Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Rod Murray
It should not have come as a surprise to students taking course EDIM 507
need for a response to the realities of globalization. We quickly learned in the first
weeks what this ominous sounding phrase meant, and how it seemed to apply, not
ironically, to everything. Coined by Stromquist (2002), it is less than a decade old and
was used to refer to major changes in politics and culture that affected large numbers of
the most widespread institution that would show evidence of, and change due to, the
own, but the point of this course, and of, logically, this assignment, is that we respond to
what we have learned about the impacts of Globalization and how it changes ones
point of view of the world, ones own country and region, the political realities of the
local school district and province, and ultimately how one will change how they teach in
the classroom every day. Have we changed our approach to teaching over the last
Educational Philosophy
how we are to change or adapt our practices so that individual students achieve
success, and reach their potential. It became apparent that globalization may affect the
way we teach, and the medium through which we teach, but the reality is that nothing
A Challenge to Act 3
changes the best practice of teaching, that is, to know individual students and their
needs.
The teacher is the most important factor in what is learned, and the relationship
that the teacher develops with each of his or her students (and also their parents, I
might add) is the single most significant determining factor in a students achievement.
curiosity, engagement, excitement, interest, focus and ultimately, rich learning, is our
challenge.
globalization. First, we needed to grasp the basic understandings of its root causes, its
Pink (2005), we began to unravel some of the ideas around the rapid changes in our
understanding of the right-directed thinking and how the worlds new economy is being
bombarded by influences outside the control of America, where it has traditionally been
which, frankly, may frighten those who think that the balance sheet between the
ramifications. The threats of offshoring, if not taken seriously, may have a huge impact
on the jobs of educators if they do not adapt the education systems to be more
When challenged with the latest analysis of how culture flows one continent to
A Challenge to Act 4
another, the need for the understanding of other cultures becomes apparent, ultimately
a necessity. Some of the authors, I pointed out, were not fully cognizant of the
American culture that they claimed were significant, misidentifying Canadians, in the
examples they used, as Americans. The point I was able to make from this was that
wrongly assume that their culture is exported in one direction, and yet the evidence from
the readings suggests it is moving in many directions. The influence of Japan on other
cultures is an example where most would agree the flow is in the direction of America.
But there were numerous examples where the flow is unpredictable. As educators, we
need to improve our knowledge of world cultures, teach our students to be more
culturally aware and use this new cultural knowledge to our own advantage to be
creative. The goal is to make our students culturally aware also, so that they can seize
new opportunities in the global marketplace. They might also become, simply put,
globalized world, being able to understand the big picture and interpret elements of
various cultures are critical skills when solving world problems. Perhaps these two
chapters alone could be the most essential lessons of the course. Failure to grasp the
or energy supplies on a global scale will be crucial to our future and only those citizens
who understand the relationship between geopolitics, culture, natural resources and
economics will be able to address them. In other words, we need to educate a new
generation who can see the big picture and make big solutions a possibility. I argued in
A Challenge to Act 5
the last discussion forum that Gardners (2004) propositions for some commonalities
through out the worlds education systems should place the ability to tackle
most significant and could be an umbrella for the others in his list.
apply this new learning to our present or future instructional setting. How should we put
Implementation
Four examples of initiatives that I intend to continue, further develop and pursue
as a result of learning in this course need further explanation. The first, I will call LESF
(Les Enseignants Sans Frontires after the world famous medical NGO Les Mdecins
san Frontires). I vision it being a professional learning community within and beyond
team and perhaps, others. The second will be to return and to re-invigorate the projects
I began in the early 1990s using ePals to connect my students with others around the
globe. Responding to the inspiration of the Prime Minister of Canada who implored my
grade seven class to be citizens and great leaders of the Global Village, during a 1999
classroom visit organized by ePals. The Prime Minister was invited to keynote Canadas
1999. In ten years, Canadas social milieu is even more reflective of the Global Village,
where almost 50% of the population are recent immigrants to this country and about
A Challenge to Act 6
one-in-four send their children to school in the district where I work (Census of Canada,
2006). Thirdly, I plan to assist other teachers in creating authentic, rich, learning
partnerships one with another. This might be in the form of class-to-class virtual
exchange or, one of the best things a teacher can do in their own career- go on a
Teacher Exchange. And fourthly, to implement new Web 2.0 technologies in the day-to-
day learning of my students, as they increasingly transition to these media for their own
our online forums, it was often pointed out that there is a great divide between the
educational, geographical and cultural milieus of Canada and the United States. On the
other hand, there is equal, if not greater measure of differences between regions around
North America. Often places like Pennsylvania and Ontario, for example, seem to share
greater commonalities than, say, Ontario, and the western province of Saskatchewan.
