Patel Center for Global Solutions
University of South Florida
Global Schools Project
Title
From Evolution to Revolution: How to Globalize Any Existing Lesson
Intended Grade Level
Grades 9 - 12
Infusion/Subject Area(s)
General Social Studies, World History, American History, Cultural Geography, Law, Court Procedures, Legal Systems, American Government, Comparative Government, Sociology.
National Curriculum Standards
* NCSS’s Ten Thematic Strands (http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands/)
Strand 1: Culture
Students will understand and use complex cultural concepts such as adaptation, assimilation, acculturation, diffusion and dissonance drawn from anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines to explain how culture and cultural systems function.
Strand 4: Individual Development and Identity
Students encounter multiple opportunities to examine contemporary patterns of human behavior, using methods from the behavioral sciences to apply concepts drawn from psychology, social psychology, sociology, and anthropology as they apply to individuals, societies, and cultures.
Strand 6: Power, Authority and Governance
Students will understand the various systems that have been developed over the centuries to allocate and employ power and authority in the governing process
Strand 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption
Students develop economic perspectives and deeper understanding of key economic concepts and processes through systematic study of a range of economic and sociopolitical systems, with particular emphasis on the examination of domestic and global economic policy options.
Strand 9: Global Connections
Students will think systematically about personal, national, and global decisions, interactions, and consequences, including addressing critical issues such as peace, human rights, trade, and global ecology.
Strand 10: Civic Ideals and Practices
Students will increasingly recognize the rights and responsibilities of citizens in identifying societal needs, setting directions for public policies, and working to support both individual dignity and the common good.
I. Instructional Objective
The student will become knowledgeable and conversant in and about perspective consciousness, “state of the planet” awareness, cross-cultural awareness, knowledge of global dynamics, and awareness of human choices. The student will expand on their public speaking skills and communication methods. The student will improve on their critical thinking skills.
II. Concept/Main Idea of Lesson
Students will develop a better understanding of their own culture and identity while developing an awareness of differences experienced by others. Students will develop an ability to perceive themselves through the eyes of others, creating a better understanding of multiple perceptions. Students will become familiar with global issues and the media forces that shape their perceptions of those issues. Students will develop a cautious and calculated approach toward decision making on a personal, communal, national, and global level, recognizing that many decisions have difficult to predict outcomes and side effects. Finally, students will develop a greater commitment to making the right choices when faced with options that require sacrifice or delayed gratification. This lesson is intended as a capstone activity towards the end of a course. Students will have an opportunity to provide feedback and shape curriculum.
III. Learning Activities Sequence
a. Set Induction/Lesson Initiating Behavior:
This bellwork activity is only effective if performed at the end of the term and the students have experienced a myriad of activities created by the instructor. Students will be asked to place themselves into “home groups” of five (5). The lesson will begin with a bellwork activity asking students to identify which materials or lessons experienced over the past term were lacking somehow, or overall not enjoyable. They will be asked to come up with one specific lesson per group and detail why the group did not feel it was adequately prepared or presented. The groups will then share their comments with the class, effectively dismantling several lessons. At this point students should refrain from recommending improvements to the identified lessons (this will be done at the end of the lesson).
b. Learning Activities:
Students will read from Robert Hanvey’s “An Attainable Global Perspective”. Students will teach each other the five dimensions of a global perspective. Students will create visual depictions through posters of the five dimensions. Students will take a test assessing their final comprehension and understanding of a global perspective. Students will integrate new knowledge into the existing curriculum in order to globalize the content.
c. Closure:
Students should be reminded at this point as to which lessons they earlier identified as lacking or somehow uninteresting. They will be directed to the five dimensions of a global perspective, and asked to integrate each of the dimensions into the existing curriculum in order to globalize it. This could be done in a casual environment, however each student should be responsible for his or her own recommendations. The instructor will then be responsible for reading through the recommendations and implementing those that both fit the curriculum and are attainable/reasonable.
III. Learning Activities Sequence
1. Bellwork is administered
2. Students, in their “home groups”, will be assigned the Introduction to Robert Hanvey’s “An Attainable Global Perspective” to read and describe in their own words. The entire class will then share their summaries of what is a “global perspective”.
3. The home groups will be asked to assign each of Hanvey’s five dimensions to each of the five students in the group.
4. The instructor will now move all of the students with like dimensions into “specialty groups”. Once moved, these specialty groups will read their assigned dimension, discuss it amongst themselves to verify they all understand the concept, and take notes to bring back to their home groups.
5. Students will return with their notes and understanding to their home groups, and share their understandings with each other, documenting what each of the dimensions represents in their own words.
6. Students will now construct a poster so to visibly depict each of the five dimensions. Words should be minimized. Images should be emphasized in order to portray the dimensions.
7. Students will present their posters to the class, explaining each of the dimensions and using their poster images to assist in their explanation.
8. Students will then take a test, assessing their complete understanding of a global perspective and each of the five dimensions. Additional (extra credit) questions might ask students to identify teachers throughout their academic histories who have successfully implemented each of the dimensions and how it was done.
V. Materials and Resources
Butcher Paper or Poster Paper
Color Markers
VI. References
Hanvey, Robert. An Attainable Global Perspective. Theory Into Practice, Vol. 21, No. 3. (Summer, 1982), pp. 162-167.
Banks, James A. Fourth edition published as: Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Curriculum and Teaching. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001; 5th edition, 2006.
VII. Additional Suggested Readings
Some student recommendations made for a law class were as follows:
1. Perspective Consciousness:
a. From varied religious perspectives students research and debate a nations social laws (abortion, same sex marriage, prostitution, marijuana, euthanasia)
b. Read and summarize US Supreme Court majority and dissenting opinions
2. “State of the Planet” Awareness:
a. Review related crime stories from several international news sources (Michael Jackson trial as summarized in foreign news reports)
b. Review related legislation stories from several international sources (legalization of same sex marriage in Catholic Spain, the Netherlands, South Africa, Canada, and Belgium)
3. Cross-Cultural Awareness:
a. Watch foreign video/documentary produced by foreign production companies and designed for a foreign audience discussing the US Constitution and laws
b. Discuss in class via chat room with internationals regarding US legal issues
4. Knowledge of Global Dynamics:
a. Discuss student personal choices that have had unpredictable legal consequences for either themselves or others
b. Examine national and international decisions that had unpredictable legal consequences (pollution, AIDS, Chernobyl, Iraq/war, the destruction of the rainforest/everglades, trade/debt, education, prohibition) and the inadequate planning or rash choices that resulted in such incidents.
5. Awareness of Human Choices:
a. Interview lawyers and judges regarding reasons for entering certain pleas, making plea bargains, and the decision to prosecute
b. Interview individuals who commit crime who were aware of their decision and made the choice regardless (to examine motivation)
VIII. Internet Links
The full length version of Hanvey’s “An Attainable Global Perspective” can be found at:
http://www.globaled.org/An_Att_Glob_Persp_04_11_29.pdf
IX. Suggested Images
See attached MS PowerPoint for images related to the lesson