Tag: Global Education

The Global Imperative: Dealing with Global and International Education in Small Institutions and Programs

The Global Imperative: Dealing with Global and International Education in Small Institutions and Programs


James K. Daly

The call for schools to prepare students for life in an inter-connected globalized world has been strongly articulated for years (Mansilla, V. B., & Gardner, H., 2007; Byker and Marquardt S., 2016; Majewska, I. A. ,2023). The Council of Chief State School Officers and the Asia Society have provided thoughtful guides that both highlight the need for global competence and suggest ways in which to develop it (see https://pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/bookglobalcompetence.pdf).

In a 2012 report the U.S. Department of education highlighted the need for
schools to focus on global issues (see https://wvde.us/sites/default/files/2018/03/InternationalStrategy.pdf). The report called for rigorous standards that would use top performing countries as a baseline for rethinking and redesigning schools in preparation for success in the global economy. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
(https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED519427.pdf) included global awareness in their 2009 identification of key topics and approaches. Several states have incorporated these and their own locally devised approaches on global knowledge and skills
into their education standards.

As a result of these efforts many different approaches and goals have emerged. However, the effort to infuse and develop global knowledge and skills is not without controversy. Byker and Marquardt (2016) challenge some of the foundational frameworks in the call for global awareness in schools. There are many different
programs and curricula that address variations and different areas of focus within the field. Among these approaches are preparation for global citizenship, global awareness, global competency, preparation for global economic participation, and
more. These various plans are themselves global, with international organizations identifying essential components needed for this area, seeking to guide schools on how to address instruction and assessment.


Global by nature, expectations for schools

Schools in the United States are culturally and linguistically diverse (NCES, 2013). The U.S. Dept of Education reports over 5 million English language learners in the Fall of 2021(National Center for Education Statistics, 2024). The languages spoken by students in public schools demonstrate a diversity representative of much of
the world. According to the 2023 American Community Survey, 21.7% of public-school students are children of immigrants (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). Effectively designing instruction, teaching and assessing students from families
whose experiences and history go beyond national boundaries is cited as requiring globally competent teachers.

In framing a response to these issues powerful organizations have had a significant
impact on proposing guidelines for U.S. schools. International data have been gathered with a focus on economic outcomes and competition. The PISA tests, developed by the private international Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the World Bank, and other international organizations have used assessments and the interpretation of their results to promote standardization in school curricula, and the outcomes schools seek to achieve. This has seen efforts at the national level in the U.S. that include No Child Left behind, and The Race to the Top.

Additionally, national and state standards take global data into consideration. This removes much of the decision making from practitioners, administrators and school boards to politicians and bureaucrats, with many from outside of the U.S. Fueled by global and international interests, this movement towards standardization is seen by
many as problematic (Tienken, 2017). Critics suggest that these approaches often guide teachers into a passive acceptance of dominant narratives of
the value of global infusion within teaching (Rizvi and Beech, 2017). These contentions suggest this results in school practices that are implemented by
authorities not involved in teaching, and which result in schooling not related to the lives of students.


Teacher preparation

Given this context the role of teacher preparation has been increasingly cited as an arena for global and international education attention. Many groups have promoted a vision of global competence that includes developing competencies and awareness within teacher preparation programs. A prominent feature of this approach involves the study abroad experience.

Among US students who study abroad, one of the lowest categories of participation is that of students in preservice teacher education programs (Institute of International Education (2024). The total number of college students involved in study abroad programs in 2022-23 was 280,716. Of those, only 2.4% were in education majors.
However, many schools promote study abroad opportunities for pre-service candidates. Worth consideration is what impact this has for the future. Does study abroad prepare future teachers to design, share, and present lessons that help their future students better understand global issues, trends and events?

