Pay more attention to international studies, educators urge
By Craig Colgan
12/24/02 - In 2000, the Olathe, Kan., public school system planned to build a new high school. District leaders wanted to attract students to it without redrawing the boundaries for the three existing high schools and upsetting parents and students.
So the district decided to go directly to the community to find out what type of school structure and academic programs would best entice students attending the other crowded schools to choose the new one.
District leaders were surprised by what they found.
Many parents, students, and representatives from business groups and higher education who participated in focus groups spoke about the need for a school that would provide real-world experiences and stress ethics and citizenship. But there was one content area that was requested over and over: international studies.
The dialogue that resulted was so positive that the district decided that each of its four high schools would offer new international studies and beefed up language programs.
"In our research we learned that 60 percent of the companies in the Kansas City metro area have an international business component as part of their business plan," says Jan Heinen, director of middle-level education for the 22,000-student district and leader of the design team for the international studies component.
The program begins next fall. Students will be able to focus on international relations, international business, or international arts and culture. An exchange program with a school in China is being set up.
Students can earn endorsements, or notations on their transcripts, that they completed a fairly rigorous academic program in real-world issues, in addition to their required coursework.
"We hope to have great numbers of students graduate with this focus," Heinen says. "And we think it will be a powerful thing in their lives, as voters and citizens."
Knowledge gap
Recent reports have once again revealed how little American students are learning about the world outside their own country's borders.
U.S. youths age 18-24 scored second to last among nine countries in the National Geographic-Roper Global Geographic Literacy Survey. Only Mexican students had lower scores.
The study found that less than half of the American respondents could identify France, the United Kingdom, or Japan on a world map. The survey also revealed young Americans were decidedly ignorant of such issues as which nations have nuclear capabilities and where the Taliban were based.
"If our young people can't find places on a map and lack awareness of current events, how can they understand the world's cultural, economic, and natural resource issues that confront us?" says John Fahey, president of the National Geographic Society.
A recent report by the National Commission on Asia in the Schools finds American youths "lack even the rudimentary knowledge of world affairs and cultures beyond our borders that is necessary to lead America in today's global environment." The commission is co-chaired by Michigan Gov. John Engler and former North Carolina Gov. James Hunt.
Exchange programs
But when it comes to international studies as a focus in American schools, there are good signs, too. More schools are turning to "internationalizing" their curriculum, like the Olathe school district, as not only a way to inject vitality into a 21st century curriculum, but also as a great way to reach out to their communities.
This country's oldest U.S.-China high school exchange program is still going strong. The Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange Program, based in Newton, Mass., works with private foundations and has raised an endowment which has kept the exchange operating since 1979.
Each fall, a group from China visits schools in Newton, and two Newton teachers and five students live with Chinese families. American teachers teach English while in China, and students attend classes in language, history, art, math, science, and martial arts, all in Chinese.
The exchange has inspired the Newton school system to make a strong commitment to teaching Chinese language, history, and culture. Students can study Mandarin as early as third grade and continue all the way through high school.
Several school districts throughout Massachusetts have adopted similar programs, including Boston, Brockton, Brookline, Belmont, and Dover.
George Brown, director of the International Studies School Association at the University of Denver, says he is encouraged for several reasons:
• There are more public international studies-focused magnet schools across the country than ever before.
• Teachers he speaks to are passionate about teaching international issues.
• There is plenty of new research that suggests incorporating more international studies leads to academic improvement in all areas. Researchers at Northeastern University say that teaching students to write Chinese even leads to higher SAT scores.
But Brown says teachers tell him any efforts to broaden their schools' international offerings face many challenges, not least of which is the No Child Left Behind Act with its emphasis on raising test scores in reading and math.
"Many teachers are finding ways to work in an international emphasis anyway," Brown says. For example, if a district is focusing more on reading and writing, why not read and write about China, Russia, or Afghanistan?
Policy priorities
At a speech to the States Institute on International Education in the Schools in Washington, D.C., in November, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige outlined four federal policy priorities related to international education:
• increasing U.S. knowledge and expertise about other regions, cultures, languages, and international issues;
• sharing with other countries information about U.S. education policies and practices, providing leadership on education issues, and working with international partners on initiatives of common benefit;
• learning more about the effective practices and policies of other countries to improve teaching and learning in the United States;
• supporting U.S. foreign and economic policy by strengthening relationships with other countries and promoting U.S. education.
Although Paige offered few details, he says the Education Department is ready and willing to assist local districts who want to add more international programs.
"We are ever mindful of the lessons of Sept. 11, one of which is that all future measures of a rigorous K-12 education must include a solid grounding in other cultures, other languages, and other histories," Paige says. "In other words, we need to put 'world' back into 'world-class' education."
Paige cited the U.S.-China eLanguage project, which uses technology to assist teaching English and Chinese to students in both countries, and the Friendship through Education program, which promotes collaboration between American children and children in predominantly Muslim countries.
"If we wait for state policies to change, we lose half a generation," said NSBA Executive Director Anne Bryant at the Washington, D.C., conference. "The key is integration, integration, integration. If we integrate and embed opportunities for international studies into what we already offer at the local level, then we succeed."
International education "cannot be seen as one more thing we have to do. This should be presented as one way to make the learning experience richer," Bryant says.
That is the approach taken by the Olathe school district. District leaders visited other schools that offer international studies programs, and learned about successful efforts to connect students with business partners in the community.
"Our community understands that many problems we will face in the 21st century will have only international solutions," Heinen says. "We are excited about this and so is our community."
The American Forum for Global Education in New York City publishes a self-assessment tool for teachers, curriculum developers, and administrators on international education. For information, visit www.globaled.org.
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| Reproduced with permission from the Dec. 24, 2002, issue of School Board News. Copyright © 2002, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789. |