Advocating for International Education

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Advocating for International Education

• What is an International Studies School?
• How Do We Describe What We Do?

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The Goals of ISSA Member Schools

• Increase international understanding
• Instill cultural awareness
• Embrace cultural differences
• Emphasize fundamental similarities
• Help young people survive globalization

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Idealism at the Heart of Our Mission

• Imagine
• Strive
• A World of
• Peace
• Justice
• Equality
• We Are The World

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Our Methods

• Flags
• Food
• Festivals
• Fashion
• Famous People
• Fluff

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Beyond the Five Fs

• Deepen our curriculum
• Avoid inadvertent reinforcement of stereotypes

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Shelter in Kenya
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Shelter in Kenya
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Beyond the Idealism

• Our primary mission is to provide an excellent
  education for all children
• We have no particular ideology or political agenda

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Loose vocabulary and conceptual chaos

• International Studies
• International Relations
• International Education
• Global Education
• Global Studies

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The Pitfalls of Not Having A Clear Message or
Methodology

• Cultural Relativism
• Moral Relativism
• Anti-American Peaceniks
• One-Worldism

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International R US
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The Origins International Relations

• Interaction among states
• Comparative politics
• International finance and trade
• Security studies military strategies and
  tactics
• International law

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Disciplinary Focus of International Relations

• Subset of political science
• The Social Studies Civics
• Foreign Languages and Area Studies

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International Studies Beyond IR

• How people interact at the macro level

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Economics

• Diverse Economic Systems
• Trade flows
• Financial relations
• Exchange rates
• Currency fluctuations
• Economic assistance foreign aid
• Economic development
• Economic theories of distribution

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World History

• Relations among empires
• Greeks and the Phoenicians
• Goths and the Romans
• Ottomans and the Europeans
• British and the Americans
• Trading relations among civilizations and
  countries
• The Silk Road
• The China Clippers

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World History

• Intercultural contact
• Spain and the New World
• Immigration into the United States
• Japan and the West
• Power politics and war
• Peloponnesian War
• World War I
• United Nations and Iraq

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Social and Intellectual History

• Religious Piety vs. Secular Humanism
• The Renaissance
• The Enlightenment
• The Columbian Exchange
• Imperialism and Colonialism

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American History

• The Founding of the Republic
• Western Expansion and Indian Removal
• The Civil War
• World Wars
• Cold War

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International Education

• Beyond international studies
• An approach to education in all disciplines
• A context
• An attitude

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World Literature

• Windows on culture
• Window on history
• Exploration of the human condition

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Visual and Performing Arts

• Visual
• Art
• Architecture
• Performing
• rama
• Dance
• Music

• Cinema
• Popular arts
• Cartoons
• Comic books
• Advertisements

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Philosophy

• What constitutes the good life? (ethics)
• What is beautiful? (aesthetics)
• What is a good society? (politics)
• What do we know and how do we know it?
  (epistemology)

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Religion

• Beliefs
• Cosmogony / Creation
• Accounts of a great flood
• The great stories at the foundation of culture
• Rituals
• Washing or cleansing
• Pilgrimage
• Diffusion of religion
• Spread of Islam
• Forms of Buddhism in Asia

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Life and Earth Sciences

• Biology
• Wildlife migrations
• Environmental protection and sustainability
• Resource management (forests, watersheds, etc.)
• Earth Sciences
• Geology
• Meteorology
• Astronomy

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The Difficult Disciplines

• Some disciplines dont seem to fit within an
  international or global approach
• How do we integrate those subjects (and the
  teachers who teach them)?

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Mathematics

• Geometry
• Measurement
• Statistics
• Demography
• History of numbers
• Ethnomathematics
• Math curricula from other countries (i.e.,
  Singapore Math)
• Cultural conceptions of mathematics

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Chemistry and Physics

• The Concepts are Universal
• The Applications are Global
• Chemistry
• Composition of the atmosphere affected by human
  activity
• Physics
• Fluid dynamics of the Nile River and the
  measurement of force against the Aswan Dam
• The community of scientists is global

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Technology

• Technology as (not just) a tool for opening
  windows on the world
• History of technological invention is global
• STS Science, technology, and society

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Physical Education and Sport

• The Olympic Games
• Baseball
• Soccer
• Basketball

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What Does An International Studies Curriculum
Impart?

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Attitudes
• Multiple perspectives
• An awareness of diversity around the world
• Empathy for others, for those who are different
• An interest in other places and peoples

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How Do you Sell International Education?

• Planetary
• Universal
• Big Picture
• World-Class

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What International Studies Schools are NOT

• Narrowly focused
• Not only the social studies
• Not only world languages
• Revolutionary
• Trivial
• A Fad
• An Add-on
• For the Talented Gifted ( White)

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Our Greatest Challenges as an Association

• Clarifying our Curricular Content
• Rethinking our Pedagogical Approaches
• Honing our Message