Most of the recent growth of study abroad experiences at the university level seem to be related to the increase in short-term study-abroad experiences, which lasted less than a semester. Many of these occur during summer or intercession terms (Kehl & Morris, 2008). According to a report Open Doors by the U.S. Department of State, 40.6% of study abroad experiences were during the summer term, and of those 31.6% were of two- eight weeks or less (Institute of International Education, 2024). How effective are such short term study abroad experiences? There are few studies that compare the benefits of long-term study abroad to those of short-term ones. Older studies suggest long term programs have an impact on students’ global or world mindedness, often described as cultural awareness and interest in international events. (Sharma & Klasek, 1986. Hett, 1993). Deng & Boatler (1993) report a consequence of feeling connected to the global community. An increased open-mindedness about other cultures has been cited (Stephenson, 1999). Other research suggests an increased level of global perspective (Zhai & Sheer, 2004). Long-term study abroad experiences of a semester or more appear to have greater impact (Kehl & Morris, 2008, Zorn, 1996; Medina-López-Portillo, 2004).

There is some evidence that short-term study trips can also help teacher education candidates develop global knowledge and skills (Dwyer, 2004; Willard-Holt, 2001, Shiveley, J., & Misco, T. ,2015). A caveat is that trips of short duration have the potential of reinforcing prejudices (McKay & Montgomery, 1995). This seems true as inadequate orientation and cursory involvement in a foreign culture may be the case with short study abroad programs. Short study programs may support confirmation bias that can reinforce prior stereotypes and may also provide a lack of authentic activities and projects with the host population. Goldstein, 2017, contends that American students often have pre-conceived views of how others see
them which short programs may not be able to address.

Very few teacher education candidates participate in study abroad, and of those who do, most are in short term programs. This evidence suggests concerns about the focus on study abroad as a means for developing and strengthening the global and international knowledge and awareness of pre-service teacher education candidates.
Other approaches in teacher preparation programs include the development of courses devoted to globalization and international topics. This is problematic as accreditation requirements and available resources for course development and delivery can be barriers for many institutions. In many cited examples an existing course, often a social studies methods course, was identified as a location for global work.

Possibilities for small institutions and programs As with many areas of importance, there is no one approach likely to work in all institutions. Critiques of the global and international education field challenge many of the assumptions that guide national and international programs and projects. Few teacher education candidates participate in study abroad programs. The challenge for smaller and less resourced institutions and programs can be significant. So, what can a small program
accomplish?

This reflection contends that a useful way to proceed might be to encourage and support individual effort. Individual faculty can build upon personal connections, membership in professional organizations, and partnering with schools and
institutions engaged in global and international initiatives. This narrative describes the ongoing work of over seventeen years begun by two professors in two institutions. One institution is in New Jersey, the other in Ukraine. Neither is funded,
their work is done out of a commitment to promoting international understanding and the knowledge and skills needed for future teachers.


The initial collaboration

When the New Jersey institution was awarded a Deliberation in a Democracy (DID) grant it was partnered with Ukraine (https://did.deliberating.org/about_us/index.html). For three years high school teachers and students from nine New Jersey school districts were paired
with partner teachers and high school students in Ukraine. At both the NJ site and the Ukrainian site teachers were taught a process of deliberation.

Controversial topics were identified by the international project staff directors and teachers were taught to approach each controversy using the deliberation model. The focus was on active listening and clear communication. At the conclusion of the project, the assessment completed by researchers at the University of Minnesota found that the results were exceptional, well beyond what would normally be expected (“About Us”, n.d.). The two faculty members decided to bring a revised and revamped version of the DID concept and process to their universities. Both had teacher training programs in which the venture was to be housed.

What was accomplished

This partnership is in its 17th year. At the conclusion of the DID grant students from high schools in both countries that had participated in the project were invited to virtual conferences. The university students from both sites facilitated and took part in these. The debriefings in focus groups demonstrated that the impact on high school students was significant (for a video of one of the conferences go to https://blogs.shu.edu/globaleducation/). NJ high school students stated that they hoped their Ukrainian counterparts recognized that they were a similar in many ways. They reported that they were growing in their knowledge and understanding, open minded and anxious to learn about others. The NJ students reported they sense their Ukrainian partners felt the same. They also shared that prior to the conferences they perceived Ukraine as a ‘grey’, unhappy place with unfriendly people. Those perceptions rapidly disappeared. Once grant funding ended, the conferences with high school participants came to an end and were replaced by collaboration between just the university students at each site.

