Spring - National Peace Corps Association

Developing Global Citizens: A Study of IB Teachers in
43 Nations by Merry M. Merryfield, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University, merryfield.1@osu.edu
How do teachers prepare their
students to be citizens of the world
Recently I worked with the International
Baccalaureate (IB) in The Hague to examine
what teachers in the IB Diploma
Programme (secondary school level)
are doing day to day to effect such outcomes.
Through online focus groups,
I and my research assistants—Tami
Augustine, Jason Harshman, Carolyn
Kaplan, and Melinda McClimans—led a
series of two week long threaded discussions
in English and Spanish with 126
IB teachers.
The online discussions addressed
these questions: What does it mean to
be a global citizen What are you doing
day to day to prepare your students to
think and act as citizens of the world
Below are some of the overall findings
and then I focus on one element that the
teachers identified as foundational but
rarely discussed in the global education
literature.
Findings
Analysis of the 14,000 plus postings
during the discussions revealed many
themes and issues that are found in the
global education literature. For example,
there was agreement among most of the
teachers that they:
1. provide their students with personal
cross-cultural and cross-national
experiences with people of other
cultures (through literature, work
with local immigrants, migrants or
refugees, online connections, and
travel);
2. model and promote values of respect,
empathy and caring for those
different from oneself;
3. teach and have students practice
skills in listening, inquiry, evaluation,
analysis of conflicting points
of view, and reflection;
4. select content that is international
in scope and provides opportunities
to develop understanding of global
interconnectedness, global issues
and perspective consciousness;
5. demonstrate how international
mindedness deepens students’ understanding
of their own culture,
history and current issues facing
their community and nation.
However, the major finding that
emerged in both quantity and quality
of discussion is one that is rarely mentioned
in the global education literature.
Open-mindedness was the primary
attribute that most of the teachers—no
matter from what country— described
as fundamental in developing globally
knowledgeable and engaged students.
Open-Mindedness
The teachers perceive the development
of open-mindedness as a complex
process that is both foundational (needs
to be sequenced from Pre-K on up) and
central unifying skill across the curriculum.
According to the teachers, it is
critical in literature and culture learning
and in learning about global issues
and world events. It is foundational
in developing habits of the mind such
as the ability to empathize, anticipate
complexity, overcome stereotypes and
recognize one’s own interconnectedness
with people, global issues and global
change.
The teachers used many phrases to
capture the centrality of open-mindedness
in their teaching. It was described
as the cornerstone of learning about
the world and its peoples because it
allows students to think beyond their
own cultural norms and consider the
perspectives and experiences of people
different from themselves, a process that
is critical to understanding the world.
Open-mindedness was identified as the
major building block, a central skill, and
the foundation that allows for understanding
the world’s peoples and issues.
It allows students to get beyond local
norms and perspectives and consider
those of others without prejudice.
So what does the term actually
mean to the teachers The words most
frequently used to describe openmindedness
place an emphasis on a
willingness to listen to, consider, think
about, or learn about ideas, norms of
behavior, and experiences different
from one’s own without assuming that
differences are negative. Others place
curiosity about the world and its people
and motivation to engage beyond their
comfort zone as key components in
open-mindedness.
Within the IB Learner Profile,
open-mindedness is one of the values
that IB learners strive to develop.
Open-mindedness is measured by the
extent to which students “understand
and appreciate their own cultures and
personal histories, and are open to the
perspectives, values and traditions of
other individuals and communities.
They are accustomed to seeking and
evaluating a range of points of view, and
are willing to grow from the experience”
(http://www.ibo.org/programmes/
profile/). We see these emphases echoed
throughout the conversations between
IB teachers.
According to teachers, open-mindedness
has to come first in the process of
developing global citizens. A teacher in
the United States commented: “Firstly,
one has to be open-minded and try to rid
themselves of any preconceptions or prejudices
toward one or more cultural groups.
I believe this is essential to thinking globally.”
An IB music teacher in China emphasized
that open-mindedness was
used to lay groundwork to examine
prejudices and beliefs about cultural
groups different than one’s own in order
to experience their music without
preconceived ideas.
One teacher in India stated: “Across
the age groups, teaching needs to be aligned
with the understanding of cultural context
and open-minded attitudes among students.
A necessary skill that enables and makes
students’ aware of happenings around him/
her.”
The essential nature of open-mindedness
in developing global citizens
is so complete that the teachers found
it difficult to think of a global citizen
without having open-mindedness as a
habit of mind. “I think a global citizen is
an open-minded person,” noted a teacher
in Mexico.
A teacher in the United States went
one step further to show us how class-
8 Global Education News, Spring 2013 www.peacecorpsconnect.org