Evaluating Attainment of Global Education Goals

Movement that might be labeled global education has been existent in the United States for about 30 years. Global education content has been substantially expanding during evolution of the term. It may be drawn from all social sciences subjects but should not be limited to them. Recognizing that global education cannot be defined in terms of discipline, educators may infuse a global perspective in all subjects. A number of learning activities, resources, and teaching methodologies that contribute to a truly global curriculum have also been emerging and are described here. However, various descriptions and vague definitions of global education have created contradictory reactions among the general population and educators themselves. Since more controversies are caused by values and attitudes that global education is promoting than by its cognitive content, they are explored in this paper predominantly. Thus, a literature review on global education development resolves ambiguity that is inherent in the term and discourages many educators. The purpose of global education is to develop in youth the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to participate responsibly in civil activities. Knowledge attainment and skills development have been prevailing global education movement and, thus, gotten more attention. In this paper, more emphasizes is put on value/attitude development and civil participation. All stated goals serve as a basis of goal-oriented evaluation of a global curriculum. An instrument to assess attainment of the four goals of global education was created. It facilitates (1) evaluating the scope and quality of a global perspective across curriculum and (2) evaluating the skills, values and attitudes, and civil participation through behavioral indicators. An evaluation design intended for teacher training was also developed as teacher skills may particularly influence the global education movement. In conclusion, the U.S. global education concept serves as a basis for describing global education elements in Latvia