I spent much of my childhood listening to music. It saddens me that school music programs are too often squeezed out to focus on hard sciences and raising test scores. Budget cuts haven’t helped either. Conversely, in many high-performing Asian school systems, great effort is going toward giving students access to the arts to encourage […]
Just as it is critically important for the language learner to recognize and understand patterns in language, it is equally necessary to be able to recognize patterns in culture. In both cases, it is not sufficient to merely observe the patterns, but also to interrogate and problematize them. Here’s why: In April 2011, The New […]
The other day I drove a stretch of US-59 from Houston’s Bush International Airport to a high school in a fairly beaten-down neighborhood. A few years ago, Sharpstown High School was on what its principal called a “death march.” Six years later, Sharpstown International is among those earning the district’s highest rank: exemplary. “Six years […]
The education system of the United States was built, in part, by utilizing the best ideas from abroad, mainly from Germany and Scotland. But after achieving the leading education system in the world, and the first country to achieve mass secondary education, and the first to promote higher education broadly, we stopped looking abroad for […]
I’ve visited many language programs across the country in recent years, and have—for better or for worse—instinctively divided them into two categories. The first are programs that leave me with the distinct impression that they are fundamentally classes that happen in a room in a school building; there’s not a lot of dynamism, authentic or […]
As Thomas Friedman put it in a recent New York Times column, globalization compounds the urgency for students to develop the skills and knowledge they need for economic and civic success in the 21st century. Yet despite widespread agreement among parents, educators, employers, and policymakers worldwide that students need skills like critical thinking, problem solving, […]
Issues ranging from the economy to increasing international tensions dominate the headlines and election dialogue. Education has been reserved for discussion for “another day,” that was until both presidential candidates participated in NBC’s recent Education Nation Summit and then again referenced education several times in tonight’s presidential debate. NBC provided a platform for both candidates […]
“I have two long antennae,” the student at the front of the class said, in Chinese. “Are you a snail?” asked another student, also in Chinese. “No! I have three body parts and six thin legs.” “An ant?” quipped another. “No, I have two colorful wings.” “A butterfly!” the class shouted. This is an example […]
As the new school year starts and afterschool programs are ramping up, here are some ways to create afterschool activities that incorporates global issues. There are several core elements to consider and no matter what topic or age group, think about each step carefully. Planning: Steps to Success Plan your globally focused activity ahead of […]
Easy access to multiple technologies makes this a genuinely exciting time to begin the process of going global at any school. In fact, one of the fastest and most effective ways to incorporate a global approach is through the use of digital technologies. Computers, interactive software, video conferencing, games, online courses, blogs, educational television, video […]
