Victoria Eickhoff, Retired
Momentum to prepare our students to graduate with global competence is growing. One of the stated outcomes of the Common Core Standards from the Council of Chief State School Officers is to produce students who can engage with texts that will broaden their “worldview.” The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has produced a “Framework for 21st Century Learning” that includes world languages as a core subject and supports the theme of Global Awareness as a thread through all core subjects.
This year the U.S. Department of Education published a document entitled “Succeeding Globally Through International Education and Engagement.” It promotes a systematic strategy toward incorporating a global focus into our education system. One of the main objectives stated in this document is to develop “global competencies for all students.” It states that college and career ready standards should include “knowledge and understanding of other countries, cultures, languages, and perspectives.” What do we teach in world language classrooms except “knowledge and understanding of other countries, cultures, languages, and perspectives?”
In this era of fund and program-cutting, how do we emphasize and promote the invaluable skills and understandings gained through world language instruction and learning in our schools? Berea High School in Berea, Ohio has promoted world language learning and global competencies through its Global Student Award. Graduating seniors are rewarded with a certificate that highlights their engagement with world language and world cultures. Berea High School has kindly shared their nomination form and award.
This summer the GlobalEd Network of the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio will be unrolling their Global Scholars Diploma which can be adopted by any school district. The Global Scholars Diploma supports the objectives behind the Common Core Standards, 21st Century Learning, and the objective of global competencies by the U.S. Department of Education. A Global Student Award or a Global Scholars Diploma is a tool that districts can use to consolidate, recognize, and reward the learning, activities, and world language proficiency of engaged students and strengthen the development of global competencies across the disciplines along with promoting the study of world languages.
Berea High School Global Student Recognition Nomination
References:
http://www.corestandards.org/
http://www.p21.org/overview
http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/internationaled/international-strategy-2012-16.html
http://www.escofcentralohio.org/Pages/Default.aspx
The Cardinal 