Each semester a social studies methods course in NJ and a History of Ukraine course in Ukraine organized the collaboration. Regular communications by virtual sessions were conducted at least once each semester. Initially a discussion board was set up and served as the primary tool in between virtual meetings. Students quickly learned to analyze comments and responses carefully. On several occasions New Jersey students were surprised, and occasionally alarmed, by what their partners had written. In de-constructing the messages a focus for the NJ university students was on the use of English by non-native speakers.

Students realized that a formal way of speaking and writing often resulted in misunderstanding and misinterpreting. There was an appreciation for the
challenge faced in communicating in a second language. This was addressed on both sides, and students recognized the need to avoid jargon and cultural nuances. This understanding was explored in both the virtual sessions and dialogue on the
discussion board. Students also recognized the need to respectfully ask one another to explain what was meant in both their written and spoken comments. During the Revolution of Dignity –the Maidan Revolution, New Jersey students regularly communicated with Ukrainian partners. Near real time videos and messages provided instant access to events in Ukraine as they occurred.

For a variety of internal issues, the discussion board process was ended. Virtual
sessions using Zoom and TEAMS were still regularly scheduled to discuss critical issues selected by students and faculty from both institutions. Scholars from several departments at both universities were invited to share their expertise and join in conversations. At each meeting students also had an opportunity to speak about their educational experiences, their lives and interests and other topics.

One successful project was a two-year collaboration that explored the Ukrainian Diaspora in New Jersey. The faculty members and students from both universities were trained in creating a website which was used to post the research results of the project. In several sessions the student researchers met together virtually in real time to work on constructing the website. The New Jersey students conducted an oral history project. They met with the archivist for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the United States, located near their campus. They then conducted interviews over several weekends with parishioners from a local Ukrainian Orthodox Church. They gathered testimony about WWII and the Soviet era, as well as the experience of immigrating to the US. Inter generational stories revealed the integration into the larger culture, and current and emerging consequences of this immigration. The Ukrainian students compiled a history of Ukraine, with a focus on WW II and the post-Soviet time period. Both sides prepared videos that were embedded on the website. These included the oral history interviews, messages from campus groups, music and dance (Ukrainian). An interactive google map was posted, which brought viewers to both campuses. Using the features of the map it was possible to explore the areas around the campus and beyond. Everything on the website was translated into both English and Ukrainian.

Various elements of the project were shared at several national and international conferences. Several of the New Jersey students attended in person and there were videos from the Ukrainian partners, who also spoke via a Zoom connection. The Ukrainian university also hosted several international conferences at which the work was shared, with New Jersey students attending virtually to share and explain their work.

In 2020 this collaboration initiated an electronic journal. The Ukrainian university hosted it and provided the translation of articles into both English and Ukrainian. The journal has now published six editions, with four since the war with Russia began. Each published edition has been followed by an international conference hosted by the Ukrainian university at which the writers share their work with one another. The recent editions the war have focused largely on the war.

As the NJ program was small all of the future social studies teachers were engaged in this work as they took their social studies methods course. This course was recently replaced by a generic methods course and work now continues primarily with history classes as well as in a secondary education class with a broader range of student majors. Student and faculty continue to meet at least once a
semester, and to collaborate on the electronic journal.


Ongoing efforts


In this collaboration that even war has not been able to stop, institutional support from both universities continues to grow. A second partnership with another Ukrainian university has begun. Teacher education candidates in New Jersey have broader opportunities for contact. Over the years they have
met international partners, worked on common projects, shared ideas, researched and listened to one another’s dreams and challenges. For New Jersey students the war has been made real, not a social media or video clip.

These experiences provide both models for how to engage in global partnerships and learning, and a source of information and knowledge not open to most. Two professors in two universities, with a commitment to having students work
together without systemic institutional support or resources, have provided a wealth of experiences. Small programs can explore the arrangements described here, routinely bringing international perspectives and dialogue into classes. Larger programs with supportive funding and resources could seamlessly infuse such collaborations into existing global partnerships and projects. The possibility to engage all teacher education candidates into authentic global experiences exists and can be expanded.


