Tools

It takes a village. Share the following resources widely with parents and community members in an effort to have a common understanding of what a global learning school is, why it does what it does, and to solicit help from who you’ll find to be eager supporters.

Educating for Global Competence Book

The United States has invested unprecedented resources in education, betting that our outmoded factory-age system can be fundamentally transformed to prepare students for the rigors of a global economy. They have challenged states and school districts to set clearer, higher standards and assess student progress in more creative ways, prepare more productive teachers, and provide effective intervention in failing schools.

These are necessary strategies for change, but insufficient to create the citizens, workers and leaders our nation needs in the 21st century.

Missing in this formula for a world-class education is an urgent call for schools to produce students who know something about the world—its cultures, languages and how its economic, environmental and social systems work. The concept of global competence articulates the knowledge and skills students need in the 21st century.

Download the book Educating for Global Competence to learn more about the knowledge and skills needed in the future, and see how schools have made the shift. Consider doing a book study for your education community.

Funding

Asia Society, in partnership with The Finance Project, created a guide titled Funding Global Learning that is focused on how to create financing strategies as well as how to identify and secure funding. The guide covers how to frame the argument for global competence; how to manage diverse funding strategies; the types of federal and state funding sources; and how to match funding streams to your goals. The guide also introduces other resources to turn to for help.

Few funding sources directly target global learning, and issues such as time-limited grants, the downturn in state and local budgets,and competition for limited resources creates a challenging backdrop against which out-of-school leaders seek to implement or expand programs. This guide is designed to help overcome these challenges so programs can focus on do what they do best: preparing students for the world.

To get started, download the Funding Global Learning guide. See also a companion guide for funding afterschool programs.

For latest grants and professional learning opportunities, see Web2Global.info.