"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. |
Through this program, I had firsthand global learning experiences.
Rainforest Sciences in Peru - Independent Study
In the summer of 2011, I got the chance to take part in the NC Museum of Natural Science's "Educators of Excellence" program. This was an opportunity to travel to the Amazon to study rainforest ecology with scientists who were working on international teams to conserve the rainforests. I also saw it as an opportunity to interview scientists about the skills it takes to collaborate globally, similar to the "Global TPACK" I discussed in the section on Theoretical Frameworks. This turned into an independent study program in Peru, looking further into the question of what it takes to be successful in international collaborations in science.
Going to Peru was an interesting way to consider those cross-cultural skills that are necessary to do international research, but another part of the program caught my attention even more. While down there, our group traveled to a small village called Leon Isla to paint a school and install a latrine. We traveled to the village by boat and were greeted with music and awkward inter-group dancing. We spent the morning painting and digging, and then had a lunch, where the villagers ate outside and the North Carolinians ate boxed lunches inside the school. For most of the morning and during lunch, there was very little interaction. After lunch, there was a rest, and some kids started kicking around a soccer ball. Some of us went out to kick with them, and soon a soccer game broke out. Eventually our whole group was playing soccer with a group of 10 or so people from the village, and the competition caused everyone to feel closer. After the game, a water fight broke out, and my impression was that this afternoon was the closest we felt to anyone from Peru. I came back to that experience in my mind as I started wondering what experiences cause the closest connection between people of different cultures.
Going to Peru was an interesting way to consider those cross-cultural skills that are necessary to do international research, but another part of the program caught my attention even more. While down there, our group traveled to a small village called Leon Isla to paint a school and install a latrine. We traveled to the village by boat and were greeted with music and awkward inter-group dancing. We spent the morning painting and digging, and then had a lunch, where the villagers ate outside and the North Carolinians ate boxed lunches inside the school. For most of the morning and during lunch, there was very little interaction. After lunch, there was a rest, and some kids started kicking around a soccer ball. Some of us went out to kick with them, and soon a soccer game broke out. Eventually our whole group was playing soccer with a group of 10 or so people from the village, and the competition caused everyone to feel closer. After the game, a water fight broke out, and my impression was that this afternoon was the closest we felt to anyone from Peru. I came back to that experience in my mind as I started wondering what experiences cause the closest connection between people of different cultures.
Studying Social Assemblages in Chile - COM 521
As one of my electives, I took COM 521, "Communication and Globalization." This course analyzed the ways that globalization is affecting the ways people communicate. My final product in this course was to help the professor transcribe and translate an interview with a girl from Tomé, Chile, "Alicia," whose social assemblages were changing as a result of communications technologies. Because of the rise of personal internet, her normal interactions with other people had changed quite a bit. In "Alicia's" case, having access to the internet meant that, compared to five years previous, she in fact traveled around the region much less and had much more limited interactions with close friends, but much more interaction with people she was not close to.
Transcribing this interview in Chilean Spanish was one of the most challenging things that I've done academically, and the research paper that followed the transcription was pretty easy by comparison. The interview was one hour and 15 minutes, and because of her amazingly fast speech and her accent, understanding her was extremely difficult at times. Still, this project gave me a whole new perspective on the interplay between internet communications and global collaborations. Even though Alicia was able to connect with new people from all over the world due to the internet, her relationships with many people were not as profound as they had been before the internet became so commonplace for her.
Transcribing this interview in Chilean Spanish was one of the most challenging things that I've done academically, and the research paper that followed the transcription was pretty easy by comparison. The interview was one hour and 15 minutes, and because of her amazingly fast speech and her accent, understanding her was extremely difficult at times. Still, this project gave me a whole new perspective on the interplay between internet communications and global collaborations. Even though Alicia was able to connect with new people from all over the world due to the internet, her relationships with many people were not as profound as they had been before the internet became so commonplace for her.