Tips for teachers at various levels of competency for incorporating global learning into the classrooms. Courtesy of UNC World View OVERBook Fellows.

Novice

Another thing to incorporate into your instruction? Add it to the list. You know that global education is important, but feel like you don’t know where to begin.

Tip: Start small.

If you identify as a novice in incorporating global topics into your content area, start small. Begin by identifying a global theme or issue that you find important or meaningful. Consider what you want students to learn about that theme or issue and craft one or two essential questions around that. Finally, consider how you could incorporate this theme into just one or two of your unit lessons. How can you pair your unit curriculum with a global issue to create a meaningful global learning experience for students?

Example: Middle school math

Global Theme:

Water scarcity

Essential Questions:

Why is water scarcity an issue around the world, specifically in places like South Sudan? How can the issue of water scarcity be addressed?

Curricular Standard:

Math Common Core State Standard 7.G.B.: Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, volume, and surface area of two- and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, cubes, and right prisms.

Global Lesson:

Teacher provides students with information about the water crisis in South Sudan and the solutions proposed to alleviate the problem, such as the construction of rainwater catchment structures. Students then work to determine the volume of water that may be held inside of a catchment, practicing the skills associated with the Common Core standard.

Intermediate

You have experienced success incorporating global topics into your content area, but are looking for ways to enhance your lessons and units to provide more authentic practice with global competencies and skills.

Tip: Take your lessons to the next level to create global-infused units.

If you identify as intermediate in your global integration capability, consider how you can enhance your existing lessons to create full units that include a comprehensive study of a particular global theme or issue. Determine the culminating task students will undertake to demonstrate their understanding of the global theme or competency and design multiple educational experiences that will lead students to that understanding.

Example: Middle school language arts

Global Theme:

Human rights

Essential Questions:

What are the rights that should be guaranteed to all humans in our world? In what ways does literature reflect reality?

Curricular Standards:

RL.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL.7.2: Determine the theme of a text and analyze its development over the course of a text; provide an objective summary of the text.

RL.7.3: Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact

Global Unit:

Choose an anchor literary text that connects with the global theme of human rights. Consider works of historical fiction that provide students with information about events in world history in which major violations of human rights occurred. Options include texts such as Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, or A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.

Read the text and practice various literacy skills associated with state standards. Rather than reading the literary text in isolation, ground your discussion for the unit in human rights by prompting students to read and interpret the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Push students to apply their knowledge of the rights outlined in the declaration to identify the violations of human rights in the piece of literature. Consider having students connect to their present-day lives through the exploration of informational and other texts that grapple with issues pertaining to human rights.

Pro

You consistently incorporate global topics into your content area and you have strong unit plans that reflect global themes and issues.

Tip: Think globally, act locally.

If you identify as a pro in your global integration capability, you have mastered intricate balance of fusing your content area standards with global learning themes. Take your instruction to the next level by prompting students to take action on the global knowledge and skills they have acquired. Encourage your students to “think globally, act locally.” How can your students act on a local level to influence issues that are global in scale?

Example: High school science

Global Theme:

Pollution

Essential Questions:

How do humans change the environments which they inhabit? What is the generational human impact on the environment locally? Globally?

Curricular Standard:

Bio.2.2: Understand the impact of human activities on the environment (one generation affects the next).

Global Unit:

Explore a global pollution issue, such as the disposal of non-recyclable materials on continents around the globe. Explore what ground pollution looks like in several different countries to develop a strong understanding on the topic. Once students have explored the content, invite them to think about the impact of ground pollution on a local level.

Instruct students to conduct research on where their non-recyclable waste goes and the impact it has on their local environment. Then, task students to design a plan for your school to reduce the amount of waste or non-recyclable materials exported from your cafeteria. Have students present their plans to school leaders or local district officials to give students the opportunity to pitch their idea to an authentic audience.

UNC World View Resources For Global Lessons and study guides.

Still looking for global integration inspiration or ideas? Check out the resources crafted by the UNC World View OVERBook Fellows. The fellows crafted global lessons and study guides surrounding global themes and issues, including: climate change, consumption, human rights, nature’s rights, pollution, and water. All study guides incorporate the use of images from the Population Institute’s OVERbook. Materials span content areas and grade levels, ranging from kindergarten to the postsecondary level.