References
About Us. (n.d.). Deliberating in a Democracy. https://did.deliberating.org/about_us/index.html

Byker, E. J., & Marquardt, S. (2016). Curricular connections: Using critical cosmopolitanism to globally situate multicultural education in teacher
preparation courses. Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 7(2), 30–50.

Estellés, M., & Fischman, G. E. (2021). Who needs global citizenship education? A review of the literature on teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 72(2), 223–236.

Goldstein, S. B. (2019). Stereotype threat in U.S. students abroad: Negotiating American identity in the age of Trump. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary
Journal of Study Abroad, 29(2). https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v29i2.395

Institute of International Education. (2024). Detailed duration of U.S. study abroad, 2005–06 to 2022–23. Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.
http://www.opendoorsdata.org

Kehl, K., & Morris, J. (2008). Differences in global mindedness between short term and semester long study abroad participants at selected private universities. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 15, 67–79.

Majewska, I. A. (2023). Teaching global competence: Challenges and opportunities. College Teaching, 71(2), 112–124.

Mansilla, V. B., & Gardner, H. (2007). From teaching globalisation to nurturing global
consciousness. In M. M. Suárez-Orozco & C. Sattin (Eds.), Learning in the global era: International perspectives on globalisation and education. University of California Press.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Bachelor’s degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and sex of student: Selected years, 2009–10 through 2021–22 (Table 204.27). U.S. Department of Education.
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_204.27.asp

OECD. (2016). Global competency for an inclusive world. OECD Publishing.

Paine, L., & Zeichner, K. (2012). The local and the global in reforming teaching and teacher education.

Comparative Education Review, 56(4), 569–583. Project Zero. (n.d.). Global competence. https://pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/bookglobalcompetence.pdf

Reimers, F. (2006). Citizenship, identity and education: Examining the public purposes of schools in an age of globalization. Prospects, 36(3),
275–294.

Rizvi, F., & Beech, J. (2017). Global mobilities and the possibilities of a cosmopolitan curriculum. Curriculum Inquiry, 47(1), 125–134.

Shiveley, J., & Misco, T. (2015). Long term impacts of short term study abroad: Teacher perceptions of preservice study abroad experiences. Frontiers: The
Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 26, 107

Tienken, C. (2017). Defying standardization: Creating curriculum for an uncertain future. [Publisher not provided].

U.S. Census Bureau. (2023). American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates [Data set].

U.S. Department of Commerce. https://data.census.gov/U.S. Census Bureau. (2023). Age and sex (ACS 1-Year Estimates, Table S0101). U.S. Department of Commerce.
https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2023.S0101

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Number and percentage distribution of students enrolled in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by distance education participation, location of
student, and control and level of institution: Fall 2021 and fall 2022 (Table 204.27).
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_204.27.asp

West Virginia Department of Education. (n.d.). International education strategy.
https://wvde.us/sites/default/files/2018/03/InternationalStrategy.pdf

Pushing the Boundaries of Elementary Social Studies Education: Teaching Young Children about Borders and Freedom

Greer Burroughs, Marissa Bellino, Morgan Johnston, Catarina Ribeira, Marci Chanin, Briana Cash, and Ellen Cahill 
The College of New Jersey, Ewing NJ
Bradford School, Montclair NJ
Edison Township School District, Edison NJ

The topic of immigration, who has a right to come to this country and who has a right to stay, has been at the heart of heated and emotional debates across the United States. In the summer of 2018 images and stories of children separated from their families at the southern border filled news and social media outlets. At the same time, the murder of a 20-year old woman in Iowa by an undocumented immigrant, led to calls for tighter border controls and for the governor of the state to proclaim that she was, “angry that a broken immigration system allowed a predator like this to live in our community,” (Klein & Smith, 2018). In recent years the nation has witnessed a series of executive orders to limit immigration from many majority Muslim nations, cuts to the numbers of refugees the U.S. will accept, a series of court challenges to these policies, increased arrests by ICE (Bialik, 2018) and outrage and protests from supporters on all sides of these issues. It is within this context that young children across the U.S. are developing a sense of what it means to be an “American”. A primary purpose of public education is to prepare individuals to be responsible citizens in this pluralistic, democratic nation, therefore schools should not shy away from addressing these issues.

