Teaching Resources

Useful resources that provide curriculum content, background information and novel ways of incorporating global perspective in teaching.

The International Centre for Distance Learning (ICDL) based at the UK Open University maintains an online database of publications related to distance learning. A sub section is dedicated to Distance Education in Developing Countries. It provides interesting material for ELearning practitioners working in developing countries.

AskAsia is a "K-12 resource of the Asia Society," is wonderful site for teaching materials, including everything from a glossary to maps, to full lesson plans on all things Asian. With separate pages for Teachers, Students, and Administrators, there is a lot here for everybody. The Instructional Resources page is a nice place to start, but be sure to check out the photographs and the maps in the Student's page.

usAID's Global Education Website

tells us: "The site supports the AusAID Global Education Program which aims to raise awareness and understanding among Australian school students of international issues, development and poverty, and to prepare them to live in an increasingly globalised world and to be active citizens shaping better futures." Covering topics from food security to globalization, water rights to human rights, this site is amazingly teacher-friendly. Topics are presented using actual case studies which, in and of themselves, are profound resources.

The Choices program is a set of curriculum resources for teachers brought to us by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. Particularly interesting is the Teaching with the News page, where we find lesson materials on such international topics as " Iraq: The Challenge of Securing the Peace," "Considering Genocide in Sudan," and "U.S. Role in the World-Four Futures and Online Ballot." Many of the lessons have a "policy options" approach in which students engage the merits and demerits of a set of policy options developed by the Watson Institute.

Commanding Heights is a compelling, even tempting, site for quick, thumbnail descriptions of people, places, and issues for students of globalization. Commanding Heights is provided by PBS, the public broadcasting corporation in the United States.  The site gives "a comprehensive overview of global economic history from the beginning of the First World War through 2002," and is aimed at educators, college students, and high school students."  Take a look at the free features, Countries, People, and Ideas. 

Dary Cagle's Home Page offers challenging political cartoons could be fruitfully used in class as it features less plans and more. The following quote introduces the site: "Welcome! This is the Teachers' Guide for using the Professional Cartoonists Index web site in your classes. We have developed lesson plans for using the editorial cartoons as a teaching tool in Social Sciences, Art, Journalism and English at all levels."

Frontline/World is a website, rich with diverse resources for teachers. Part of the PBS intereactive, this website is ideal for secondary school teachers. These sources allow techers to illustrate parallels between current and historical events and to build critical thinking based on a global context.

Future State site is intended for students. This site offers news, resources for parents and teachers, and information designed for young people to understand the US Department of State. Check out the "Parnts and Educators" page for a variety of activities.

Global Envision i s an interesting website rich in readable, student-friendly texts on a variety of compelling topics related to globalization. Global Envision believes that the "more that we understand about the free market system . . . the better our chances that the global economy will thrive for the prosperity of all," and the reading here certainly reflects that economic perspective. The Articles menu lists topics such as Environment, General Globalization, and Social Entrepreneurship, each with several related articles. Also check out the Interviews on the Learn page.

Global Exchange is a website dedicated to "promoting environmental, political and social justice."  The site has a dizzying array of resources, everything from "Fair Trade" coffee, to detailed regional information on various issues, to a very compelling page dedicated to the World Bank and the IMF. Attractive and navigable page layout and brief texts provide good thumbnail sketches of the issues and are amenable to classroom use. There is always a historical and current context provided, as well as several "get involved" opportunities. Be sure to look at Global Economy 101, a very comprehensive and politically engaged exposition of "the critical issues pertaining to corporate globalization."

The Global Teacher Project is the site to seek if you are interested in how educators in the United Kingdom are tackling the problem of internationalizing their pedagogies.  The Global Teacher Project is an effort "to support the inclusion of a global dimension in course content, and to promote global education throughout the training of teachers." The website functions primarily as a set of resources to help teachers "develop courses with a global dimension." Scroll down to Websites on the Resources page for links to such sites as Educating for a Sustainable Future, Citizenship Education, and Anne Frank.  Also interesting is Multiverse, a project whose website "provides teacher educators, student teachers and trainees with a wealth of resources that focus on enhancing the educational achievement of pupils from diverse backgrounds." 

The set of "History, Education, and Western Civilization" articles on the Foreign Policy Research Institute website's Articles by Subject page may both inform and incite discourse on several important topics, useful either for teachers working collaboratively, or among students and teachers in a classroom. There are critical assessments of how we do, or should, teach about Japan, terrorism, history, and the war in Vietnam. This is clearly from a particular USA perspective, as the topics and opinions indicate. Be sure to check out the "Contents of Past Issues" of the Orbis "a journal of world affairs." Most editions posted here have at least one article you can read for free.

Illinois State Board of Education Learning Standards

National Councihttp://static.ncss.org/files/art/ncsshome.gifl for National Council for the Social Studies provides a Teaching Resources site for educators. Social studies educators teach students the content knowledge, intellectual skills, and civic values necessary for fulfilling the duties of citizenship in a participatory democracy. The mission of National Council for the Social Studies is to provide leadership, service, and support for all social studies educators.

Oxfam's "Cool Planet for teachers" web site is "primarily intended for teachers in England, Scotland and Wales and their students. It aims to bring the global dimension to the classroom, using the concept of Global Citizenship." In particular, the "Global Citizenship" section has a lot of excellent social studies resources. Be sure to check out the "Links" page; it is profound.

Peace CorPeace Corps contains a lot of information under the pages "educators" and "students" for a lot of information. This introduces the website: "The World Wise Schools program offers engaging stories, classroom resources, and ideas for service projects based on the experiences of Peace Corps Volunteers around the world."

PBS teacherSource websites offer a variety of teacher resources and quick access to your most relevant content for subject, grade level, and location.

A source for global and international education materials for classroom use and professional development, the American Forum for Global Education provides leadership to strengthen the education of our nation's youth by fostering the ability to think creatively, analytically, and systematically about issues in a global context.

http://www.globaled.org/issues/

The Teaching Globalization page on The Globalist website provides a free set of articles, reports, and editorials related to--believe it or not!--teaching about globalization. Look at the menu on the left of the page for regional groupings of resources, such as Countries & Regions. Also interesting are the "Globalization and . . ." topics on such things as Children, Culture, Music, and Sports. Each of these links leads to a page of stories, editorials, and reports on the topic. The Globalist is the "daily online magazine on the global economy, politics and culture," and also of interest.

Teaching Resource for High School and College Classrooms

The United Nations' Cyberschool bus features an astonishing array of resources for teachers of all kinds. There are impressive materials for teachers as well as students. Start here, no matter what topic you are preparing lessons for.

Youth Zone - Teachers