Implementing a global education curriculum: case studies of two teachers

Abstract

With increasing societal emphasis on global awareness, new programs, in the form of global education, are being designed and implemented in the curriculum of many public schools. The role of the teacher in this process is pivotal. This research, utilizing a case studies approach, was designed to illuminate the implementation by two teachers of a global education curriculum. -- The study posed three questions as the basis for the research: 1) What are the teachers' definitions of global education? 2) How did the teachers reach these personalized definitions? and 3) How do perceptions of global education affect their curricular and instructional choices and subsequently their classroom actions? -- Methodology for the study was guided by a symbolic interactional perspective; not only was the goal to observe teachers' actions in specific cases, it was also to understand how these actions evolved in relation to the specific context. Data was collected from two high school teachers of global geography through in-depth interviews, classroom observations, and analysis of related documents. -- Analysis of the data indicated that these two teachers were influenced by a number of factors when implementing the curriculum for the course. Their perceptions of global education along with other concurrent factors impacted on their curricular and instructional choices. These other influences included: availability of resources, teachers' professional career stages, student characteristics, personal goals for the course, and personal attitudes and beliefs. Although both teachers were presented with the same curriculum and both shared some common characteristics (such as career stage and school context) these factors influenced each teacher in different ways. In the end, the implementation of the curriculum for this global education course differed greatly between these two teachers reinforcing the notion that teachers are curriculum agents, interpreting and reconstructing that curriculum based on their personal and classroom context.