Discussing controversial issues may seem daunting, or even out of place in elementary school. However, the National Council of Social Studies (NCSS) theme of Power, Authority and Governance, calls on educators to teach children about the functions of government, legitimate use of political power, how individual rights are protected and the conflicts that may arise when advancing fundamental principles and values in a constitutional democracy. The standards state that “through the study of the dynamic relationships between individual rights and responsibilities, the needs of social groups, and concepts of a just society, learners become more effective problem-solvers and decision-makers when addressing the persistent issues and social problems encountered in public life” (National Council for the Social Studies, 2010). Despite this charge, many elementary school educators avoid topics that can be deemed too political or upsetting to younger audiences (Zimmerman & Robertson, 2017). This stance turns a blind eye to the reality that these events touch the lives of children in many ways. Some children have experienced separation from family members or have fears members of their family or community will face deportation. Many children are exposed to unsettling images in the media or hear discussions among adults that may be laced with anger and fear. Avoiding controversial societal issues is, in part, to deny children’s awareness of their surroundings and can limit opportunities to help children make sense of difficult topics (Passe, 2008). Addressing these topics can be a vehicle to teach valuable concepts and skills of democratic citizenship (Harwood & Hahn, 1990; Parker, 2006).

In this article, we share lessons designed and implemented by a team of educators to address forced migration, asylum seeking, national borders and concepts of power and freedom with children in grades 2-4. Through the collaborative work, members of the team experienced shifts in their understandings of what should and ultimately could be taught to young learners. This evolutionary process, the lessons and what was learned from teaching the lessons to young learners, will be shared.

Where We Started

The team is comprised of three practicing teachers, two preservice teachers, and two education professors. The impetus for the project was a service learning trip most members of the team took to Lesvos, Greece in the summer of 2017. The island has been at the center of a migration crisis with millions of people fleeing war, human rights violations and economic hardships in their homelands. During the height of the crisis in November 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Commission reported that 379,000 individuals had already arrived on the island and an estimated 3,300 more were arriving each day, (UNHRC, November 2015). Along with the human toll of accommodating a massive influx of people, huge amounts of debris in the form of rubber dinghies, wrecked boats, personal items, plastic bottles and an estimated 600,000 life jackets washed-up or were left on the shores of the island. Organizations and individuals around the world responded by providing aid.

The goals of the trip were to study the interconnection between the ecological and social crises, while working with nonprofit organizations and people directly impacted. This involved learning with locals about environmentally sustainable practices, cleaning the beaches and providing aid for refugees. An additional goal was to advance education for sustainability by creating lessons for elementary children to teach about the impact of humans on the environment in the midst of a human and global crisis. Supporting the students in shifting their orientation towards a more social and eco justice orientation was an important objective of the entire experience.

Initially, the preservice teachers focused on the environmental side of the crisis and discussed possible lessons dealing with the negative impact of plastic on marine life, or the benefits of upcycling. One afternoon the group sorted clothing donations and prepared backpacks for children who had just arrived by boat on the island. That night one student noted in her journal that, “Getting adequate basics, clothes that fit, clean drinking water and food, was a reality for the refugees”. The team also interacted daily with volunteers who had been on the front lines of the crisis and heard first-hand accounts from people forced to flee their homelands. From these experiences, the human dimension became real. One journal entry captured this shift in perspective when the preservice teacher wrote “What makes a refugee? These people were just born in the wrong place, [it’s] all about the luck of where you are born…I am redefining human rights”. With this new perspective, what to teach about the crisis also began to shift away from just the environmental issues to the human story.

The Lessons

“Freedom is like a bird, a bird doesn’t get told what to do” 
- Second grader

In order to support the preservice teachers in the lesson plan part of the project, we invited in-service teachers as collaborators. In teams of two, lesson ideas were shared and refined. Drawing on their experience in Greece and the knowledge of the classroom teachers, the preservice teachers were able to work through some of their anxieties and conceptions of what young children could handle.  As one student expressed, “I don’t believe second graders can understand the concept of the refugee crisis.” The 2nd-grade teacher working with the student agreed and offered freedom as a concept that could be addressed and brought to the level of the children. From there the ideas came quickly and the two decided to begin the lesson with a children’s book. They choose the book Stepping Stones by Margriet Ruurs (2016). The book tells the story of a young girl and her family who are forced to leave their home due to civil war. The illustrations in the book show the family’s plight as they take only the belongings they can carry and flee on foot to find safety in Europe.

