WHAT ARE THE KEY GLOBAL ISSUES OF OUR TIME?

When we implement a global education program, we must necessarily address within its curriculum the critical global issues that we humans confront in our time -- and the coming future. It is the realization that we must resolve these transnational global issues, that has forced even entrenched nationalists to understand and accept the need for a global focus on education and planetary problem solving.

Some educators prefer to address these global issues within the framework of an existing curriculum, infusing certain issues into the scope and sequence of existing courses (environmental degradation within Biology or Earth Science; energy issues within Economics; nuclear proliferation within Government or Political Science, etc.) One advantage of this approach is that it creates minimum disruption to the existing curriculum. In some situations this is all that a global educator can do, given the inflexibility of many curriculum planners.

It is most often better, however, to create a dual-pronged approach: infusing critical global issues within the existing courses, while at the same time creating a separate course on "Global Issues" or "Global Perspectives." This provides maximum flexibility in the selection of issues to be studied and allows sufficient time for the analysis and discussion of difficult, complex issues.

When teachers communicate and collaborate with one another with respect to the consideration of global issues in the classroom, students have the advantage of confronting issues from different perspectives and from different levels of analysis.

Whichever method is followed, the question remains: Which issues should be included in the curriculum? Some local or regional flexibility is needed. In the USA, for instance, the war in Afghanistan may constitute a national priority; in East Africa, piracy in the high seas might take precedence. Nevertheless, there is a core of issues of inescapable global significance that should be a part of every global curriculum. I will identify below my own selection of the top five current issues of global significance, at the same time that I invite all readers to comment and amend the list based on their own experience and opinions. There is no magic to the number "five." In effect, it is an arbitrarily small number to encourage discussion and hard choices in the selection process. The real list for a course on Global Isues could be two or three times longer.

In my opinion, a first, unifying core for all other issues considered must be the ABSENCE OF RESPECT FOR BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS IN TODAY'S GLOBAL REALITY. The analysis and discussion of a human rights paradigm will establish an ethical foundation on which to weigh all other issues considered. The definition of this human rights paradigm is made easier by the existence of many United Nations agreements and treaties that most nations of the world have accepted as a standard of acceptable human behavior -- even if in practice most nations violate multiple provisions of these accords on a regular basis.

At the very core of these UN agreements are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Establishing this human rights framework should be an initial priority of any global education program.

A second unavoidable issue is the ongoing revolution in gender roles that we can refer to as "THE FEMALE AWAKENING" -- possibly the greatest social revolution in human history. If we consider the extent of its direct and indirect impact on the entire human species and the restructuring power of the ongoing changes on all human societies, we must take note and help our students understand these revolutionary changes taking place in their lifetime. While it is true that this revolution is not affecting all human societies in the same measure and at the same time, it is also obviously true that no human society will escape the impact of the "Female Awakening."

The male domination of human society is over. The power of communications and transportation infrastructures will ensure that all corners of the world will soon have to adapt to the new human reality. The questions that still remain relate to the specifics of how the change will take place and the societal accommodations to the new order of gender equality. Not even the bulwarks of religious dogma will be able to withstand the impact of the female awakening.

A third issue of paramount importance is the dehumanizing impact of POVERTY, HUNGER AND DISEASE in the world. Poverty is at the core of hunger and disease -- as well as of overpopulation. Our students must confront the inhuman realities surrounding this issue. In previous posts we have discussed the need to develop "basic human empathy" to help our students understand and feel the destructive impact of abject poverty.

A fourth issue of paramount global importance is the ongoing and impending CLIMATE CHANGE, including global warming. Since so much has been written on this subject, I will not expand further at this point. Let us simply agree that -- given the scientific data easily available -- any teacher who at this point believes that climate change is not real, or that human impact has not been a significant contributor to the crisis, is not a teacher who should be teaching in a global curriculum.

My fifth issue is NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION. There are few things that political opponents around the planet normally agree on. However, whether we ask leaders of the USA, Russia, the EU, China, India or Pakistan, nuclear proliferation will regularly be mentioned as the top danger in an already dangerous world. We should listen and take note. The USA remains the only nation to have actually used nuclear weapons against an enemy's population; this unenviable record may be shattered if vertical and horizontal nuclear proliferation are allowed to continue.

While most national leaders are fully aware of the nuclear proliferation problem and have taken some limited measures to slightly diminish the dangers, the entrance of non-state actors --such as terrorist groups -- into the picture significantly complicates the future. If humanity is unable to deal with this problem, we are facing unimaginable disaster.

Those are my personal picks for the "top five" major global issues of our time. I realize that there are many others which could have been selected. One major barrier to the peaceful resolution of these issues is the lack of truly supra-national institutions that can speak and act for all humanity. We currently have an excess of nationalistic aggression and dogmatic fervor in the world. To counteract them, we have only international institutions (such as the UN) which provide a forum for all nations -- but are often not empowered to act effectively on behalf of all humanity. We must do better, either by creating new, truly supra-national organizations, or expanding the reach of the United Nations.

