Global Citizenship

What does it mean to be a global citizen?

Today I will be discussing my thoughts on global citizenship. Global citizenship is the term to describe social, environmental, political, and economic actions of individuals on a world-wide scale. It is important for teachers to educate their students on how to be global citizens because it requires students to think through a global lens. Through practicing global citizenship, students can become more understanding and connected with the world around them. Today I will be focusing on the social aspect of global citizenship.

The project I will be discussing today is the Global Read Aloud, founded by Pernille Ripp in 2010. https://theglobalreadaloud.com/for-participants/frequently-asked-questions/ The Global Read Aloud is an organization that allows students, teachers, and citizens from all around the world to share the experience of reading a book. It may help to think of this organization as a world-wide book club. A book is chosen by the group and read over a certain period of time. The goal is to make as many global connections as possible while reading each book. Participants are allowed to choose how much time they would like to dedicate to this club and how many connections they would like to make. This decreases pressure and allows for students to do their own thinking. Participants report back with their connections and discoveries via any social network suitable for the task (Zoom, Skype, discussion forums, blogs, etc). The Global Read Aloud is free and everyone is encouraged to participate, not just teachers and students.

As my content areas are English and History secondary education, this project would be feasible to hold in my future classroom. However, this project can work for any content area. Being an English secondary education major, one of my goals is to incorporate books written by people of all different races, colors, and genders. The classics are great, but it is time to branch out. In an article discussing the teaching of diverse books, Mary Ellen Flannery writes, “Until then, Maldonaldo—who is Black and Afro-Puerto Rican—had never seen a kid who looked like him in a book. “‘I thought that book was me! I thought the mother was my mom,” he says. ‘What made that book so precious to me is it took my neighborhood and made me see the magic in it.’” (Mary Ellen Flannery, 2020). It is important for all students to feel represented in the books being studied in class, as this leads to the ability to make connections, increased empathy in students, and promotes inclusivity.

In my Junior year of high school, my English class read a book called “Native Son” by Richard Write. To this day, it is one of my favorite books of all time simply because of the experience of reading it in the classroom. This was the first time I can recall reading a book by a diverse author about diverse backgrounds and experiences in school. My first thought was, “Wow, I cannot believe we are reading this IN CLASS!” This book is written by a black man, and the story is about a poor, black kid growing up in the projects of Chicago. I am from Chicago and have seen the living conditions described in the book first hand. Reading about the struggles the main character faced as a black kid growing up in these conditions, I thought a lot about how different his life was compared to mine, although we did not live far from each other. This book provided me with a new perspective on the world around me, no matter how far or close.

Teaching books written by diverse authors creates a bit of a challenge for educators. One of these challenges is finding access to books written by diverse authors. In an article written by Jill Anderson, it is stated, “there’s a diversity gap in the book publishing industry regarding who gets published (mostly white authors), who gets awarded (mostly white authors), and which books make it onto school vendor booklists (mostly white creators)” (Hooked on Classics, 2019). The first two challenges this quote presents are somewhat out of reach for educators to do much about. We cannot decide who gets published or who wins awards (writing book reviews always helps!), but we can work around what books our schools allow us to teach. Implementing the Global Read Aloud as an extracurricular allows educators to maneuver around that third challenge in a way that is meaningful and does not disrupt the curriculum.

With the Global Read Aloud project, I can make my goal a reality while also connecting with others on a global scale. Giving my students a chance to collaborate with students of other backgrounds, our discussions are sure to include pieces of information we may not have known before. The Global Read Aloud provides students with the opportunity to gain a new perspective on the world, understand their role in a global society, and of course, talk about books.

References

Hooked on Classics. (2019). Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/19/08/hooked-classics

Mary Ellen Flannery. (2020). Why We Need Diverse Books | NEA. Nea.org. https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/why-we-need-diverse-books#:~:text=Learning%20a%20Different%20Story,middle%20school%20librarian%20in%20Tennessee.‌