Julie Kinnaird | January 28, 2020
Globally competent educators pave the way for students to become globally competent citizens. In our ever changing world cross cultural skills and global awareness are key to engaging in the world and with its peoples, including the students, families and colleagues in our own schools and colleges. What steps can you take to develop your own global competencies?
- Start with yourself! What’s your story? Where are you and your ancestors from?
- Next, take a look at your community? Who makes up your community? Have the demographics changed over time? Look into the diverse populations represented and what cultural organizations exist. Are there any global businesses in your county? Are there any groups that you’d like to know more about? One way to build global competence is to engage in immersive and authentic experiences and dialogue with people of diverse backgrounds. Step out of your comfort zone to open up to diversity. Take an interest in others’ perspectives, traditions, languages and other aspects of their culture.
- Connect the dots. What global issues impact you and your community in positive and negative ways. Learn more about these issues and get involved. To become better informed of the world’s most pressing global issues learn about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. These issues not only impact “them”, they impact “us” and together we are part of the solutions.
- Participate in local or state cultural events, celebrations or exhibits exploring global issues and world cultures. North Carolina is home to many opportunities celebrating our diverse neighbors. Here is just a sample.
- This spring UNC’s Ackland Art Museum has exhibits featuring Toriawase: A Special Installation of Modern Japanese Art and Ceramics, Color Across Asia, Islamic Art, Instruments of Divination in Africa, and much more.
- Make plans now to attend the March 6-8 Raleigh International Festival where you can see cultural performances, crafts and enjoy food from across the globe.
- Interested in sports? Check out Mexico’s national soccer/football team when they play in Charlotte on March 26 against the Czech Republic.
- On March 31 you can learn more about India’s famous film industry with An Evening of Bollywood Blvd in High Point, NC.
- Live it up May 14-17 at the 50th LEAF Festival, celebrating global art, music and culture in Black Mountain, NC.
- On June 13-14 the 35th Annual Occaneechi Saponi Pow Wow will take place in Burlington, NC.
- Did you know that Western NC is home to one of the nation’s largest cultural festivals – Folkmoot Legacy Festival. Be sure to add Waynesville, July 18-26 in to your calendar!
- Many great festivals also take place in the Fall. Be sure to check out the events calendar on Visit NC to discover even more festivals and celebrations in our state!
- Be sure to check out your local libraries, community colleges and universities for events that are open to the community!
- Stay on top of current events by checking out the daily international headlines from multiple news sources. This compilation of Global News Resources from the University of Michigan is a good starting point. Look for news from all perspectives. An easy way to do this is to go to AllSides to see balanced news and civil discourse. Or learn strategies for analyzing news and sources of news here.
- What’s trending around the world: Global Voices takes you beyond the headlines to see what others are reporting across the globe. Read in English or one of the 30 languages that the borderless site is translated in. Also, check out headlines from around the world by going to Today’s Front Pages at newseum.org.
- If you are on Instagram see what everyday life looks like through The Everyday Projects, a series of images documenting everyday life around the world. Images are taken primarily with mobile phones. Started with Everyday Africa in 2012 this movement invites photographers to counteract stereotypes of nations and people that are often portrayed in media across the globe. There are now numerous spin-offs of the original Everyday Africa to represent everyday life in regions of the world such as the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe or countries like Egypt, Afghanistan, USA, Moldova, Iran and more! The Everyday Project has also started series representing global issues such as climate change, energy, impunity, incarceration, migration and more. Be a part of the movement to counteract stereotypes.
- Pick up a good book with an international theme or written by an international author. April 23 is World Book Day! Mark your calendar and be sure to celebrate it with a good book. Follow the links to see lists of award-winning books and other ideas for you and your students: Indigenous Languages Suggested Books from UNESCO, Americas Book Award, Pura Belpre, Children’s Africana Book Awards, Middle East Book Award Winners, Notable Books for a Global Society, Primary Source’s list of book awards and A Year of Reading the World.
- Check out or stream online foreign films from your local city or college library or online service. UNC area studies centers from the following regions offer film collections: Africa, Middle East, Latin America. Check out a list of past and current Academy Awards nominees and winners for Best International Feature Film (formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film) here.
- Participate in professional development programs that focus on global education, global themes or a specific world region. World View has some fantastic programs this spring that focus on Global Conflict and Peacebuilding, Food for All, Global is Local and applications are opening soon for our Global Education Teacher Leader Institute and Exploring Indigenous Cultures Global Fellows program.
- Take a virtual trip. Check out virtual sites to immerse yourself in a country or location around the world. Here are a few ideas:
- Google Earth: Google Earth’s Education site has many Geo Tools to explore the world virtually, including Google Expeditions and Google Voyager.
- Want to learn more about China, but can’t get on a plane yet? Check out this virtual tour of China or this tour of the Great Wall of China! Or check out Machu Picchu in Peru here.
- Travel to the other side of the globe with a virtual tour of the Galapagos Islands.
- Borderland: Visit the U.S.–Mexico border with NPR.
- Tour the Svalgard Global Seed Vault from the comfort of your couch!
- Google’s virtual Arts & Culture takes you to museums, landmarks, famous sites and additional art collections spanning the globe. You can search by historic event as well.
- Want Asian art specifically? Visit the Asian Art Exhibit and take a virtual and interactive tour of the Asia Art Museum of San Francisco
- Learn more about the tragic events in Syria with this virtual tour created by Amnesty International or about the plight of refugees around the world with these VR videos created by Doctors Without Borders.
- Travels of Odysseus: National Geographic takes you on a virtual journey as you follow the footsteps of Odysseus.
- Walk through a virtual museum to discover and learn about the archaeology of the ancient North Carolinians.
- Reframe Iran: Learn about Iran through this short 360 VR video that takes you into the studios of Iran’s greatest artists who were exiled during the 1979 revolution.
- Better understand the tragic events of the Chernobyl disaster and see what Chernobyl looks like today in this virtual tour
- Travel with your students on Scholastic’s Global Trek, keeping a journal along the way.
- Looking for even more virtual tours? Here’s a great list in the article Around the World in 80 Ways: Using Virtual Tours to Foster Global Citizenship.
- Want to learn how to use virtual field trips in the classroom? Read here to learn how one educator took his class around the world in 80 (school) days.