Globalization, curricular elements, organizational structures and perceived student outcomes in California schools

UnrestrictedThe world is becoming increasingly connected and this has begun to affect the political, economic, cultural and societal aspects of our lives. Globalization will push individuals to have sensitivity to foreign cultures, fluency in foreign languages and an understanding of international trade and technology while also having the ability to reshape what people think about nations, boundaries and identities. How people react to globalization will depend heavily on who is viewing it and this complexity brings with it values and tensions from various parts of the world. Consequently, globalization carries tremendous ramifications for education and whether or not globalization is accepted, the forces and trends it is presenting are too strong to ignore. So the questions at hand are now: what are schools doing to address this idea, what are schools doing to educate students about globalization and has the idea of global citizenship been addressed? This study addresses what education in the United States is currently focused on and what education is doing in consideration of globalization; specifically what role students will play in a globalized world. The intent of this study was to identify global curricular and organizational elements that are present in California schools and what associated student outcomes are produced. Furthermore, the idea of global citizenship is now a distinct possibility; an idea that begins to blur current ideas of citizenship in an era of nation-states. The idea of relating to others now goes beyond national borders in ways that make it necessary to be aware of political, economic and social issues in other nations. This study also examines what it means to be a global citizen and what are schools doing to make this happen. As part of a thematic dissertation group of eight at the University of Southern California, this study focused on one school in California and found many elements that support globalization.; These included a well developed curriculum, organized leadership, international faculty, exchange trips abroad, a focus on 21st century skills and more. The results of these organizational and curricular ingredients include altruistic projects, community service, and academic excellence and can be useful to policymakers and school-builders who are trying to integrate globalization into schools. Ultimately, this study, in combination with the others in the thematic dissertation team, have the potential to make the curricular elements, organizational structures and student outcomes found in this study significant in attempting to address questions of globalization in schools