Making Global Connections
There are many simple ways to make a global connections. Starting small by incorporating one of the Sustainable Development Goals into curriculum you are already teaching is one of the easiest ways to begin. By incorporating these goals, teachers can help students begin to think outside of their own perspectives. A more advanced teacher may feel comfortable designing a full blow PBL weaving many of the Sustainable Development Goals into the prescribed curriculum and following through with global collaboration, service learning and cross curricular connections. Below, you will find resources that can be easily tailored to your level of comfort in making global connections.
Sustainable Development GoalsThe Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a list of global goals agreed upon by 193 world leaders at a 2015 United Nations Summit. These goals focus on three main priorities: ending extreme poverty, fighting injustice and inequality, and fixing climate change. Because these goals affect life all over the world, they are easily able to be included into all types of typical school content and curriculum.
Start by picking just one goal that already connects to content you are teaching. Consider how your content may already make natural global connections. How can you make these connections more intentional? How might you be able to facilitate students considering multiple perspectives within these goals? |
The World's Largest LessonContinuing with the Sustainable Development Goals, there is also The World's Largest Lesson. This website hosts a collection of PBLs that incorporate one or more of the SDGs. These are invaluable for teachers who are ready to take the plunge into incorporating the SDGs into their curriculum.
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In my own classroom, I have used many of the lesson plans centered around Sustainable Development Goal number two, zero hunger. World's Largest Lesson includes several lessons about this goal. The full unit provides plans that are cross curricular, incorporate many of the goals and result in some action oriented products. Consider using these with a team of teachers to make connections deeper for students.
There are also many resources for teachers including ways to introduce the goals, additional teaching resources, free posters and printables and even professional development opportunities.
There are also many resources for teachers including ways to introduce the goals, additional teaching resources, free posters and printables and even professional development opportunities.
PBL World - The Buck Institute for EducationAnother fantastic resource for making deeper connections is the Buck Institute for Education and PBL World. On this site you can search for ideas to create PBLs and inspire deeper thought for your students. Many of these PBLs are already connected to the SDGs or can be easily adapted to incorporate global competency skills.
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iEarnOn the iEarn site, teachers can also browse or search for more PBLs that include a global perspective. Some of these projects even include exchange programs in which students can send and receive items from students across the globe. Many of these projects focus align with the SDGs. Finally there is also a PD component for teachers looking to learn more about how to teach globally.
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The Globe ProgramThis website allows students to become citizen scientists and participate in world wide data collection.
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“The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program is an international science and education program that provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to participate in data collection and the scientific process, and contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the Earth system and global environment.”
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“The Global Lives Project is a video library of life experience, designed to cultivate empathy across cultures. We curate an ever-expanding collection of films that faithfully capture 24 continuous hours in the lives of individuals from around the world. We explore the diversity of human experience through the medium of video, and encourage discussion, reflection, and inquiry about the wide variety of cultures, ethnicities, languages, and religions on this planet.”
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Global Lives ProjectThis website uses video as a medium to communicate experiences from around the world.
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“This blog is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the grantee’s own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.”