Yvonne Luce, a trainer of professional development courses for teachers, shares some practical ideas for classrooms to help students develop progressive thinking in today's international age.
Young people are growing up in a complex and challenging world. As teachers, we want to play a key role in equipping our students with the skills they need to become more proactive and confident. The best way to do this is to incorporate fresh ideas into our lessons that include real-world issues with an international dimension. Here are some approaches you can try in your classroom with your students.
Learn about people and diversity
This activity helps develop students' communication skills and confidence through describing themselves and listening to others.
How to do:
Working in pairs, students interview each other to find out what activities, foods, books, movies, games, sports they might like or dislike (this can be an extension of the discussion). Then ask students to create an “identity box” to represent the person they interviewed. On the outside of the box is a photo or drawing of the person – these can only be obtained when you talk to each other to get information.
The boxes that students make can be placed side by side to represent the whole group as a way to highlight the diversity of a community. People share their interests, feelings and hopes through these activities. In addition, this conversation activity is also a useful way to learn English communication for beginners, helping students gain more vocabulary and confidence to integrate into today's international environment.
Creating connections between the regional and global
This is an activity about the origins of all the things students use every day. You can start by looking at the labels on the clothes, food and technology you use and start asking questions like: What is the story behind my cell phone, banana, football, shirt? What is it made of? Where did it come from? How was it made? How did it get to me? What happens when I stop using it?
This series of questions acts as a way to highlight interdependence, and also opens the door to research on supply chains, human rights, labor, and a plan for building a sustainable life.
Với sự khám phá về cuộc sống xung quanh, học sinh sẽ có thêm rất nhiều kiến thức trong các lĩnh vực khác nhau. Đây là điều cần thiết trong quá trình hội nhập, vì hợp tác quốc tế luôn cần đến những người có sự hiểu biết để cùng nhau trao đổi, bàn luận, đưa ra giải pháp cho các vấn đề mang tính toàn cầu.
Phát triển phương thức tiếp cận một cách cởi mở
Giáo viên có thể chụp ảnh các địa điểm hoặc đồ vật quen thuộc xung quanh trường học, từ nhiều góc độ khác nhau: dưới tầm mắt, từ trên cao, v.v... và đưa ra cho học sinh những câu hỏi để đoán địa điểm hoặc đồ vật trong các bức hình ấy. Thông qua hoạt động này giáo viên có thể gửi đến học sinh thông điệp: nhận thức của chúng ta có thể thay đổi tùy thuộc vào góc độ chúng ta đang nhìn và nhìn toàn bộ một sự việc là rất quan trọng trước khi đưa ra nhận xét.
Để hoạt động trở nên phong phú, giáo viên có thể yêu cầu học sinh nghĩ ra các câu đố của riêng mình bằng cách cắt xén và chỉnh sửa ảnh quảng cáo trên tạp chí để thách thức nhận thức và lập luận của các bạn khác.
Khuyến khích việc suy nghĩ sáng tạo
Use videos or stories to get students to look at issues from different perspectives. Read aloud lines related to the movie, for example: "The destruction of the rainforest will bring wealth,... it is illegal to cut down trees,... new roads bring new opportunities,... drilling for oil will benefit the community,... what happens in Ecuador has nothing to do with me."
Ask students to underline statements that they agree or disagree with and give them time to prepare an explanation for their choice. The other students are allowed to change their answers if they wish, after hearing different perspectives from their peers. This type of activity helps students think about complex issues and realize that sometimes changing their minds can be a good thing.
Help students take more action
Once young people start to look at a global issue, they often feel the need to do something to solve the problem. Creating an animation, a short film, a dance or a play to share information and knowledge with a large community is a meaningful and deeply humane thing that students often do for community and global issues.
Organizing a swap meet or trade show booth to sell used clothes to those in need. Planning for a wider range of areas and creating more useful activities for students to participate in, etc. are useful lessons to give students the opportunity to take on leadership roles, develop their self-confidence and sense of responsibility.
Teachers in the UK often learn about how students can connect their school with schools abroad through the Connecting Classroom programme and consider how a global mindset can improve their school. This in turn motivates them to develop and act more for themselves and their communities.