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International Comparisons
"American Exceptionalism" - Education Week 14 December 2011
"Globally competent students must have the knowledge and skills to :
Click here for the full discussion.
Click here to download "Educating for Global Competence" - Asia Society
- "created as part of the Council of Chief State School Officers’ EdSteps Project, in partnership with the
Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning"
http://asiasociety.org/node/8875
"International education is concerned with flows of people, ideas and things, and with the imagination, which is a potent and material social force in and of itself ... it forces us to reconsider the philosophical underpinnings of education as a national practice. In a world in which place remains important, but movement between places is the norm rather than the exception, neither geographical boundaries nor the history of those boundaries can bind identity. Diverse selves within and across nations are brought to the fore. The purpose and trajectory of education is thrown into question, as the notion of 'citizenship' (in the sense of citizenship bound to a particular nation-state), and its connection to the practices of education, is displaced. If the focus of national education was, among other objectives, the creation of the national citizen, then international education is concerned with analysing and ultimately moving this narrow notion of self based on national citizenship to a more global notion of self, built on and through multiple points of affiliation."
http://www.education.monash.edu.au/centres/mcrie/whatis.html
"a comprehensive approach to education that intentionally prepares students to be active and engaged participants in an interconnected world.
Understanding of a broad array of phenomena is enhanced and deepened through examination of the cultures, languages, environmental situations, governments, political relations, religions, geography, and history of the world. While definitions vary in the precise language used, international education is generally taken to include:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_education
"Our world continues to become increasingly interdependent. The environmental, social and economic challenges that we face are often global in scope and require collaborative solutions involving governments, businesses and organizations around the world. The well being of our society therefore depends on our ability to create and maintain positive relations with individuals, governments, business associations, community groups and academic institutions abroad."
http://education.alberta.ca/students/internationaleducation.aspx
". . . Ensuring that students acquire global competencies is critical to America's economic competitiveness, national security, and capacity to work effectively with other countries. Our graduates should be global citizens prepared to work on solving challenges that transcend borders, and they should be able to work well with people from diverse backgrounds, whether it is an individual who is a recent immigrant to the United States living in the community, or a business client or colleague located halfway around the world ... In a world that gets smaller everyday, a quality education must incorporate an international dimension - not as an add-on, but as an approach that is integrated across all subjects, from math and science and social studies."
Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education
“When we come out of the recession, we’re really going to be in jeopardy, because the educational gap between our work force and the rest of the world will make it very hard to be competitive. Already, we’re one of the few countries where 25- to 34-year-olds are less educated than older workers.”
Patrick M. Callan, President, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
Putting the World into World-Class Education: State Innovations and Opportunities
States have been working individually and collectively on initiatives to integrate international knowledge and skills into schools. This paper, published by Asia Society and the Council of Chief State School Officers, provides examples of state-led innovations to promote international education.
Math Skills Suffer in U.S., Study Finds
Foreign Funding for Foreign Languages
Though many students are exposed to foreign languages in high school, some parents want their children speaking second languages earlier in life. For that, many turn to private immersion schools. KJZZ's Tony Ganzer reports on one such school in Tucson that has caught the attention, and funding, of the German government.
America Scouts Overseas to Boost Education Skills
U.S. still feeling academically inadequate in face of evolving global competition
Wanted: punctuality, literacy and numeracy
Report Urges Changes in Teaching Math
American students’ math achievement is “at a mediocre level” compared with that of their peers worldwide, according to a new report by a federal panel
Finns have fewer academic pressures, outstanding scoresTwo Million Minutes
The brainchild of Memphis businessman Robert Compton, Two Million Minutes takes its title from the amount of time most students spend in high school absorbing, one hopes, enough math, science, literature and history to compete in an increasingly flat, competitive world. It contrasts [American students’] easy suburban lives with those of two Indian teenagers and two Chinese teenagers, making the case that the foreign students are just plain hungrier for success.
Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?
[A] lack of global awareness is the kind of thing that drives Susan Jacoby, author of “The Age of American Unreason,” up a wall. Ms. Jacoby is one of a number of writers with new books that bemoan the state of American culture.
What is International Education?
“international education [is] an education that prepares students to be active global citizens, at local and global levels, through language learning, cultural awareness and by training students to examine situations from a range of perspectives.”
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE
Language and international education are clearly in the public and national interest. Knowledge of other languages increases intellectual abilities and provides a window of understanding to other customs and cultures. Although once considered basic educational priorities, language education and international studies lack adequate support and recognition as essential components of today's school curriculum. Only with language competence can Americans hope to conduct effective trade policy, expand international trade, ensure the integrity of national defense, enhance international communication, and develop a truly broad-based education for all citizens
“Global interdependence demands that matters once viewed as local are now multi-national in scope and require a global perspective. We can’t rely solely on our domestic experience, but must focus on new dimensions of problem-solving demanded by international realities. This is true in politics, business, science, humanitarianism — any activity requiring human interaction. Cultural myopia persists not because of inertia or habit, but because of difficulty in overcoming it. People acquire personality and culture in childhood. If exposed to culturally distinctive ways of people from around the world, children can value their own culture while learning about new ones, increasing the potential for mutual respect. This helps to overcome frustrations in intercultural communication, a prerequisite to mutuality and achievement in a global community.”
