Global Perspectives on Education With Global Educator, Dr. Scott Imig

 Which professional journals or online sites do you recommend to stay on top of global education?

Current Issues in Comparative Education – from Teachers College at Columbia University The Journal of Studies in International Education Some of the better US education journals also print articles on international issues – these include Educational Researcher (AERA’s journal) and the Journal of Teacher Education (AACTE’s journal)

Given our country’s changing demographics and our classrooms expanding across the globe, if teachers become “cross cultural” leaders in the classroom, then what character traits must they demonstrate?

With the increasing diversity in our nation’s classrooms and the increased globalization of American education, I would argue that having teachers with the right dispositions matters more than ever. These dispositions include, but are not limited to, being open- minded, inquisitive flexible, and socially conscious. It is no longer enough for teachers to be skilled in their pedagogy and knowledgeable of their subject, they must also assume the role of advocates for their students and the communities they serve.

What are benefits for the community where one lives, when the school district offers global education?

Education is the long-term and immediate answer to nearly every problem America is facing. Creating a classroom, a school, a school system that produces globally aware and globally connected students will lead to a community with a vision. Just as a top-notch university can transform a city, a high-quality school system can produce a critical mass of citizens who understand the financial, educational and cultural opportunities that globalization can bring. Global education can change the fortunes of any community.

If President Obama named you Secretary of Education, how would you address global education?

 A few starting points –  I would push for funding to provide opportunities for far greater numbers of high school and college students to study abroad. I would pressure universities to make international experiences much more common and expected. At the preschool level,

I would push to fund immersion programs and at the elementary level, I would attempt to require intense foreign language study for all K-5 students. (Districts that only offer foreign language in the high schools do a disservice to the students they serve.) I would also push for the establishment of a large-scale teacher exchange program. Providing opportunities for our nation’s teachers to spend a semester or year teaching in different parts of the world will have a profound effect on their outlook and their practice. Having foreign teachers in our schools will have a direct positive effect on our students.

 If you had a crystal ball and could look into the future, what do you see as the rewards and the consequences of a nationally designed curriculum that has global education embedded ?

Benefits: generations of students who realize that the world is small and their future competition and colleagues are not sitting next to them but are sitting at desks in Delhi, Helsinki, Beijing, and Muscat. It will create enlightened citizens who push their communities and country to places we can’t even imagine. Negatives: While national curricula in any area provide an opportunity to measure student growth and compare students across states, standardization in education often leads to questionable curricular practices. Teaching for global education, in many systems, would likely become a series of dull lessons tied very closely to those national assessments.

 What do you see as one of the most important aspects of being a global educator?

A willingness to continue learning and an openness to rethinking what you already believe.

Dr. Scott Imig is the Interim Associate Dean for Outreach Alliances for The Department of Educational Leadership at the Watson School of Education at UNC-Wilmington. Thank you, Dr. Imig, for sharing your ideas and inspiration with us !