"How can global education programs influence the profession of teaching?" I tried to answer this question by:
1. Learning theoretical frameworks 2. Having direct experiences 3. Developing new findings 4. Enacting change Click on any of the bulleted headings above or the pictures to the right to see highlights. |
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Abstract
Throughout my life I have been interested in the effects that international travel can have on people. As a fifth grader, my family hosted a Spanish exchange student for a year. In high school, I began studying Spanish and traveled to Chile and Argentina. Later, I worked in Costa Rica and experienced the transformative effects of full immersion in another culture. Later still, in 2005, I began working for the University system, building international education programs for K-12 schools across North Carolina. That work has helped me lead 21 international programs for teachers to China, Denmark, and Mexico, in addition to converse experiences of teachers coming to North Carolina from those countries. During my time in this work, I have seen firsthand that international travel can awaken new curiosities, new vantage points, and new motivations about what it means to be a teacher. For me, seeing how teachers reacted to international travel was powerful, but I was never able to specifically define which experiences were the most powerful for teachers, why they were powerful, and how to best present those experiences.
With all of that in mind, my compelling question became “How can global education programs influence the profession of teaching?” Wrapped into that overarching question were questions about which experiences have the most profound impact on teachers, and what should we be doing differently in our schools to allow stronger global education programs.
For me, the New Literacies and Global Learning program at NC State University meant:
The pages of this website highlight learnings, experiences, findings, and action that took place through this program for me.
With all of that in mind, my compelling question became “How can global education programs influence the profession of teaching?” Wrapped into that overarching question were questions about which experiences have the most profound impact on teachers, and what should we be doing differently in our schools to allow stronger global education programs.
For me, the New Literacies and Global Learning program at NC State University meant:
- Learning theoretical frameworks that helped me define a path for answering my compelling question
- Having direct experiences that put those theories into a “real world” perspective
- Developing new findings about the best ways to deliver global education programs for teachers
- Enacting change at the personal level, school level, work level, and state level.
The pages of this website highlight learnings, experiences, findings, and action that took place through this program for me.