The second-grade team determined that once students understood the idea of being forced to leave one’s home, they wanted the children to relate borders and barriers to the concepts of freedom of movement.  They decided to use a simple simulation to help students connect to the idea. In both classes where this lesson was taught, the teachers divided the students into two groups and explained that the class was going to play a game. The in-service teacher brought her class outside and one group was told they could play on the playground for ten minutes, while the other would be required to stand in a small section of the blacktop. After ten minutes, the groups would switch. When the preservice teacher taught the lesson she began by asking the class to list classroom privileges they enjoyed and narrowed the list to two favorites; flexible seating choices and drawing on the whiteboard.  The preservice teacher then explained that one group could exercise these privileges for ten minutes while the other group needed to remain quietly in their seats.  In both classrooms, the idea that this was a game and that the groups would switch was repeatedly emphasized. After the lesson, the students were given opportunities to reflect on their experience and offer their own definitions of what freedom was.

During the activity, both teachers noted very strong reactions among the students. In a focus group, the second-grade teacher described her students as being, “distressed and outraged even though they knew they would get their turn [to play on the playground]”. In both classrooms students reflected on how they felt during the activity and the notion of fairness was applied to the experience by the students.  One child expressed dismay she had lost privileges even though she had been behaving well. This provided the teacher with the opportunity to explain that loss of freedom wasn’t related to one’s behavior and she reminded them how the family in the story didn’t do something bad to cause the loss of their home.

Another team designed a lesson involving a web-based, simulation activity in which students made choices for a woman escaping domestic violence in Nicaragua and seeking asylum in the United States. The simulation, The Walls We Don’t See (Public Radio International, 2017), follows multiple, true stories, of people leaving their homes as a result of violence, war, economic, or environmental degradation. Through the simulation, the students are asked to make decisions that impact the experience and ultimately granting or denial to the individual seeking asylum.

In preparation for the activity, students brainstormed a list of items they would take with them if they were forced to leave their homes. This prompted a discussion of how the children would feel if they were separated from their personal belongings, a favorite teddy bear or their favorite pair of shoes. In both a third and fourth grade class implementing this lesson, new vocabulary was introduced to students prior to the simulation. Students were encouraged to use the new vocabulary (ie. detention center, coyote, border control) in their discussions about the outcomes of the simulation. The students were highly engaged in the simulation activity and as a class, were very concerned with the outcomes of their choices for Maria (the woman in the simulation). After the simulation concluded, the children wrote letters to Maria sharing about a time when they also had to make a difficult decision.

What we learned

I think taking from the idea of freedom, that was so big and so complex, breaking it down and doing a simple activity where some kids were able to play and some didn’t,
Preservice teacher

Across all four classrooms, the children expressed common themes as a result of the lessons. Their ability to make connections between a global crisis and their lives was one big learning outcome. One child shared about his own family’s experience immigrating from Turkey and that he knew parts of his country were dangerous. Another boy shared about his father’s detainment when entering the U.S. from India. One fourth grader even informed the class that she knew many people were trying to gain entrance to the U.S. because she watched a TV show called, 90-Day Fiancé, where contestants seek to obtain visas by becoming engaged to a U.S. citizen.

In a fourth-grade classroom, the preservice teacher who went to Lesvos showed pictures of beach debris and refugee camps. When the image of a child’s shoe left behind on a beach came on the screen the students were stunned and asked, “This happened to children?” She described this as a moment when the student’s interest shifted and they could connect more to the stories. The in-service teachers were both able to make curricular connections to immigration, diversity, and culture and one had previously had a parent speak to the class about fleeing Cuba. This helped the children make connections between the woman’s story and the story of Maria from the simulation activity.