Becoming Citizens of the World
The world into which today's high school students will graduate is fundamentally different from the one in which many of us grew up. We're increasingly living in a globalised society that has a whole new set of challenges. Four trends have brought us here.
Americans must educate ourselves to be better citizens of our world -- learning different languages and learning more about other countries and cultures.
Karen Hughes
US Under-Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs“I, Janet Napolitano, Governor of the State of Arizona, do hereby proclaim 2005 as “The Year of Languages” throughout the state of Arizona and urge all citizens to become familiar with the services and benefits offered by language education programs in our communities.”
Proclamation by the Governor of Arizona 8 July 2005
The United States should establish an international education policy to foster mutual understanding among nations, promote a world free of terrorism, further United States foreign policy and national security, enhance United Sates leadership in the world and other purposes.
Preamble to House Bill 100 of the 109th Session of the US Congress
Internationalization has been defined as education for an interdependent world. And although the world has always experienced interdependencies, the scope, pace and magnitude of the transformation of the world over the past ten years has created new and exciting opportunities for international linkages and a charge to educators to produce internationally proficient professionals.
International education encourages better relations among peoples of different cultures and encourages cross-cultural communication. In making institutions sensitive to other cultures, by globalizing the curriculum, students are given a window into their own richly diverse communities, and are able to critically evaluate today's connections of politics, commerce and civil society.
… international education advances learning and scholarship, builds respect among different peoples, and encourages constructive leadership in a global community.
Policy Statement of the NAFSA : Association of International Educators
"...Americans should make a serious effort to understand other cultures and learn foreign languages. Our interaction with the rest of the world must be a conversation, not a monologue … If our public diplomacy efforts are to succeed, we cannot close ourselves off from the world."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Language and international education are clearly in the public and national interest. Knowledge of other languages increases intellectual abilities and provides a window of understanding to other customs and cultures. Although once considered basic educational priorities, language education and international studies lack adequate support and recognition as essential components of today's school curriculum. Only with language competence can Americans hope to conduct effective trade policy, expand international trade, ensure the integrity of national defense, enhance international communication, and develop a truly broad-based education for all citizens.
Policy Statement of the Joint National Committee for Languages & the National Council for Languages and International Studies
"International education prepares American citizens to live, work, and compete in the global economy, and promotes tolerance and the reduction of conflict."
"88% of American college students believe international education will give them a competitive advantage in the workplace."
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, US Department of State, October 2004
Extract from the "Statement from Rod Paige", US Secretary of Education on International Education Week 2005
"In the same way, teaching our students about the world beyond the United States and encouraging them to travel abroad, allows them to find the common humanity that binds all world citizens. When we form meaningful relationships with our friends around the world, we can work together and cooperate with one another to eliminate ignorance, hatred, and violence. It takes courage and conviction to step into a culture that is different from ours, and to immerse ourselves in languages and traditions that are unfamiliar to us.
"Now, 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education, we have a different path ahead of us. In this new millennium, we truly live in an interconnected world. Although we have made great strides forward, we do our students a great disservice if we do not prepare them for a global environment by encouraging them to study foreign languages and cultures.
Rod Paige, Washington, DC, October 27, 2004
"No one who has lived through the second half of the 20th century could possibly be blind to the enormous impact of exchange programs on the future of countries..."
US President Bill Clinton
"International exchanges are not a great tide to sweep away all differences, but they will slowly wear away at the obstacles to peace as surely as water wears away a hard stone."
US President George Bush
"There is a flickering spark in us all which, if struck at just the right age...can light the rest of our lives, elevating our ideals, deepening our tolerance and sharpening our appetite for knowledge about the rest of the world. Educational and cultural exchanges...provide a perfect opportunity for this precious spark to grow, making us more sensitive and wiser international citizens through our careers."
US President Ronald Reagan
"Only by knowing and understanding each other's experiences can we find common ground on which we can examine and resolve our differences….As the world becomes more and more interdependent, such mutual understanding becomes increasingly vital."
US President Jimmy Carter
"The spirit of seeking understanding through personal contact with people of other nations and other cultures deserves the respect and support of all."
US President Gerald Ford
"International education cannot be the work of one country. It is the responsibility and promise of all nations. It calls for free exchange and full collaboration….The knowledge of our citizens is one treasure which grows only when it is shared."
US President Lyndon B Johnson
"[T]he exchange of students…should be vastly expanded.…Information and education are powerful forces in support of peace. Just as war begins in the minds of men, so does peace."
US President Dwight Eisenhower
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