All Articles - Module 4: How can you advocate for global learning in your school and your community? - NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellowship

Module 4: How can you advocate for global learning in your school and your community?

At the conclusion of this module, Fellows will be able to:

identify opportunities to advocate for global learning within their local context over the short-, medium-, and long-term (directly and/or indirectly),
articulate their "elevator pitch" for why global learning is important in their local context, using a personal global learning story, and
develop further knowledge of Costa Rica's cultural and historical context, with a focus on tangible experiences they can expect while there in the very near future!

In anticipation of this module's readings sparking several ideas on your end - of how you could advocate for global learning in your local context over the short-, medium-, and long-term (directly and/or indirectly) - we recommend that you:

Write down these ideas for yourself as you complete these readings, and then
Bring this list of ideas with you to the May webinar.

You will have dedicated time during the webinar to discuss your ideas with other Fellows.

1.) Read and Reflect

Read: Why Teacher Leaders Are Critical to Advancing Global Education, by Noah Zeichner (published in Education Week)

Reflect: How can you serve as a "teacher leader" for global learning in your school, district, community?

[Estimated read time: 10 minutes]

2.) Read and Reflect

Read: Global Education in Context: Four Models, Four Lessons, by Laura Engel, Heidi Gibson, and Kayla Gatalica (published in Education Week)

Reflect: Which of the four lessons learned could you potentially apply in your context? What ideas do these lessons spark for you in your local context?

[Estimated read time: 25 minutes - please take time to click on the links in this article & review the available resources. Please note that some of the links are no longer operable.]

3.) Read and Reflect

Read: The International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership's Globally Minded Leadership: A New Approach for Leading Schools in Diverse Democracies, by Ariel Tichnor-Wagner. This study is intended to "develop a grounded theory on leadership approaches for cultivating globally competent staff and students" - in other words, how to be an effective "globally minded school leader", or teacher leader for global learning.

Book pages: 5-14 (Begin with section title "Methods" on page 5 & end at section title "Discussion" on page 14)

Reflect: As a globally minded educator, what could you do to help cultivate globally competent staff and students in your school/district/community (directly and/or indirectly)? What ideas do this study's findings spark for you?

[Estimated read time: 35 minutes]

4.) Apply and Share

Craft an "elevator pitch" for why global learning is important within your local context, to an audience of your choosing - using a personal global learning story & Dr. Peeples' 3P Story Framework (from the October conference!) below for guidance.

In the Module 4: Apply & Share discussion board, post your "elevator pitch" in written form (up to 200 words) or in an audio or video file (up to 60 seconds), as you like.

After you have posted, please comment on at least one other person’s post.

5.) Grow Your Global Knowledge - Costa Rica

As we will be heading to Costa Rica in the very near future, these three articles (including a brief video) focus on tangible experiences you can expect while there - in the form of language and in the form of cultural and historical sites that we'll be visiting.

Read: Pura Vida: Costa Rica's uniquely positive outlook on life, by Carla Rosch (published by the BBC, and included in our Costa Rica Resource Guide)

Read & Watch The 2-Minute Video: UPEACE History, about the history of the University for Peace

Read (Watching The 7-Minute Video Is Optional): The Making of Traditional Costa Rica Pottery from Guaitil, by Sarah Jordan (published by The Tico Times, and included in our Costa Rica Resource Guide)

[Estimated total read/watch time: 20 minutes]

All Articles (0)

There aren’t any articles yet.

Return to Course Homepage

Optional Readings and Resources

Resources from the Longview Foundation & the Asia Society:

Review the International Education Planning Rubric: State Strategies to Prepare Globally Competent Students (a document developed by the Longview Foundation and the Asia Society’s Partnership for Global Learning) to see if there are state-level strategies you may wish to use to advance global learning in your state.
Review the Longview Foundation’s website to learn about the support they provide to districts and states around international education.
Review our Advocacy page, which includes the Mapping the Nation tool that provides details on district- and state-level initiatives across the U.S.

Resources For Developing Your "Elevator Pitch":

As you incorporate more global learning into your classroom, we hope you will feel more and more confident speaking to your colleagues about how they can do so as well, and about how they can be a globally competent teacher. Read Incorporating Global Competency into Your Classroom and share it with your colleagues to assist them in infusing global learning into their classrooms.
Remember our "Storytelling for Global Advocacy" workshop with Dr. Shanna Peeples at the October conference? Review Dr. Peeples' workshop recording, slide deck, and handouts in the GLF 2025 drive.

Great Reads About Advocacy in Costa Rica (from the UN News):

Note: this page contains paid content.