At the same time, we must develop better channels to listen to the voices of the weak and the oppressed, on whose behalf these supra-national organizations would labor.

The realization that we must move forward as a human species and seek trans-national solutions to global issues is seen in the partial success of the EU and other bodies; however, we must not delay. There is no guarantee that the dangers will wait for us.

All readers are invited to review my selections and make their own additions, subtractions, or changes as their knowledge and experience dictate. Feel free to discuss your views and agree or disagree in the "comments" section following this post.

I shall be looking forward to your comments!

A BRITISH APPROACH TO GLOBAL EDUCATION

Let us today take a look at global education in secondary schools from the perspective of British global educators.

In the U.K., the secondary curriculum includes the cross-cultural component, "Global Dimension and Sustainable Development." This dimension is organized around eight key concepts which apply to all the subjects in the secondary curriculum.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: The awareness that in today's world we are not only citizens of a nation, but also citizens of the world. This self-perception is at the core of today's global reality.

INTERDEPENDENCE: The awareness that human actions on one side of the planet impact other humans around the world. Whether we talk about food production, climate change or nuclear proliferation, we are all inter-connected and interdependent to a degree never before seen in the history of the planet. Unilateral, self-centered actions by short-sighted nation-states are not likely to advance the human prospects on the planet.

SOCIAL JUSTICE: As humans develop morally and ethically, we recognize that principles of social justice (such as those embraced by most major religious denominations) should define human behavior around the world. This is a key link between global education and religious beliefs. Too often, the members of religious denominations appear to ignore their own religious leaders' calls for justice and peace. Global educators should, within the scope of the curriculum, clearly identify such links and build on their implications.

HUMAN RIGHTS: The quest for human rights for all is a never-ending struggle. We now have in our possession the key document to advance such universal rights: the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document has been endorsed by practically all the nations of the world. While we can bemoan the wholesale lack of compliance around the planet, global educators should use it as a core document signifying our present best judgment of the rights of each and all humans; it is an indispensable document, and one of the hallmark achievements of humankind.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION: While destructive armed conflict was never a good thing in human history, the nature of present conflict -- exacerbated by the explosion of warfare technology -- makes it imperative that we develop alternative, effective means to resolve conflict. Reliance on international agreements and a supra-national legal apparatus with global reach and effective enforcement powers should in time replace the "cow boy" mentality of individual nation states. Much progress has already been made on the visualization and the conceptual framework that would support such legal structures, but progress lags in the implementation of the obvious necessary steps, largely due to the hesitation of the powerful countries of the planet.

DIVERSITY: Humans have an unending capacity for prejudice. Possibly stemming from our evolutionary past, we tend to distrust, demean and fear others who are not exactly like us. This attitude might have helped some human groups survive and procreate in our evolutionary past, but is today a key barrier to understanding and cooperation. The sciences, particularly biology and psychology, should take a leading role in explaining the "oneness" of humankind. Our oneness as human beings is overwhelmingly superior to the very minor attributes that by nature or nurture make us different. A global educator must combat the human tendency to feel superior to others and build on the foundations of science to ensure that our students embrace diversity and eschew prejudice and discrimination of all types.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Could there be any doubt about our descendant's amazement of our present passive acceptance of hunger, poverty, malnutrition, sickness, lack of education, and so many other socio-economic ills? Won't their reactions be similar to our own amazement at the evils that our ancestors accepted as normal? The statistics of under-development are so horrifying that we calmly face a daily silent holocaust. "Silent," because we do not want to think or talk about it -- but that should be the tell-tale indicator that our present situation is not acceptable under any ethical or moral code known to humankind. The complex problem of under-development must be understood and squarely faced by our students.

VALUES AND PERCEPTIONS: "We see what is behind our eyes," says an ancient Chinese proverb; we perceive what our mind tells us to perceive. The real world outside of our own minds must battle our expectations, preconceptions, schemas and conditioning before it can be accepted by our minds. The reality outside our minds must battle the desired reality within our minds before it can gain admission to our cognitive awareness. This is a battle often lost. Psychological foundations of perception, conditioning, cognition and critical thinking will help our students to understand the real world.

Our value systems create "macro-schemas" through which all perceived reality is "sifted." That which is not acceptable to our value system is rejected. Awareness of this peculiar human cognitive process should help our students come to terms with reality and human rationality (or lack thereof.)

Global educators should consider starting their courses with these considerations before moving on to other complex issues.

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Go to http://www.globaldimension.org.uk/ for much more of this valuable contribution from British global educators, including specific ways that you can introduce a global dimension into any subject that you teach. We would also like to invite educators from around the world to share other national perspectives and schemas of global education.