1Guidelines for Global and International Studies Education: Challenges, Culture, Connections

Since the beginning of the 21 century, new forces—cultural, political, environmental, andst economic—have swept the world. Americans are reexamining the role of their country within these new global complexities. No institution needs to respond more to these changes than should our nation’s schools. Due to this concern and high public interest, the United States has an “open moment ” to affect crucial changes in our education systems. With federal support, academic standards have been established for students, first in language arts, history, geography, mathematics, and science, and subsequently in civics, the arts, and foreign languages. Simultaneously, many states are incorporating national education standards into curriculum frameworks. These efforts to develop education standards are laudable, and they do contain global and international studies components. However, many important issues related to global and international studies are missing or are inadequately dealt with. What should all U.S. students be expected to know and understand about the world? What skills and attitudes will our students need to confront future problems, which most assuredly will be global in scope? How are the global and international dimensions of learning being addressed by the new academic standards