Educators should ask themselves 12 questions to further teaching and learning in the 21st century, writes David Penberg, an urban and international educational leader. Among the questions Penberg poses in this blog post: how to encourage students to think globally, how to leverage the power of the Internet and other technology, how to tap into all learners, and how to assure that schools and educational programs give students opportunities to connect with the world around them.
The global village and the flattened world are no longer the arcane ideas or metaphors of academics and scholars. Nor is global warming an invention of ideologists with a political agenda. They are as real as the security guards in our schools and the poverty that stalks too many children in the world. As our climate changes and borders and boundaries of all kinds blur, I offer the following questions to help educators ground the coming year with a renewed sense of resolve and hopefulness. And above all, the conviction that we are all global citizens of a crowded planet requiring all the goodness, understanding and stewardship we can generate.
1. How do we grow global mindedness in every child and youth in this country? Why does it matter?
2. How do we leverage the immense power and potential of the Internet, digital tools and social media to enable learners and teachers to connect in purposeful ways across borders and boundaries to contribute to making the world a safer, saner and more just place?
3. How can we support and encourage all teachers to internationalize their classrooms, their curricula and every aspect of their practices?
4. Why is education the linchpin for democratic living?
5. When is the last time you paused to reconsider a bias, prejudice or an assumption you have held without wondering about its efficacy or origin or accuracy?
Recent Comments