Educating the Educators

Abstract

A field project was conducted in Thailand in the summer of 1998 to train an interdisciplinary and multinational faculty team about globalization using sustainable development as the project framework. The experiment sought to test the assumptions that international faculty collaborations in overseas projects would expand the members’ global awareness and that the project locale would also benefit from the introduction of a global approach to sustainable development. These assumptions were found to be valid, with qualifications. The fieldwork proved to be a decisive globally focused educational experience for all the faculty disciplines involved, although in sometimes unexpected ways; the sustainable development approach and its global linkages provided a welcome alternative planning framework for the local host institutions.