MEASURING GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP DISPOSITIONS IN NEW TEACHERS?: A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE

Steve R. Sider, Ph.D.

Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada

Measuring global citizenship dispositions: Nailing jello to a wall?

What do we mean by global citizenship v.a.v. the university (Rhoades & Szelényi, 2011)? Complex and contested (Shultz, 2007)

Attitudes? Perspectives? Dispositions? (Hanson, 2010; Lunn, 2008)

How do we develop global citizenship dispositions in teacher candidates? (Reimer & McLean, 2009)

How do we measure these? (Morais & Ogden, 2011; Robbins et al, 2003)

Context: Internationalization at a mid-size Canadian university

Intercultural effectiveness certificate Global Studies, Contemporary Studies International partnerships New academic strat plan New FOE-school board and faculty focus on global citizenship-core courses on equity and diversity-integration of GCE in courses-glocal - workshops, discussion groups, awareness/action-service opportunities, experiential learning-university-school-community partnerships e.g. Haiti digital mentoring,

first nations arts program Emerging question – So what? Now what? i.e. is this making a

difference? How do we measure the impact of GCE on teacher candidates?

Methodology: Mixed

Inquiry projects - teacher candidate action research

Artifacts Interviews Focus groups Participant observer Global Citizenship Scale (Morais

& Ogden, 2011)

Activities

The Breadwinner

Ellis, Deborah. (1991). The Breadwinner. Groundwood Books. ISBN 0-88899-416-8 (pbk.)

The Breadwinner is an action-filled book about a little Afghan girl named Parvana who lives with her once rich family in a bombed out apartment building.

Pre-Taliban, her parents were both highly educated professionals , but the Taliban’s strict codes of conduct for women, and the later arrest of her father, leaves the family with no means for survival.

Disguised as a boy, and with great courage, Parvana finds a way to provide for her family, while dealing with the devastation all around her.

Not only is this book an exciting read, but it offers a rare and accessible portrayal of Afghani culture. Parvana’s family is depicted as loving, educated, supportive and highly equitable between the sexes – a nice contrast to post-Taliban values which North Americans have erroneously come to associate with all Middle Eastern peoples.

The Breadwinner is recommended for students in grades 4 to 8, but is an enjoyable read for people of any age.

Evaluation:1. Illustrations:

2. Story Line:

3. Life-Styles:

4. Relationships :

5. Heroes:

6. Effects on Self-Image:

7. Author’s Perspective:

8. Loaded Words:

9. Copyright Date:

10. Consider Literacy, Historical, and Cultural Perspectives:

Based on 10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children’s Books For Racism and Sexism

Book Talk: One Hen is an inspiring story about a young Ashanti boy named Kojo, from Ghana, Africa who had to quit school to help his widowed mother collect firewood to sell at the market after his father died. This story is inspired by the life of Kwabena Darko, who shares a similar story with Kojo. This book tells the story of what happens when Kojo borrows a few coins from his village’s collective fund to buy one hen. He walks two hours to a chicken farm in a neighbouring village, and he finds a plump and brown hen with a bright red comb that he wants to buy. He purchases the hen with the hopes of selling some of the eggs she lays in order to buy more hens. And Kojo does buy more hens, and more and more of them, until he has enough money to return to school. Kojo receives a scholarship to an agricultural college to learn more about farming and soon Kojo’s farm grows to become the largest in the region. One Hen is a story about how one small loan, and one small boy, can make a difference in the world. Read this book to find out how Kojo did just that.

ONE HEN: HOW ONE SMALL LOAN MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE

WRITTEN BY: KATIE SMITH MILWAY ILLUSTRATED BY: EUGENIE FERNANDES

Milway, K. S. (2008). One Hen: How one small loan made a big difference. Toronto, ON:Kids Can Press Ltd.

Overall Rating: Analysis:

Illustrations: Great illustrations that depict life in Ghana, however some students might get the impression that everyone living in Africa carries things on their head.

Story Line: Excellent story line about how one small loan, and one small boy can make a large difference in the world. This is a moving story of courage, cooperation, and community that could be effectively incorporated into any classroom. The only thing that students might get the impression is that all African children must quit school to help their family earn money.

Relationships and gender roles: Warm and caring relationships between family members and community. Both men and women in this story seem to take equally active roles caring for their families and earning money.

½

I just finished my first Adobeconnect meeting with a teacher in a SN [six nations] classroom in B [city]. Interestingly, we have both been studying the Titanic and so the kids will be chatting about what they've been learning…We've also sent them information to access our rooms Kidblog so that the kids can chat in between live connection times.

CD

Significance, Next Steps

Making jello - benefits of a collaborative, integrated, foundational approach to GCE

Internationalization at the program level – whose definition/interpretation of global citizenship (Andreotti & De Souza, 2012)?

Staking a claim for GCE with TCs - consciousness raising and acting for social justice (Arias in Tye, 1999)?

Future directions: Interdisciplinary? Cohort? Long-term impact (Bosworth et al, 2006)?

A copy of this presentation is available on my blog or email me: ssider@wlu.ca

www.glocalperspectivebuilding.blogspot.com