Susan O'Rourke | July 26, 2023
I recommend teachers of any subject or grade level look into World View’s programs for resources and ideas around global studies. They are educator focused, interesting and inspiring. I found, in World View, a professional community committed to excellence in public education. The professors at UNC, the expert lecturers, and NC K-12 teachers are great to collaborate with.
This month, UNC World View is thrilled to feature Patti Donohue in our Global Educator Spotlight! Patti is a visual art teacher at Johnson Street Global Studies School in High Point, North Carolina and will be teaching grades K-5 there this coming fall.
This past year, we were excited to have Patti serve as a UNC World View Global Fellow. Through that program, Patti collaborated with global experts and curriculum specialists to craft lessons on the Sustainable Development Goals. Patti’s lessons engage with Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 13, “Responsible Consumption and Production,” and “Climate Action.” The first lesson “Product Design, SDG 12, & Lifestyles in Harmony with Nature” calls on students to be collaborators and co-designers who tackle a global issue through sustainable product design like artists and designers do in the Earthshot Prize competition. The second lesson, “Sustainable Development and Balanced Art,” introduces students to “two photographers, Camille Seaman and Chris Jordan, whose work incorporates themes of climate change and mass consumerism (Sustainable Development Goals 12 and 13)” while teaching them about the genre of the artist’s statement.
Patti’s interest in teaching visual arts and incorporating global perspectives stems, in part, from her own experience as an artist. She shares that she “[designed] fabrics in the home furnishings industry throughout the US…for many years” before launching her teaching career, first in rural South Carolina and now in Guilford County.
Patti shares that the educators and artists in Guilford County create a generative and supportive community for students interested in the arts. She explains that:
“Elementary art teachers with GCS meet regularly throughout the school year to share ideas, learn about opportunities and organize events. There are members of the arts community in Guilford County who provide gallery space for student exhibitions and the district sponsors an exhibition as well. These events provide parents, students, teachers and community members the opportunity to celebrate art.”
Patti believes in the importance of incorporating global perspectives across her curriculum by studying global origins of art and cross-cultural connections. She explains that “her students are exposed to global examples of art, architecture, and design….[so] that they see and study what civilizations have created, from ancient cave paintings and pyramids to contemporary performance and video art.” These global perspectives, she shares, “adds perspective which can help students understand the world we live in.”
We are so glad that Patti’s interest in global education led her to UNC World View! Patti participated both “in a schoolwide professional development session” and in the year-long intensive Global Fellows program. She shares that both sessions provided her with valuable resources that she brought into her classes. At the schoolwide professional development session, Patti “learned about a book called Slow Looking by Shari Tishman….[which] is featured in Project Zero, a resource from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Since “slow looking” teaches students the “practice of taking time to study subjects for deeper understanding,” it can be a valuable tool for developing more human understanding.
Patti’s collaborative spirit and optimism is also evident in her discussion of the UNC World View Global Fellows program. She shares that she learned about the program through the “fine arts supervisor for GCS” and enjoyed being part of a program that enabled “school teachers from across North Carolina to [meet], [collaborate], [learn] and [produce] lessons tying our respective subject areas to a group of global goals that countries around the world are committed to achieving. The fellowship program introduced me to the UN SDGs and inspired me to create lessons where I can share what I’ve learned. My focus is to find optimistic, positive, and thought-provoking ways to engage students in these important topics.”
Patti ultimately “[recommends] teachers of any subject or grade level look into World View’s programs for resources and ideas around global studies. They are educator-focused, interesting, and inspiring. I found, in World View, a professional community committed to excellence in public education. The professors at UNC, the expert lecturers, and NC K-12 teachers are great to collaborate with.”
We are so grateful for Patti’s dedication to crafting thought-provoking lessons that encourage students to engage with cultures across the globe and challenge them to identify new ways and new designs that create a better world for future generations!