Teaching for Global Citizenship
I just arrived home from a workshop for university faculty and students on the question “what is global citizenship?” This question is being asked in answer to UBC’s trek2010 visioning statement which claims that UBC is committed to preparing exceptional global citizens. To this end they have put together the Road to Global Citizenship: An Educator’s Toolbook, which is available as a free download. The toolbook is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to examine their practice and their assumptions about teaching and global citizenship. The book was edited by Yael Harlap and created by the UBC Global Citizenship Community of Practice through the Center for Teaching and Academic growth. Unicef supported the printing costs through their Education for Development Program, sponsored in part by the Canadian International Development Agency.
I’ve been reading through the book, slowly working my way through the exercises and generally am finding it useful, though in some ways to me it is like preaching to the converted. That isn’t to say that I don’t still have a lot to learn, but I am already at least already committed to the task of becoming a better educator for global citizenship. The activities and exercises matter to me but I’m curious how the unconverted would find them. Would they find them tedious, meaningless, less thought provoking, inconsequential? Could this book really make a difference to how someone treats their students, plans their activities in a class, considers what content to include, what to ignore, or how to assess?
Yael commented at the workshop that one of her colleagues, after reviewing the book, noted that it really just professes good teaching. True to some degree, I would say and thus all the more reason for faculty to get on board. Interestingly and perhaps to my disappointment there were more students at the workshop than faculty which led me to wonder what strategies exist for students to negotiate appropriate knowledge, dispositions, communication and thinking skills into what and how they are being taught? What support is in place to facilitate students being able to insist that their curriculum is indeed placing them on the road to global citizenship?
