World News and ViewsDB 02/28/13

Recapping the Week

• In a whirlwind tour of the Gannon world, individuals in a course at Northeastern University expressed many A-ha’s, some- you-have-to-be-kidding, and ideas regarding the complexities of educationworldwide. Here are some of their insights…..(with commentary in smaller, colorful type)

• International education is important but how to teach it without bias? without offending people?

• Consider the movement of human populations and the increasing interweaving of societies. (footnote-World War II saw tremendous migration of heretofore

stable societies. In many parts of the world that are now in

disarray people broke bread together regularly. A large book, but an incredible one, is Tony Judt’s Postwar that outlines this migration.)

• Inclusion of international students is important for others to learn about cultures directly from those who live that culture.

• We need to start thinking about new ways to manage and govern the planet before the current systems atrophy.

• Yet, are we moving to one world culture as that theory proposes?

• Are the similarities a result of the domination of Western ideals?

• Or s it more like China that borrows from other educational systems?

• The Progressive Model as espoused by Spring can lead to a more organic curriculum.

• And what about the turn to professionalism in education rather than the liberal arts (here is a doozy from Britain )

• Which is a great segue to the fact we can’t avoid and that is it is all about money.

• Which then leads to a question about Asian culture, its hierarchy and group mentality. How might this affect innovation?

• Will, should, might short term study abroad catch on and help with internationalization as the short term is not so expensive or time-consuming? (unabashed commercial: CPS will again offer this summer a short-term field experience. Watch for the announcement. One trip is to Florence and the other to Kiev. These are part of an 8 week summer course. Details to follow.)

• The British influence is, well, covering a (former) Empire. How lasting is and will be that influence?

Faculty/Teachers• The Faculty/Teachers get a separate page as many

people commented the importance of giving faculty/teachers more opportunities to experience other places, other cultures. This may help with teaching tolerance and to be better cultural translators.

• Someone asked: are we giving professors and institutions an impossible task: to make sure students are receiving a global education.

• US policymakers and teachers must look outside our own borders in order to gain global perspective not only for education policy but also for teachingmethods and curriculum.

• How prepared and ready and ‘cultured’ are These individuals to lead international students and classrooms?

Julefrokost

• This was the tamest picture I could find.

• Interesting choice of word regarding outside organizations ‘manipulating’ the educational landscape towards one world education culture. The World Bank is accused of this regularly.

• And another point to ponder is in ‘as long as foreigners respect xxx social rules.’ an aside: Germans and

Americans rarely do this.

Some Questions

• What about systems where students are tracked to go to college or vocation? My question is- are we doing this in the US inadvertently via community colleges?

• Or, why don’t Canadians want to be ‘Americans’?

• Does internationalization in education overlap with social justice, accessibility, equity, either constructively or in conflict?

• Will Georgia Tech or a similar institution in India or China surpass brand names in the US?

• Would cultural sensitivity help stem fraternity racial epithets?

• Should we just plain be collaborating more? • And how could the US make changes to help differing cultures come together, learn together, and work together. Okay, I cannot resist this:

Great idea but we can’t get the House of

Representatives and the Senate to

come together……(end political statement).

Some observations• For anyone who has been to Singapore, and I had

the delight to be there three years ago, the Hawkers food is fantastic.

• Yet, someone who has been to Korea questioned Gannon’s ‘booking clubs’ to meet a partner.

• And the Danes do like themselves.• A great book (small) about India: Holy Cow by

Sarah Macdonald• And the focus in China is indeed on education.• The Irish do love their stories.• Turkey is, based on personal observation of young women choosing to wear the hajib, becoming less secular.

“an outsider trying to conduct business” (Gannon, 2013)

What if…

• The World Bank could help nations to develop school systems incorporating strengths from both education models. We could expect a better knowledge worker.

• We recognized the resources in our own backyard (Appalachia, Native Americans)

as valuable in partnership with experiences abroad.

Controversies• Pushes for math and science are important but they

don’t help students develop citizenship and teambuilding skills.

• Gender segregation• Political insensitivity (Tiananmen Square incident

is not talked about in Chinese schools or even in more ‘liberal’ Hong Kong)

• Separation of state, education and religion. (sometimes not so clear even in the US)

• What about people who resist internationalizing teacher education?

• Collaboration-style differences can ‘make it impossible to conduct effective… group work” (And then, there is technology……)

A Sense of an Ending and Beginning

•The most important lesson I have learned from this reading is to speak less and observe more with the intention of allowing others to take on more of a leadership role.•My ah-ha moment: take prominent pieces of cultures and break them down. These pieces have meaning to who these people are, how they function, what they value, and what makes them thrive or not thrive.

When you have time to read a novel

• To Kill a Mockingbird -US• White Tiger- India• Interpreter of Maladies -India• Kite Runner -Afghanistan• The Bookseller of Kabul (non-fiction) Afghanistan

• Istanbul (non-fiction) Turkey• My Invented Country (non-fiction) Chile• (please suggest others)

Thank you

• Incredible postings. I enjoyed reading each of them and I could almost hear some of the palpable ‘ah-ha’s.’