The students also made emotional connections with the refugees. One second grade student exclaimed “I felt like I was invisible, I kept thinking they couldn’t even see me!” Similarly, another child stated, “I felt like I wasn’t a part of the class anymore.” Making these connections helped the children develop empathy. One teacher asked the students based on what they experienced, would they do anything differently if the game was played again. Some of the students suggested they could help others who were denied freedom (i.e., couldn’t exercise class privileges), not feel so excluded by sitting next to them while drawing. In another instance, when a young boy learned that many of the refugees sought to build new lives in Germany, he explained that his mother often traveled there for work and asked if she could volunteer to help the refugees. Several third-grade students were so moved by the online simulation that during their recess they conceived of a plan for a hotel to house and aid refugees. After recess, they presented their teacher with a slide show outlining features the hotel would offer such as service in an individual’s home language to help them in their transition. These examples also demonstrate an emerging sense of civic responsibility, which is a primary goal of social studies education.

Teacher Reflections

I underestimated their intelligence and their ability to do something like this. I was nervous that they weren’t going to make connections to the story…. they took it much further than I anticipated. Preservice teacher

“If you’re telling the truth, not putting a spin on it, you’re okay. This is reality, I’m not telling them anything that isn’t true.” 2nd Grade Teacher

All of the teachers, both in-service and preservice, learned something from creating and teaching the lessons. One of the largest “ah-ha” moments for the preservice teachers was a better understanding of the capacity young learners have for engaging in a social justice-oriented dialogue. The preservice teachers struggled with trusting that young people would be able to actively participate and make connections to topics about freedom and immigration. By working alongside more veteran teachers, they recognized how significant these kinds of lessons are for children, and that to be a social justice educator, truth and discomfort may go hand in hand.

It also became clearer to all participants, how infrequently these kinds of dialogues occur in elementary classrooms. When discussing why this is the case, the reflections ranged from doubting the developmental capacity children have to engage in difficult discussions, to the time and curricular demands of teaching in the current high stakes, standardized testing school culture. Fear of reprisals by administrators and parents was also a common reason shared for why these topics aren’t taught more often. The veteran teachers were able to offer the preservice and novice teacher with models of teaching for social justice and inspiration. The idea that truth should always be taught became a significant theme for all of the teachers.

A final, more practical point was that opportunities to link global issues with an elementary school social studies curriculum do exist. Immigration is a common topic covered, as are colonization and civil rights. The veteran teachers described connections they helped the children make between the refugees fleeing the middle east and the Native Americans who were displaced by European colonists. By incorporating concepts of justice and human rights, the teachers are helping the children critically assess past and current policies and to begin to form their own beliefs on the kind of society they want to live in.

Conclusion

Teaching about issues of immigration and freedom are not topics that should remain invisible in our classrooms. The comments made by the children clearly illustrate that they have background knowledge of these issues, even negative aspects such as detainment and that not everyone who desires to come to the U.S. can. The children were also able to feel empathy for those who were denied freedom or faced difficult struggles. In the current political context, developing both the critical thinking skills to question the diverse contexts with which people migrate, as well as the empathy to connect to the experience of others, are valuable pursuits for teachers. Children can understand the ideas of justice and are capable of making personal connections to these topics. Concepts of freedom, security in one’s family, home and favorite belongings, are accessible to young audiences. The teachers experiences demonstrate there are opportunities in elementary social studies to push the boundaries of traditional topics and teach lessons that deal with important global and social issues.

References

Bialik, Kristen (2018) ICE arrests went up in 2017, with biggest increases in Florida, northern Texas, Oklahoma. FactTank. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/02/08/ice-arrests-went-up-in-2017-with-biggest-increases-in-florida-northern-texas-oklahoma/

Harwood, A. M., & Hahn, C. L. (1990). Controversial Issues in the Classroom. ERIC Digest.

Klein, Ann & Smith, Mitch (Aug. 22, 2018) Killing of Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa Inflames Immigration Debate, The New York Times, retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/us/mollie-tibbetts-cristhian-rivera.html

National Council for the Social Studies. (2010). National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework For Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.

Parker, W. C. (2006). Talk Isn’t Cheap: Practicing Deliberation in School. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 19(1), 12-15.

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