Putting the World into World-Class Education

1
Putting the World into World-Class Education

• Presentation by Michele Anciaux Aoki, Ph.D.
• World Languages Day
• University of Washington, Seattle
• March 3, 2006

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Why World-Class?

• Post 9/11 A Sense of Urgency
• Feeling vulnerable
• Many questions
• Why didnt we know in advance?
• How can we avoid future attacks?
• Varied responses
• The War on Terror or
• Renewed effort to educate our citizens about the
  world

3
How to Frame the Issue?

• Education feels like a long-term solution
• People want security NOW
• So many problems with education basics
  (reading, writing, math, science)
• How to get attention for global education?
• How to end perception of Americanmonolingual?

4
What is Needed?

• Global Knowledge
• Including world history, geography, and
  international economics
• Languages
• Acquiring key cognitive and academic skills, as
  well as insight into another culture
• Global Perspectives
• Underlying respect for and interest in different
  perspectives
• Educating Leaders for a Global Society
• http//internationaled.org

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What is World-Class Education?(courtesy of John
Stanford International School, Seattle)
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What is World-Class Education?

• Venn Diagram graphic was developed by the John
  Stanford International School to define what it
  means to be an international school
• The concept of Global Perspective comes from
  Globaled.org gt Guidelines for Global and
  International Studies Education Challenges,
  Culture, Connections

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Building Coalitions

• National Coalition for International Education
  http//internationaled.org
• States Institute for International Education
  (held each fall in DC)
• Washington State Coalition for International
  Education http//internationaledwa.org
• Top down and Bottom up

8
Creating a Vision

• Rich examples
• Goldman Sachs prize for Excellence in
  International Education
• John Stanford International School
• International Education And Resource Network
  (iEARN)
• World Affairs Council Global Classroom, Facing
  the Future, YES! Magazine, etc.

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Abundance Model

• Avoid creating fear or sense of defeat (what
  were NOT doing)
• Focus on what we ARE doing, whats possible, why
  its important
• Make it doable
• Its about integrating global perspectives across
  curricula (not adding more classes)
• Exchanges are both physical and virtual
• Emphasize the benefits of starting earlier
  (especially with languages)