Description of the Global Education Cohort

Global education has become increasingly significant in the 21^st century. In this program, teacher candidates become active members of a supportive, committed, and collaborative community of learners. Professors and teacher candidates learn how to confront difficult social, cultural, political, educational and curricular issues, challenge prior assumptions, seek to become critical and reflective practitioners, and use digital technologies to connect and inquire deeply into local/global issues.

Teacher candidates have opportunities to create, implement, and evaluate community service learning projects with leading educational researchers and professors within their coursework. They are encouraged to identify and seek out opportunities to integrate global perspectives into course assignments and during practicum placements. Candidates may also choose to organize special events, initiate innovative projects, and become involved with local, national, and international communities.

What does it mean to become a global educator?

Becoming a global educator is an ongoing process, which involves:

• Learning with and from others, from decolonizing perspectives;
• Developing awareness of the lenses through which we view ourselves, others, and the world;
• Challenging assumptions;
• Critically engaging with current issues from multiple social, cultural, political, and historical perspectives;
• Participating in diverse learning communities to inquire deeply into local/global issues across the curriculum, such as: environmental sustainability, inequalities, migration, peace and justice, and human rights;
• Drawing on the affordances of digital technologies to connect, communicate, and      collaborate in-between local and global contexts; and
• Taking action as a responsible global citizen.

 

Photo Info: Inuit storyteller and children’s author Michael Kusugak shares his work with professors and teacher candidates in the Faculty of Education. This event was co-sponsored by Dr. Patricia Palulis, the ICI Cohort, and the Global Education Cohort. February 2017.