There are
several relevant links posted on our assignment page. This evening I chose to watch
the link below which is linked to youtube:
Global citizenship post 9/11, episode; How do
they do it in the USA, 2008? (27 min.)
This is a wonderful
documentary on how some American schools are implementing awareness on
globalization in the curriculum.
There were
several great examples. Teaching a foreign language seems quite an obvious one
to us Europeans. But what was interesting to watch was how two teachers combined
some of their art and Spanish classes. The Spanish teacher would ask the students
questions about their art work in Spanish. This is an interesting way for the
students to practice their language skills in a more relaxed environment. The
teacher stressed the importance that American students need to learn a foreign
so they actively can show that they want to be able to communicate with others
than themselves.
Another
teacher had her students participate in activities and read relevant present
articles that made her students reflect upon what it means to live in a
globalized world.
My
favourite was a teacher who had her class learn to debate as UN delegates. The
students were each given a country to represent. Then they were to search for
specific information. Later they met to debate an important topic, which
affected several countries in different ways. One student said that this class
gave her a whole new perspective on how people live in other countries.
The
documentary stressed the importance of teaching children the tools and the knowledge
so they can help change the world, develop mechanisms for people to work out
differences in opinion in other ways than war or terrorism.
One thing I've learned about globalisation is that it is both incredibly beneficial for working to bring together diverse worlds and it is a path to east vs west conflict. As a US citizen, I cannot help but think that our military involvement in the Middle East has lasted as long as it has because of the age old fight of keeping old culture and accepting new culture. It is a clash that will always happen and can lead to devastating hardship and death. I think a balance must be made when it comes to globalisation because while blending cultures can help ease the boundaries of being different, it can also help to divide groups even more as they fight to keep their own culture's unique identity. This is a thought that I have begun to feel as time has went on.
SvarSletThank you for your reflection Michael,
SletI lived in New York City from 2002-2009. The first three years I lived at International House on the upper west side, a dorm that houses around 700 hundred graduate students from around the globe. I learned about countries I hardly new existed and I made great friendships with people from many different countries.
I became a “cultural hour” assistant and helped organize monthly cultural events. We learned about a certain culture and its traditions and always ended the evening with an interesting culinary experience. Thanks to my three years at I -House I learned to be open minded and have respect for others from cultures than my own. I didn’t always agree or understand other’s opinions but I was open to listen and learn.
New York is a melting pot of many cultures and languages living side by side. We New Yorkers love visiting different neighbourhoods for the unique cultural experiences such as music, art and food. Let us hope it also becomes possible other places around the world. Denmark is definitely becoming more diverse and in our schools we have to embrace students from foreign countries, teaching them the Danish language, our history and values but keeping in mind that we need to include their diversity in a way that we also may learn from them