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A Look Inside the Classroom of the

Future

Students in San Francisco discuss global events.

Over the next generation, whether they work for corporations, small businesses,
government organizations, nonprofits, or other organizations, many U.S. employees
will move from working primarily with American colleagues, bosses, and customers
for American organizations in U.S. cities, to being part of global teams. As leaders,
they will use technology to bridge geographic divides, build organizations that
transcend borders, and work together with colleagues from around the world on
issues such as climate change, food security, and population growth -- issues that
require multinational teams coming together to effect change.

For those whose work is closer to home, the changing demographics of the U.S. will
mean that their colleagues, customers, and neighbors may look a lot less like them,
and have fewer shared histories than American colleagues, customers, and
neighbors have shared in the past.
The challenges today's students will face as tomorrow's leaders will involve working
more closely across geographic borders, and with people who have very different
backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences. In short, diversity and global citizenship are
our common future.
Will our children be ready, and is the education they're receiving today preparing
them for the world they'll inherit in a decade or two? Skills that globally competent
students will require to successfully navigate college, career, and life in the 21st
century include:

An appreciation for cultural differences

An ability to understand and consider multiple perspectives

Critical and comparative thinking skills

Problem-solving abilities

Comfort with ambiguity and change

An understanding of globally significant issues


Based on our work with more than 2,000 U.S. middle and high school educators on
building global competence, following are five core strategies that we've seen
educators adopt to effectively create the classroom of the future a classroom that
will build the necessary skills for educating globally competent students, and truly
prepare them to thrive as responsible global citizens in the 21st century.

1. Leverage real-world case studies.


It's highly empowering to middle and high school students when we ground
pedagogy and curriculum in case studies of significant global issues that have local
impact, and use them to encourage self-directed learning. Here are examples
of three case studies -- one on drought and desertification in Burkina Faso, one on
water issues in Bolivia, and a third on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Leveraging this kind of material and encouraging students to think deeply and
creatively about implications, parallels in their own community, and how they can
affect change builds strong critical thinking skills and global context. For additional
resources, check out National Geographic Education's case studies, such as this
one on critical issues facing marine ecosystems, or its Current Event
Connection page.

2. Dig into, rather than avoid, the complexity.


Teachers in classrooms that actively build global competence encourage students to
wrestle with the complexity of an issue, then design and implement solutions based
on the students' own research. This helps students build an appreciation for the
challenges of addressing both global and community issues. A teacher who
challenges and encourages students to be comfortable with changing environments
and circumstances simulates the realities of our deeply dynamic world. While this

can be disconcerting, when coupled with helping students understand that even
small actions can have a significant impact, it can be hugely empowering.

3. Regularly practice empathy.


An environment that places a high value on seeking out and leveraging a diversity of
perspectives, particularly those with perspectives that are controversial or
significantly different from the students' own, helps them build their "empathy
muscles." A great resource for educators to consult is Ashoka's Start Empathy
program, which includes an online course and supporting materials.

4. Use technology to enhance learning and empower students.


Students today have the incredible benefit of using technology not only to access
new ideas and global perspectives, but also to personalize and take control of their
learning. Every day there are new technology resources available to help educators
make their classrooms more global and connect their students to new ideas,
challenges, and resources that will let them dig deeper into what they're learning in
class. Sorting through all of these resources could be a full-time job, so consider
these technology resources to support and challenge your students, and to build on
your current curriculum:

Mystery Skype

Google Earth for Educators

Global Classroom Twitter Chats


In addition, here's a great Education World blog post on learning world geography.

5. Ensure that reflection is part of routine.


Reflection is regularly cited as a critical and important component of classroom
learning. When it becomes routinized is when educators and students see the most
benefit from it. Structured and frequent reflection, which students do both on their
own and with each other, helps them apply learnings to future work. Consider these
thinking and reflection routines from the Harvard Graduate School of Education's
Project Zero.
Building the classroom of the future -- a more globally competent, student-centered
learning space that engages diverse learners -- has been given a boost by recent
developments, including the Department of Education's International Strategy (201216) (PDF), outlining global competence as a key pillar of quality education; and plans
for the PISA assessments to include global competence in 2018. These represent an
important shift to a mindset where this type of learning is offered not just
intermittently, but ultimately valued and given high-level priority as something that's
fundamental to learning.
As you consider these five strategies, how close is your classroom, or your child's
classroom, to being a classroom of the future?

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