Chapter 4 of The Global Educator explores the impact of global learning. I found one of the more significant topics covered in this chapter to be the idea of teaching students to be open-minded. Being open-minded is so important, especially in today’s society. It is more than just listening to others’ experiences and opinions; it is understanding those experiences and opinions to gain a better understanding of the world.
Teaching our students to be open-minded lends a big hand in making them into global citizens. We can teach our students to be open-minded by exposing them to other students from around the world and providing them with the opportunity to cultivate relationships with them. Their personal interactions and collaborations with others of different cultures and backgrounds enables them to breakthrough and look beyond stereotypes that so many of us unknowingly hold. When we present our students with these types of learning opportunities, it allows them to not only learn from and respect the beliefs of others, but to also challenge their own. When we encourage our students to look deeper into their own thoughts and beliefs, they begin to develop a sense of self-reflection, something very important for global learning.
Equally as important, open-mindedness leads students to begin understanding that we do not always have to agree with one another, but we can still respect the thoughts and ideas of others. When students can respect one another and coexist even in the event of differing opinions, the result is a more positive and peaceful learning environment for all. Stephen Opanga from Kenya states that this “leads to environmental sustainability, because students care about posterity”. When students are aware of what is going on around the world, they no longer see the world through a two dimensional lens. They become more likely to want to lead and effect change in their own schools and communities. They begin to understand that they’re capable of impacting the world in a positive way. In my opinion, teaching others to be open-minded is one of the most amazing things an educator can instill in their students. When we come together and start to care about things that are bigger than ourselves, we can truly change the world.
After finishing this chapter, I decided to research some different ways to teach open-mindedness in the classroom. I came across this helpful article that goes over some “Teaching Open-Mindedness Dos and Don’ts”.
Some important tips I took away:
- Teach students to analyze multiple perspectives to understand how different people view different issues and make decisions
- Have students develop a habit of examining primary sources
- Do not make overgeneralizations about other cultures or parts of the world
- Identify and address stereotypes through media and interaction
- Have students interact with individuals from other cultures – directly teach cross-cultural skills in communication and collaboration
- Teach about prejudice and discrimination within and across diverse world regions
