Creating a Global Issues Curriculum: From Awakening to Empowering Empathic Action

Your Name and Title: Rob Ferrin: High School Humanities Teacher & Apple Distinguished Educator

School or Organization Name: Hong Kong International School

Co-Presenter Name(s):

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Hong Kong

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): Global Issues Curriculum Creators or Educators/Administration interested in developing Global Issues, service-learning infused courses with the balance of academic rigor and social conscience development.

Short Session Description (one line): To authentically engaged students in Global Issues courses, teachers must empowering them to action and creating empathic experiences.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

For over a decade, the Humanities Department at Hong Kong International School has taught an inter-disciplinary high school humanities course that focuses on worldview, global issues, service-learning and social conscience development. Through experience and academic research, an effective student-focused curriculum framework has emerged. Commonly coined service-learning, HKIS students are taken on a journey that closely models Joseph Campbell’s Heroic Cycle: they are called on a global adventure, approach and bridge empathic thresholds, study weighty and formidable challenges our world is facing, and are empowered into action as they bring back the “elixir”, their own personal positive action. Throughout the year, they network with other groups across the globe, travel throughout Hong Kong, in mainland China, and often other nearby countries as they seek to understand the complexities that face their generation.

Throughout this session, I will present what the key features of Global Issues education, how it can be modeled anywhere in the world, and the essential elements for eliciting empathic, empowered action from your students. Original academic research and anecdotal student reflections will be presented as well as a wealth of resources and proven pedagogy. Our ultimate goal? To seed the world with empathic activists, undaunted by pressing global issues.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

Replies

Co-Chair

Lucy Gray October 25, 2011 at 2:06pm

Thanks for your submission to present at the 2011 Global Education Conference. In order for your proposal to appear in the correct strand, you must tag it with anyone of these labels to reflect the Teacher, Student, Curricular or Policy strands: 2011Teacher, 2011Student, 2011Curricular, 2011Policy. It is fine to use multiple tags if you’d like, but you must select at least one. To edit your proposal, go to your proposal page and click on the Options button. Select Edit Discussion, and add your tags in the tag field below the body of your message. Make sure to click on Save when you are finished editing. You have until October 31st to make any necessary changes to your proposal.

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