Globalization+Effects+in+the+Classroom+by+Carrie+Rodgers

 = GLOBALIZATION OVERVIEW =  The effects of globalization have forced the United States to re-evaluate how it will prepare its students to obtain the American dream. After all, the demographics of the United States are rapidly changing with a steady increase of international and immigrant presence. According to the Department of Labor statistics, the demographics within the U.S. have rapidly changed, from a mostly homogeneous Caucasian population in the mid-1980s to a rising heterogeneous minority population in 2006. The twenty-first century has introduced an influx of African-American, Asian, and Hispanic immigrants among the young labor force. During the past 25 years, the percentage of ethnic workers in the U.S. separated into three primary categories reveals the following: African-American presence has increased by nearly 1%, Asian presence risen by 2.5%, and the Hispanic presence grown by 4.8%. At this rate, “[i]mmigrants will account for as much as half of net population growth over the next decades” (Department of Labor). Most families move to the U.S. for a better education and embrace the opportunities to work and prosper. However, several issues surface when statistics show that the changing demographics reflect students who are not being properly prepared to enter the workforce due to a lack of being taught practical and relevant skills that translate into their adult lives. The percentage of U.S. working adults who strive to obtain college degrees and continue professional training and/or further education is waning. The U.S. is lagging in translatable work skills compared to other countries such as Sweden and the United Kingdom, both who show a remarkably high percentage of people who do, in fact, further their education or continue professional development training.

In order to combat this national problem and balance the glaring disproportion between the U.S. and the rest of the world, students in U.S. public schools need to be taught how they can contribute to the changing world. Students, regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, or citizenship, deserve the opportunities to make an impact with the skills and knowledge provided by teachers who share that vision. Adopting a macro-level perspective of the world and enabling our children to think critically about their individual influences can help shape perspectives on communities, near and far. Failing to address these issues – lack of appropriate language immersion classes, assimilation with emphasis on different cultural awareness and respect, minimal multicultural exposure – only further upsets the balance of unequal academic achievements between all race and classes.  .....................................................  =TREND OR ISSUE? = What is the phenomenon that has led to a shift in U.S. demographics? In a word, globalization. The concept of globalization is not a new concept. In fact, educators, administrators, politicians, and families have faced the effects of globalization for decades. Yet, it was not until the mid-1980s that globalization issues took a front seat in legislative reforms. Prior to then, globalization was only a blip on the list of priorities within the educational world, from the federal to the state level. Civil rights reform took precedence. However, over time, globalized issues began to surface. The U.S. economy began to withdraw from its isolationist mindset and expanded its arms into the international arena. The U.S. began to rely heavily upon imports from all around the world, establishing multi-national corporations and thus, sending its labor force into foreign territories. It is now common for students’ to move from one country to the next as their parents change jobs, get promoted, and pursue global opportunities. Technology also changed the way people connected. It has affected the lines by communication travels; it has erased the boundaries of national and international territories, allowing its people to disperse like seeds wherever the winds take them. Today, children are given the opportunities to begin elementary school in their native country, move to middle school in another country, and graduate anywhere around the world. However, the globalized effects on an interlinked world present as many issues as it does prospects. The heightened presence of international students in a single classroom poses a threat to successfully teaching them. Previously, getting students to achieve particular standards was simple because they were all American students, taught under generally similar national standards and with similar national expectations. Yet, the steady onset of foreign students in the classroom, complete with their own respective national and cultural influences, sometimes conflicted with the United States’ in several regards.

Language
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), English Language Learners (ELL)—“refers to students being served in appropriate programs of language assistance (e.g., English as a Second Language, High Intensity Language Training, bilingual education)”—make up a significant percentage of the student population in public schools across the country. NCES 2010 data shows the greatest percentage of ELL students migrate to large U.S. cities on the East and West coast with a marginal number of ELL students in Midwestern and central states. However, it is strongly likely that the percentages will shift as migration patterns adjust. The importance of an increasing number of ELL students prompts a change in the way teachers develop their teaching approach to all core subject areas. Previously, teachers were ill-prepared to teach bilingual curriculum, especially to the rising Hispanic and Asian immigrant population. They did not know or speak a foreign language nor did they know how to develop a teaching style that complemented these international students. Yet, plenty of resources have developed, surfaced and are readily available to aid teachers in their venture. Bilingual textbooks are now commonly found in school districts, which help students feel more comfortable in a foreign arena.

Cultural Awareness
Teachers were also unprepared to handle the cultural differences within a classroom, differences that mainly exhibited themselves strongly through student behaviors and actions. If a child does not feel comfortable in his/her school or feels as though he/she cannot relate to his/her peers, it makes academic achievement much more challenging to achieve. In fact, schools in Long Island began to see how their failure to integrate foreign students into their schools led to student segregation. Hispanic students tended to stay within a comfortable and familiar cultural circle as well as Asian students and so forth. In order to combat the segregation issues and highlight cultural awareness and tolerance, several Long Island school districts implemented a mandatory multicultural curriculum, which integrated classes that taught middle school students about other countries’ cultures, language, and daily living. The decision to incorporate a multicultural environment into school is, fortunately, flexible, depending on the school district and administrators. “[M]ost districts [in Long Island] have chosen to train teachers to incorporate multicultural themes into the regular program rather than setting up special classes. Some districts, like Southampton, have changed curriculums to include the points of view of different cultures” (Katz, 1996).

