A literature review reveals a preoccupation with implementing global education with preservice and inservice teacher education programs. Missing from the literature is a significant perspective of teachers knowledge resulting from classroom experiences with global education. This Digest draws on current practices in global education to provide teachers with practical suggestions regarding instructional and technological resources as well as the use of cooperative learning for teaching global education. Volunteer organizations, businesses, and churches are excellent resources for illustrating how local communities and economies are connected to other peoples and nations. Through exploring the purpose and role for these local-global connections, elementary and middle school students can develop an appreciation for the roles their communities play as members of an interdependent global network.
Teachers can identify colleagues' cross-cultural experiences by conducting an informal survey.
Students with ESL skills and competence are particularly resourceful members of a global classroom. In planning field trips, teachers may want to contact local World Affairs Council Network offices, some of which offer preplanned trips for visiting embassies and participating in programs with international businesses and military bases. Some of the most effective, cost-efficient, and readily accessible resources for teaching global education are resources that walk into the classroom everyday and are found in every corner of the community. Teachers can discover a whole new world of innovative instructional resources for preparing students for global responsibility through a heightened awareness of the innumerable connections in the classrooms and communities and linkages to our global society. Accessing these resources through participation in cooperative learning activities, students are able to develop skills necessary for success in the 21st century.