Creating the Global Classroom

Laurence Peters was born in London, England, and studied at the University of Sussex and later taught English for several years in the UK before subsequently moving to the US to pursue a doctorate degree in Education. Following a period of undergraduate teaching Laurence gained a Law Degree from the University of Maryland in 1986 and became counsel to the Subcommittee on Select Education & Civil Rights for the US House of Representatives (1986–1993) and later served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the US Department of Education (1993–2001). Dr. Peters co-wrote From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity, Rowman (2003) and co-edited Scaling Up: Lessons from Technology Based Educational Improvement, Jossey Bass (2005) and Global Education: Using Technology to Bring the World to Your Students, ISTE (2009). His most recent book is The United Nations: History and Core Ideas, Palgrave (2015). Laurence currently teaches Global Education Policy at Johns Hopkins University and is married with three children.

By challenging the validity of a "single story view of the world…taught from the viewpoint of the winners" this important book provides a compelling rational and practical guidance on how schools can prepare youth for a diverse, global future. A must read for educators seeking to help students shape their common destiny. Dr. Anthony Jackson, Asia SocietyCreating the Global Classroom builds on the ideals of teaching and learning through global perspectives as students interact in a globally interconnected world. This challenge has never been more critical than now given our changing planet and human economic, environmental, political, and technological activities. Merry Merryfield, Emeritus Professor, Social Studies and Global Education, School of Teaching and Learning, Studies, College of Education, The Ohio State UniversityThe COVID-19 Pandemic has provided most of humanity a shared experience reminding us of our vulnerability, while making visible how gender, race, nationality, social class, neighborhood and other differentiators bring us apart in how we have fared during this health crisis. Coming out of this crisis, however, will require that we extend beyond our own circumstances, and work together with others so we all can recover from the pandemic’s impact. The skills to do that, the comprehension of what we must do to build a renaissance after this pandemic, including addressing challenges such as social fragmentation, inequality or climate change, define global citizenship. Schools and universities have a critical role to play in educating global citizens. At a time when global citizenship education is challenged by another pandemic, the pandemic of bigoted, exclusionary nationalism and nativism, Laurence Peters’ book ‘Creating the Global Classroom’ is a refreshing invitation to think anew and with clarity about the education of global citizens. This book helps us understand the dangers of the ‘single story’ in making sense of difference and of our world and our own place in it, including the ‘single stories’ of global education. Every teacher should read this book.Fernando M. Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Introduction; Part One: Frameworks for Global Understanding; 1: Why Global Education Matters: Need for a New Paradigm; 2: What Is "Global Education"?; 3: Pedagogical Perspectives ; 4: Ideological Framework ; 5: Citizenship and Human Rights ; Part Two: School and Classroom Approaches; 6: Engaging in Global Popular Culture ; 7: The Dangers of a Single Story; 8: Maximizing the "Global" in Global Education Technology ; 9: Global Education and School Culture; Afterword; Appendix One: Global Lessons Plans ; Appendix Two: Immigration ; Appendix Three: Some Sample Global Lesson Plans ; Appendix Four: Global Collaborative Connections ; Bibliography ; Index