Global Education [microform] : State of the Art. Research Summary Report / Lynda Carl Falkenstein

While American schools have long offered some kind of international education, the approach to this topic has been characterized by a Western orientation, a nationalistic perspective that conveys the superiority of the United States, an omission of information about other cultures, a message that all people are the same, and an elitist focus. Such approaches to international education are no longer consistent with the needs of an interdependent world. Global education, the effort to foster a world view and a realization of the interconnectedness of people, is a necessity, given the context of changes in social, economic, and political structure of the world. This approach emphasizes interdependence, diversity, empathy, multiple loyalties, cooperation, human rights, participation, change, and conflict management. Some significant models have been developed for teaching global education, among them the curricula developed by Minnesota, Florida, Chicago, and the Longview Foundation project. Much yet needs to happen. Massive implementation of global education goals needs to occur in both formal and informal curriculum. Altering the "societal curriculum" and/or responding to it in constructive ways offers the most significant challenge of all. (LP)