Teachers across these jurisdictions should share these commonalities and seek to
have made in the course and assemble a learning community. The classmates from
explore, one with another, the requirements and interpretations of assignments and
ePals has had a long history in the business of connecting classrooms and
Canadian and an American from Ottawa, Ontario and the US, respectively. I had the
opportunity to introduce ePals to students in its second year, and have used it almost
continually since. The connections and collaboration with foreign students were
enriching experiences in those years, but usually amounted to no more than the sharing
of a few emails centred on the exchange of the basics of life in another country. Partner
classes included students from New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the US and France.
Each exchange produced unique learning opportunities. One of the most unique
partnerships that I created, similar to one that was discussed in our weekly discussion
forums, was an online Literature Circle. We read the same novel, and shared
discussions via email with Australian and UK students, and also live secure chat rooms.
The novel we used was "Remote Man" by Honey (2004). The unique feature of the
story was that the main characters were spread around the globe and they become
entwined in the mystery of an international wildlife smuggling ring. The environment and
family relationships become strong themes, as does the fickle nature of the Internet.
The story flows through action, conflict and series of email and chat room exchanges
between characters. Pushing the pre-Web 2.0 technologies, I invited the author to
become a member of our online chat room discussion group and her involvement
enriched the dialogue between students around the globe. Continuing this kind of
Literature Circle is a goal I have for my school in September, and the choice of book to
read may be one of the ones suggested in my Empathy lessons for this course.
Honey, a resident of Melbourne, Australia, when I lived there while on teacher exchange
in 2007.
Further to LESF, two geographically distant classmates (Vince Hill from Prince
Albert, Saskatchewan and myself) were able to meet face-to-face and explore other
opportunities. We met with the ASD Class (Autism Spectrum Disorder) teacher and his
teaching assistants at my former school, and recommended a dialogue with two Wilkes
classmates who teach students with similar needs, one in Pennsylvania and one on
British Columbia. Hopefully, all three teachers and their students will have opportunities
to connect and share learning as a result of this and we can realize what is meant by
LESF. I also must mention the opportunity for one of the most unique professional
personal experience exchanging to Melbourne, Australia was one of the most significant
personal experiences of my life. Not only did I live in a different country in a different
recommended for younger teachers, as the experience early on in your career gives
one time to use the knowledge gained and the experience to its fullest. It will also give
the impetus to try a second exchange later on, to a new and different country or the
same country in a different locale. I know I would have been planning a second
The idea of creating a Blog or Wiki is certainly not new, but brilliant examples of
how childrens writing can impact other parts of the world were explored in the course
that are too effective to ignore. Our examination of Tell the Raven was the impetus for
beginning a classroom Blog that is a showcase for student work. I recently attended a
conference called Learning Connections which was attended by the large school
districts in Ontario and we shared various tools for learning and collaborating. One
teacher demonstrated a class Blog that was not unlike Tell the Raven. It had,
mapped the location of visitors to the Blog. The result was that it was being read around
the globe and it further engaged the student writers. This simple idea has even greater
Conclusion
In conclusion, this course has been both demanding and challenging. The
demands on oneself to read, analyze and synthesize a broad topic and at the same
time find really practical ways to teach about, and respond to, the threatening idea of
the way that I use technology, the way I relate to my students, and the way I think about
the rest of the world. Through Web 2.0 technologies, the reinvigorated use of ePals, and
References
A Challenge to Act 10
Census of Canada 2006. Immigrants in Peel. Retrieved February 28, 2009 from
http://www.peelregion.ca/planning/pdc/data/quickfacts.htm#demographic
Gardner, H. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Pink, Daniel. (2005) A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New
York: Riverhead Books.