In My Opinion
Although, I grew up in a predominantly homogeneous small Pennsylvania town in the 1980s, my parents afforded me the opportunity to enroll in an international girls’ boarding school, which boasts a reserved population of female students from all around the world. Attending school in such a diversified setting opened my eyes to different languages, cultures, and provided a sense of acceptance among those students who would be considered “different” during that time. It is especially important now to teach students how to tolerate, accept, and warmly embrace other cultures considering that these other cultures are no longer so far removed from us. We are surrounded by diversity. I do believe it is crucial that children learn that the world is large, but they have the ability to change and improve it with our help as concerned and competent teachers. As an adopted child who had to quickly learn English (or sink trying), I experienced first-hand, the culture shock that tens of thousands of immigrant children face in classrooms around the country. However, I also learned that overlooking the academia or replacing it for a multicultural curriculum will not be effective. Students need to be exposed to both. Multicultural awareness is valuable, but it is not a sufficient tool to sustain young minds as they grow into adults and enter the labor force. Globalization is a remarkable trend. It offers opportunities that were once considered impossible, but it is the educators’, parents’, and community’s responsibility to prepare our children to become not only good duty-abiding citizens of the U.S., but also outstanding, contributing members of the world. “Overall globalization and its effects on teachers and the world of education can be summarized by saying that it has exposed us teachers to a greater range of races and nationalities, forced us to change the way we teach to meet each student’s needs and allowed technology to become readily available to our schools” (Bradford, 2012). ** Proposal Addressing this Issue: **  ...................................................... = = = ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY  = **Bradford, S. (2012). [] Effects of Globalization on American Education and it's Educators Website. ** -- Stephen Bradford is a middle school teacher who has experienced the challenges and opportunities of an increased diversified student population in his classrooms. He talks about the issues that immigrant students often face when starting a new school such as language barriers and cultural differences, two factors that sparked the creation and distribution of bilingual textbooks. Bradford also discusses how technology has been greatly affected by the cultural diversity among students. His own lessons have incorporated technological mediums like Skype to show his students how inter-continental communication is simple and relevant to the unit. **J olly, A. (2009). []. Globalization Teaching and Curriculum Website. ** -- This blog openly presents the responsibilities that teachers and administrators have in preparing students not only the fundamental subject mastery but also the principles of "global consciousness" and "global citizenship". After all, more children are growing up with dual-citizenship. Educators need to make it a priority to prepare and modify a curriculum to enhance students' awareness of global communities and their effects within them. ** Katz, D. (1996). ** []. **M**ulticultural Education: Immersion Lesson for Students. -- The N.Y. Times article clearly articulates how multicultural awareness is becoming a priority within some schools in the U.S. A few innovative Long Island school districts have implemented a multicultural awareness through either integrating multicultural courses into their standard curriculum or to entirely revamp their current curriculum to reflect a multicultural environment. Both approaches show a significant improvement in students' acceptance and tolerance of other cultures. ** Lopez, A.E. (2011). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Critical Literacy in Diverse English classrooms: A Case Study of a Secondary English Teacher’s Activism and Agency. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 10(4): 75-93. ** -//- Lopez is a passionate high school English teacher and uses this article to highlight particular elements that should be included into lesson plans in order to successfully teach students to become globally and culturally aware. Her focus lies with global literacy, but she maintains the stance that children should be taught relevant pedagogy that will enhance students' ability to critically comprehend English texts.// **Merriman, W. & Nicoletti, A. (2008). Globalization and American Education. The Educational Forum, 72(1): 8-22. ** -- Merriman and Nicoletti detail how globalization in school curriculum is not a new concept. In fact, it began in the 1980s; however, it was a low priority because of higher demands from school reform movements. It is evolved into a high priority item in curriculum because students are now faced with an interconnected future with their global peers. In today's highly competitive market, particularly in the realms of technology, political, and economic developments, teachers need to instruct students on how to be an effective competitor. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). []. **<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">English Language Learners in Public Schools. ** -- The data shows how ELL students are steadily increasing, making up a growing percentage of overall students in the U.S. Most ELL learners are concentrated in large cities on the West and East coast, with a small percentage making up for students in the Midwest and Central states. **<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Smith, D.J. (2000). The Specific Challenges of Globalization for Teaching and Vice Versa. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 46(1): 7. ** -- This article discusses the problems that teachers often find themselves in with regard to this globalization issue. Historically, teachers were used to modifying lesson plans, somewhat subtly, in a traditional approach. However, Lopez states that <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"[s]torytelling, multiculturalism curricula, teacher-as-researcher/interpretive inquirer, and group work are now part of the standard preparational repertoire", so teachers are expected to obtain traditional methods of achievement using "new", innovative mediums to achieve such. He also details the historical influences that led to the current global movement and how they now affect curriculum changes and teacher-student expectations. //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">-- Global standards have become a high priority for teachers and administrators because students emigrate and immigrate so often in their school years. It is critical to establish a global expectation of standards that will transition students from a native school to a foreign one. The most important subjects that global standards focus upon are geography, world history, U.S. history, civics and government, and social studies. There are three headings under which the American Forum for Global Education tries to expand: Global Issues, Culture and World Area, and Global Connections. //
 * National Subject Area Standards and Global and International Studies Guidelines. []. The American Forum for Global Education Website. **