IIR Teaching Resources: Global Studies

Websites

AusAID's Global Education Website
"The site supports the AusAID Global Education Program which aims to raise awareness and understanding among Australian school students of international issues and to prepare them to live in an increasingly globalised world as active citizens." Covers topics from food security to globalization and water rights to human rights.

Commanding Heights
A compelling site for quick, thumbnail descriptions of people, places, and issues for students of globalization. Provided by PBS, the site gives "a comprehensive overview of global economic history" and is aimed at educators, college students, and high school students."

Frontline/World
A Web site, rich with diverse resources for teachers. Part of PBS interactive, this Web site is ideal for secondary school teachers. These sources allow teachers to illustrate parallels between current and historical events and to build critical thinking based on a global context.

Future State: US Department of State for Youth
Intended for students, this site offers news, resources for parents and teachers, and information designed for young people to understand the US Department of State. Check out the "Parents and Educators" page for a variety of activities.

Global Envision
An interesting Web site rich in readable, student-friendly texts on a variety of compelling topics related to globalization. Global Envision believes that the "more that we understand about the free market system . . . the better our chances that the global economy will thrive for the prosperity of all." The Articles menu lists topics such as Environment, General Globalization, and Social Entrepreneurship, each with several related articles. Also check out the Interviews on the Learn page.

Global Exchange
A Web site dedicated to "promoting environmental, political and social justice." Contains a dizzying array of resources, everything from "Fair Trade" coffee, to detailed regional information on various issues, to a very compelling page dedicated to the World Bank and the IMF.

Global Teacher Project
The site to seek if you are interested in how educators in the United Kingdom are tackling the problem of internationalizing their pedagogies. The Global Teacher Project is an effort "to support the inclusion of a global dimension in course content, and to promote global education throughout the training of teachers."

Oxfam Cool Planet for Teachers
"Primarily intended for teachers in England, Scotland and Wales and their students. It aims to bring the global dimension to the classroom, using the concept of Global Citizenship." In particular, the "Global Citizenship" section has a lot of excellent social studies resources. Be sure to check out the "Links" page; it is profound.

Peace Corps' World Wise Schools
Contains information under the pages "educators" and "students". "The World Wise Schools program offers engaging stories, classroom resources, and ideas for service projects based on the experiences of Peace Corps Volunteers around the world."

American Forum for Global Education
A source for global and international education materials for classroom use and professional development, the American Forum for Global Education provides leadership to strengthen
the education of our nation's youth by fostering the ability to think creatively, analytically, and systematically about issues in a global context.

Globalist
The "daily online magazine on the global economy, politics and culture." The Teaching Globalization page provides a free set of articles, reports, and editorials related to—believe it or
not!—teaching about globalization.

Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
Teaching guides for high school and college classrooms aim to develop the "analytical, reading and writing skills, using the work of international experts in the field of sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, history and geography exposes students to various worldviews, a central component of a well-rounded education."

United Nation's Cyberschool Bus
Features an astonishing array of resources for teachers of all kinds. Impressive materials for teachers as well as students. Start here, no matter what topic you are preparing lessons for.

Youth Zone
Great for history and social studies teachers. The "Teacher" section of "Youth Zone" is a nice set of Web resources from Canada's Human Security Web site, a site affiliated with Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Books

Globalization by Iris Teichmann (Smart Apple Media, 2004) is targeted at elementary and junior high school students. It attempts to define globalization, the rise of multi-national corporations and global debt, and the ethical and economic questions surrounding these topics at an understandable level for these age groups.

Globalize It!: The Stories of the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, and Those Who Protest by Brendan January (Twenty-First Century Books, 2003) targets upper level elementary and junior high school students. The book begins with a description of the “Battle of Seattle” in 1999 and proceeds to present arguments from both anti-globalization activists and pro-globalization enthusiasts that cover the history and missions of the organizations in the title, as well as the influence of companies like Nike and individuals like Michael Jordan, in presenting a somewhat simplified view of the process of globalization.

Travel the Globe: Multicultural Story Times by Desiree Webber (Libraries Unlimited, 1998) provides the reader with a wide variety of resources targeting the younger learner. The work includes resources for storytelling, music, lists of books to read aloud, finger plays, and crafts and activities that take the students on a trip around the world. The countries visited in this book include Australia, Brazil, the Caribbean Islands, China, Russia, Egypt, Ghana, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Vietnam, and the United States’ Native Americans. An author/title index and an index of activities provide excellent access to the materials found between its covers.

Global Winners: 74 Learning Activities for Inside and Outside the Classroom by Jan Drum, Steve Hughes and George G. Otero (Intercultural Press, 1994) is another excellent resource for international education. This work is also available electronically if your library purchases books from ebrary publishing.

Development, globalization and sustainability by John Morgan (Nelson Thornes, 2001) discusses the concepts of economic development and sustainability within globalization from a non-US viewpoint. Part of this work is dedicated to a broad overview of development in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. The author chooses one country from each of these regions for more in-depth treatment as well.

The Global Community, 1975–2000 by Pier Paolo Poggio, Carlo Simoni, and Giogio Bacchin (Chelsea House Publishers, 2003) explores how industrialization since 1968, especially in communication and information science, has transformed economic, political, and social structures. The effects of this transformation on developed and underdeveloped areas are discussed. The target audience for this work is high school students.

 

Upcoming Events

more events

Home | Teaching Resources | Professional Development | Services | Directory

©2006 The Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign