Expanding approaches to teaching for diversity and social justice in K-12 education: Fostering global citizenship across the content areas

TLDR

Educators must respond to a diverse student body and teach civic participation in a globalized society, yet despite state standards incorporating global awareness, little is known about what globally competent teachers actually do across subjects and grades. The study investigates the signature pedagogies of 10 in‑service teachers who teach for global competence across multiple content areas and grade levels. Using a qualitative multiple case study, the authors examined the teaching practices of these teachers in math, music, science, English, social studies, and language classes at elementary, middle, and high schools. The study identified three signature pedagogies—intentional integration of global topics, ongoing authentic engagement with global issues, and linking teachers’ and students’ global experiences to the curriculum—that provide concrete practices for teachers and policy guidance for districts and teacher education programs.

Abstract

Educators today must be able to respond to the needs of an increasingly diverse student body and to teach all students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for civic participation in a globalized, pluralist society. While state departments of education and national teacher organizations have begun to adopt global awareness in their teaching standards and evaluation tools, educators need to understand what globally competent teachers actually do in classrooms across subject areas and grade levels. This qualitative, multiple case study explores the signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005) of 10 in-service teachers in one southeastern state who teach for global competence in math, music, science, English, social studies, and language classes across elementary, middle, and high schools. We found three signature pedagogies that characterized globally competent teaching practices across participants: 1) intentional integration of global topics and multiple perspectives into and across the standard curriculum; 2) ongoing authentic engagement with global issues; and 3) connecting teachers’ global experiences, students’ global experiences, and the curriculum. These signature pedagogies provide visions of possibility for concrete practices teachers can adapt to infuse global citizenship education into their own contexts and for policies that school districts and teacher education programs can consider in preparing and supporting teachers in this work.