The Fulbright Scholarship program is one that is designed to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.” Fulbright scholars can use the experiences that they have abroad to help their students understand the value of appreciating and acknowledging different cultures, peoples and ideas.
The Teachers for Global Classrooms Program offers teachers the opportunity to become leaders and advocates for global education. This is a year-long, paid program that places teachers in-country with a host teacher as a guest educator and collaborator. Teachers can use the experience with TGC (an IREX program) to gain first-hand knowledge of international cultures and educational practices. Those experiences along with the international connections that are forged can help foster relationships between an educator’s home school and the host school providing a medium for joint collaborative projects.
The Global Youth Leadership Institute offers a program for educators that allows them to explore and learn about the birthplace of the Americas! Educators and administrators who are “interested in 21st Century teaching and learning, global education, multi-culturalism, history, culture, language, and bringing the world” to their classrooms will benefit greatly from this immensely culture experience.
EarthWatch Institute provides opportunities to teachers who have a keen interest in protecting and preserving the environment. Those educators, who are lifelong learners and enjoy taking part in conservation efforts and sustainability initiatives will find this experience invaluable to their classroom. Hands-on experience will enable these teachers to provide direct knowledge through subsequent lessons to their students about efforts and the work that goes into being a true caretaker of the planet.
The Institute of International Education offers programs for educators to study abroad, improve their global competencies and immerse themselves in a highly cultural experience. The IIE seeks educators seeking post-secondary degrees in the arts, humanities, STEM and social studies. The mixture of academics and cultural exposure provides educators, through an exchange program, with new experiences and viewpoints to share with their students.
The Fred J. Hansen Foundation offers an internship to young educators who are interested in developing leadership skills and cultural understandings. This scholarship is offered to students/educators ages 20-25 and is a great opportunity for those individuals to begin to think and act with a global perspective.
LOCAL RESOURCES
The NEA Foundation provides Global Learning Resources online and sponsors a Global Learning Fellowship program for educators. The foundation is located near our school in Washington, DC. They offer student achievement and learning grants, hold symposiums on global education and provide workshops for educators.
The National Science Foundation offers grants for educators and institutions. Proposals are reviewed and grants are awarded for STEM related projects, particularly those with a global conservationist perspective. The NSF is a repository for other grants and programs that can be used to enhance lessons and encourage student engagement. It is located in nearby Virginia and offers tours and site visits so that educators can become familiar with the services they provide.
The USA Science and Engineering Festival is an organization that offers a program called Nifty Fifty. This program coordinates with STEM professionals and schools to host presentations and speaking events. There is no cost to the school and the presenters are professionals and scientists who often perform experiments or demonstrations related to the host teacher’s content area. The Festival provides these services to schools in the Washington Metropolitan area.
The Library of Congress offers summer institutes for teacher professional development. Almost all content areas are covered. Teachers receive a stipend for their participation in the institutes that help promote the use of primary sources for instructional purposes. Teachers are introduced to a network of passionate educators who wish to increase student engagement and knowledge of world issues using the resources housed at the LOC. It is located in downtown Washington, D.C.
The Smithsonian Institutes have created and provide myriad resources for educators spanning and cross-cutting content areas. Curriculum, lesson plans and many other resources can be retrieved online or in-person to help make lessons come alive whether it be in world history or engineering. Main offices are located in downtown Washington, DC, however, the Institute has many satellite locations that can be visited by teachers and their students.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Global Education Unit Plan
(To be used as a guide for educators in developing their own content-specific lesson plans)
Examples of Next Generation Science Standards modified for global education
Example 1:
NGSS HS-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
*Standard Modified for Global Education
NGSS HS-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that rabbits in North America could survive well, survive less well or would not survive at all in the Sahara desert.
Example 2:
NGSS HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
*Standard Modified for Global Education
NGSS HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of carbon dioxide emissions from factories and traffic in Mexico City, Mexico.
Mr. Robinson's Global Classroom 