, leaving the continents laying around the globe.

Although the student council liked it, the cost exceeded the $ 20,000. To make up the differences, various activities were organized to gather more money, such as by selling "Shares" etc.

Finally, the children took over the new combined playground and landmark, which is illuminated at night.
As you can see at these photos the kids have made it their own, and play on it daily. This school landmark also demonstrates daily that we have more that unites us than what divides us here on the third planet from the sun.  





This text is "Teach GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP" network newsletter no. 9
______________________________________________________________________
To read any of the previous newsletters simply visit the blog

Yours
Egon Hedegaard,
Educational consultant, independent instructor and Developer of Education
Email: eghedegaard@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________

Everyone is welcome to receive these newsletters, just send me email addresses. Please, network by sending me questions, inspiring links and texts to use in future newsletters.

Use School-partnerships to enhance ...



                                                                         
... English Language Learning, IT-learning & competences of Intercultural Citizenship.

"School partnerships" are learning collaborations between (at least) 2 schools in different countries, varying from one teacher and a group of students at each school to whole schools working together.
While each school partner has its own formulation of aims, most are focused on developing what Michael Bayram calls "the intercultural speaker":
"The intercultural speaker is someone who is aware of cultural similarities and differences, and is able to act as mediator between two or more cultures, two or more sets of beliefs, values, or behaviors. ... Acting interculturally presupposes that one ... can decentre in order to help others to act together - or indeed to act oneself with others - in ways that overcome obstacles of difference."
P. 75 in Bayram (2008): "From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship"

Designs to take into use & ways to get started:

"Global School"
Strengths: Web based tool that makes it easy to search for international contacts and collaborations with teachers, and organize online contacts: "Initially the meetings will take place between two classes where each pupil will be assigned a partner from the other class. The themes discussed at the meetings are determined by discipline-specific goals set by the teacher and it is expected the pupils have worked with the theme in their respective classes before the interactive meeting." (Quote from "What? How? Why?": webpage)
Weaknesses: Is the openness and the shortness of contact a problem in the long run?

- Introduction text in Danish in "Folkeskolen" by the initiator Deia Vejby, a Danish teacher (supported by the Danish Ministry of Education) (webpage)

iEARN 
Strengths: Extensive site with thousands of users and 25 years of development experiences of international learning projects in over 30 languages with moderators.
Seems very well organized on all aspects from time periods to tools and contents. The participating classes are organized in learning circles where a number of classes work together using a variety of IT communication tools.
Weaknesses: Is it difficult to live up to all the prearranged learning circles design and timelines? ... Or are they just the supports you need?


- "New Teachers Guide for Online Collaboration and Global Projects", October, 17 2013
From the introduction: "This resource is designed to guide educators through the steps of planning and conducting an online, collaborative project with classrooms around the world. The guide includes nine modules to help teachers plan and develop a Chris Stevens Youth Network project through iEARN. Each module includes reflection activities to develop a project plan and additional resources to further explore a topic. The nine modules guide through:
- Developing a project idea and selecting a CSYN project;
- Making a project plan;
- Building relationships with educators and students through digital dialogue;
- Using technology tools in your global project;
- Engaging the community in your classroom project;
- Presenting, exhibiting, and assessing student learning ..."

"Global School Partnerships Denmark"
Strengths: The organization supports "... Danish schools in establishing successful partnerships by sharing best practice, offering teacher trainings and guidance as well as a limited number of travel grants for mutual teacher visits.
Weaknesses: Limited to Danish schools connecting with schools in other countries.

- "Help us connect all US schools with the world by 2016", inspiring stories: website

- A linking possibility offered by British Council: website

- eTwinning: An extensive EU-funded platform for linking up between schools, students and teachers within EU and neighboring European countries.
website in Danish     website in English - and 23 other languages

- "Exchange 2.0 - Technology-enabled International Interaction" (includes an extensive list of "Resources for Cross-cultural Interaction and Project Work"): website

- British guide: "Building Effective Partnerships": Every step described (33 pages, pdf)

- "Resources for Collaborative Project Work": As you begin to explore the possibilities for cross-cultural interaction, global classroom projects, and new learning opportunities, several organizations and facilitators of online spaces can assist in your efforts.” : website

- "Classroom Guide: Top Ten Tips for Teaching with New Media": website


Conclusions:
School partnerships open up a host of possibilities, but also challenges.

The British Council has issued a report on the British extensive practice of more than 2,000 school partnerships to date, involving more than 2 million students. Here is a quote from the description of results:
"... the learners ... have gained a new voice as citizens of a global village. ... learners have discovered that, despite the great diversity between their 2 cultures, they share common ground and responsibilities for sustaining and improving life on the planet." Quote: (page 3 in pdf)

But there is always a risk that learning becomes stereotypical, shallow, and touristic.
Furthermore, the challenges are also
- to keep an open and critical approach to questions of power
- to explore the similarities as well as the differences
- to learn together across the schools involved
(Report deepening on these 3 key issues in successful school linking (North-south)2): (7 pages, pdf)

Invitation: You are welcome to join me to develop international school partnerships, with the aim of presenting inspiring examples in future newsletters.



This text is "Teach GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP" network newsletter no. 8

______________________________________________________________________
To read any of the  previous newsletters simply visit the blog

Yours
Egon Hedegaard,
Independent instructor and Developer of Education
Email: eghedegaard@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________
Everyone is welcome to receive these newsletters, just send me email addresses. Please, network by sending me questions, inspiring links and texts to use in future newsletters.