Dear Reader,
Wow, the Summer is over and we are into the month
of September! In May we launched a new version of the
Washington State Coalition for International
Education enewsletter and announced the awarding of the
Longview Foundation State Innovations grant to the
Coalition. With this issue we'd like to welcome you back
and share with you a bit of news about some of the
subprojects that are part of this year's grant.
As part of an effort to keep each other
informed, we will be conducting a survey in the near
future asking for your ideas and feedback for how to
make this enewsletter most useful. Meanwhile
we'd like to encourage you to share information about
your organization and events, including photos. We'll
see what we can do to include them in our upcoming
issues. As you read this issue, if you have
questions or suggestions, contact our editor, Aysha Haq
at intledwa@gmail.com. | |
|
Spotlight:
Bridges to
Understanding
The
Washington State Coalition for International Education
is comprised of a long list of organizations doing
inspiring, innovative work to infuse global perspectives
into the lives of our students. Bridges to Understanding
is one such organization.
 Founded by Phil Borges,
internationally acclaimed photographer and teacher (pictured to the right with a
Peruvian youth during an international workshop)
Bridges to Understanding offers photography and digital
storytelling workshops in Seattle, India, South Africa,
Peru, and Guatemala. The organization enables children
from a variety of geographical and cultural backgrounds
to share their cultures and issues in their communities
using digital storytelling, live video conferencing,
in-person student exchanges, and teacher-led text-based
communication.
"Imagine taking a vacation that
immediately gives back to a community and allows you to
quickly be immersed in the culture and people of a
Capetown South African township, a Peruvian village, or
Tibetan youth in the hometown of the Dalai Lama? And,
while there you also learn new skills in photography,
mentoring youth, and create multi-media movies from the
perspective of the local youth you work with. If this
sounds like your kind of adventure travel experience,
then Bridges to Understanding is the organization for
you," says Bridges Executive Director, Greg Tuke.
Bridges provides an active learning environment
where students from radically different backgrounds can
learn directly from, rather than, about each other. The
program connects middle school students in the developed
world with their contemporaries in indigenous
communities. On the Bridges' website students can engage
one another, ask questions about each others' lives, and
ultimately develop mental flexibility and
empathy.
Projects and exchanges center on
the following content areas: "Understanding Culture and
Traditions," "Causes of Conflict and Resolution," and
"Creating Sustainable Environments." This year
Bridges will focus on Climate Change, and help students
to address the question, "How is climate change an
opportunity for us?" In addition, Bridges advises
teachers in how to encourage global perspectives within
their pre-existing curricula.
Bridges will
develop a Washington State model for teacher development
to be used as the school-wide prototype for schools
throughout the United States.
Part of the
work of developing this model is included as a
subproject in this year's State Innovations grant.
Bridges has begun working with cadre of premier lead
teachers in international education to produce "Lead
Teachers Guide" on infusing direct online global
learning across international boundaries. Teachers will
then present workshops at statewide venues to
disseminate learning and expand global learning
perspectives within school communities.
To
find out how to take one of the Bridges local workshops,
or travel for an international workshop, visit their
website: www.bridges2understanding.org.
|
|
News from the Chinese Language Core
Team
The
Chinese Language Core Team, International Education
Washington, spearheading the "Expanding Chinese Language
Capacity" Initiative and key organizers of the WA
Chinese Language Teachers' Network (CLTN) would like to
invite you to attend the 2007 CLTN Fall Meeting and
Pedagogy Workshop.
The day will include exciting
news about the development of Chinese language
initiatives in the state and a pedagogy workshop,
led by Dr. Haiyan Fu, author of Chinese Essentials: What and
How.
Saturday, September
22
9:30-5:30pm
University of Puget Sound in
Tacoma
Please encourage your colleagues,
your school/program representatives, and other
individuals who are interested in the quality expansion
of Chinese language capacity in our state to attend. To
learn more, visit Expanding Chinese Language Capacity
|
|
Register Now for Capitol
Forum
 The Capitol
Forum program, developed by Brown University in Rhode
Island and offered in Washington State since 2004,
engages high school social studies students and teachers
in deliberation about our nation's future in the
changing international environment. The program begins
in the fall and involves students both within their
social studies classroom and beyond the classroom, when
they attend the Capitol Forum with 100 other high school
students in Olympia in March.
This year's
Washington State Capitol Forum on America's Future is
funded in part by the 2007 State Innovations grant from
Longview Foundation. We are recruiting up to 20 high
school teachers to participate in this year's program.
Teachers can choose to attend the Fall Introductory
Workshop on September 15 in Lakewood, on October 4 at
the World Affairs Council Global Classroom program on
Iraq, or on October 13 at the Washington State Council
for Social Studies Conference. The Winter Pre-Forum
workshop is on January 12, 2008 and the Capitol Forum in
Olympia is on March 27, 2008.
The team
registration fee is $100 (for five students). Teachers
receive free clock hours and three sets of curriculum
materials from the Choices program at Brown University.
For more information, visit Washington Capitol
Forum. Register online now at: Washington Capitol
Forum Registration. |
|
Calendar &
Announcements For
full details, visit the Calendar and Announcements pages on our
website.
Sept. 11-Nov. 6:
World Affairs
Council events, Seattle Sept.15: Capitol Forum
Fall Introductory Workshop, Tacoma Sept. 22: Meeting of
CLTN and Chinese Language Workshop, Tacoma
Oct.
4: The U.S. Role in Iraq: What Teachers Need to
Know,
Seattle
Oct. 11-13: WA
Assoc. for Language Teaching conference,
Wenatchee
Oct.13: WA State
Council for Social Studies In-Service, Seattle Oct. 16: Fueling the
Future: Peace or Conflict? Focus on Nigeria,
Seattle
Oct.
27: WA State Assoc. for Multicultural Ed.
conference, Seattle
Additional
Announcements- Facing the Future
Offers Global Issues Workshops for Teachers -Free
Interactive Lesson Plans Available from Choices: The U.S.
in Iraq: Confronting Policy Alternatives - Free From
Teaching With the
News | |
The Washington State Coalition for
International Education was formed in 2003 out of a
focus group on international education. Today we are a
volunteer run, grassroots affiliation of over 300
individuals and organizations committed to preparing all
students for today's interconnected world. Contact us. | | |
|
|
Get Involved
Help
build even stronger grassroots advocacy for
internationalizing
education K-12 (K-20 even!). We
encourage you, your friends, and your colleagues to sign on to
the advocacy@
internationaledwa.org listserv by completing
the Get Involved
Form.
We've seen
many developments in the last year that indicate that
international education is becoming a greater part of the
legislative agenda.
One very recent example is: the
Washington State PTA Legislative Committee has submitted the
World Languages & International Competency issue
advocating for an increase in world language and international
sign language study and support for learning about world
economy, cultures, geography, and history in all grades.
By process of caucus and
debate they will choose
their priority issues for the legislative session. The PTA
Legislative Assembly will be held October
5-6, 2007 in
Seattle.
To get more information, please go to
Issues Info.
|
|
Starter Kits Available Online
Download starter kits to help you imagine and
implement an online exchange integrating a curricular topic
with one of the International Education and Resource Network
( www.iearn.org) collaborative projects.
|
|
