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Introduction to Global Interdependency

The following power point presentation was designed to introduce students to global issues and problems that they will be investigating in this unit. The slides have been deliberately chosen to provoke discussion and questioning of some of our basic assumptions about global interdependency.

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Overview

Candace Saar of the Galileo Educational Network and two teachers, Rob Pirie and myself Kathy Tucker, from Strathmore High School designed this unit. We met once a week for four or five weeks to talk about and plan the unit with Candace. During our preliminary discussions Candace pushed us really hard to think about and focus on "What Matters" for students to understand about global interdependency. Originally we planned to do just one study on the effects of Greenhouse gas emissions but as we continued to work with Candace the project rapidly expanded in scope. We revisited our curriculum documents and determined that the key concepts that needed to be addressed included the following:

    • Economic growth and development have led to increased global interdependence.
    • Responsible world citizens need to be aware of this interdependence and its effect on quality of life.
    • Because our world is made up of many diverse cultures there are many different perspectives on global issues.

We wanted to students to confront these diverse perspectives and begin to understand how we depend on others in this world and how the choices that we make impacts what happens to the other inhabitants of this planet. Because we wanted to provide students with opportunities to explore a variety of issues and viewpoints we decided to design an activity that would simulate a Model United Nations. Students chose countries and were required to represent their country's viewpoint on the issues being debated at our model U.N. Debate focused on the following six global issues:
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    • The Environment
    • Industrialization and Urbanization
    • Fair Trade Practices
    • The Status of Women
    • Foreign Aid and Debt Forgiveness
    • Peace and Security

Of course one of the first problems that we encountered was finding reliable information on the topics that was current and reflected a broad range of perspectives. This is where technology was invaluable as the Internet provided a wealth of information. While Rob and I gathered up print and video resources related to the issues, Candace gathered online resources related to each of the topics. Obviously this project would have been very limited if we had to rely solely on print and video for our information.

Not only were our students able to examine current global issues using rich authentic accounts but they were also able to meet several of the technology outcomes of the new ICT program of study while doing so. In retrospect I think that students exceeded the following critical and creative thinking goals that were specified in the curriculum guide for this topic:

    • Analyze examples of global interaction
    • Evaluate various perspectives on global questions and issues
    • Evaluate the effect of economic development and technological advancement on quality of life
    • Present alternative solutions to selected issues

This was evident during the Model U.N. debates that they all students participated in as well as through the Take Action Projects that they undertook. I was surprised at the depth of understanding that my students' displayed on these very complex global issues. I was also impressed with the passion and conviction that they displayed while immersed in their Take Action projects. This study has been one of the most satisfying projects that I have ever undertaken with my students and when we surveyed our students at the end of this unit they agreed that it was indeed worthwhile. The student responses to our survey were compiled and are available by following the link

Student Responses to Global Interdependency Project.

Social Studies Program of Studies Relationship

This project is meant to meet the objectives as outlined in our POS for Topic B.

Key Concepts & Understandings

By guiding the students through semi self guided study where independent research and inquiry is necessary, our students are expected to understand that:

-diversity & disparity exist in the modern world

-nations are interdependent

-national interests affect international relationships

-there are factors that affect economic development

-development is a complex issue influenced by local and international factors

-quality of life is composed of a variety of factors & is defined from different perspectives

-quality of life is increasingly affected by issues of global concern

-there are issues of common global concern

-solutions to global concerns often require international dialogue

-there are potential solutions to global concerns

Skills Objectives

This project also meets the skill objectives such as:

-process skills where they acquire, evaluate and use information and ideas to develop and evaluate proposed solutions

-Communication skills where they express and present information and ideas where they present information effectively in a group forum

-participation skills where they interact with others by participating in an informed way in discussions on global issues that affect society

-inquiry strategies where they consider alternative perspectives, make decisions and substantiate choices regarding global issues

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes

In regard to the use of technology for in this project, we developed our web site for the students to use as their guide. We have included the overview, the assignments, a calendar of daily activities, rubrics for evaluation and a section for each of the six issues which include video titles, readings and links to useful sites both general and specific.

The following ICT outcomes are addressed:

C1 students access, use and communicate information from a variety of technologies

C2 students seek alternative viewpoints

C3 students critically assess information accessed through the use of a variety of technologies

C6 students investigate and solve problems

C7 students use electronic research techniques to construct personal knowledge and meaning - this is our ultimate goal - that students will have a personal investment in our world.

As part of the Take Action project in particular, some students achieve the following:

P1 students will compose, revise and edit text

P2 students will organize and manipulate data

P3 students will communicate through multimedia

P4 students will integrate various applications

P5 students will navigate and create hyper linked resources

P6 students will use communication technology to interact with others

Samples of Student Work

Student Responses to Global Interdependency Project

Opening speech from Model U.N. Debate

 

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© 2002 Kathy Tucker, Rob Pirie and Golden Hills School Division #75
© 2002 The Galileo Educational Network Association GENA