What global citizenship means to you and what makes you excited and apprehensive about the project of fostering and modeling it through teaching. What do you want to have happen as a result of teaching for global citizenship? How will your students be different at the end of the term? How will you be different? 2 Remember: Assumptions are beliefs that
ground, motivate or explain other beliefs
or actions. We are generally not aware of
our assumptions until we engage in critical
reflection to make them explicit. The
assumptions underlying our choices as
teachers can be shaped by personal,
disciplinary, cultural or other norms.
Unrecognized assumptions will drive our
choices in teaching, perhaps to places we
would rather not go! Becoming aware of
our assumptions is a first step towards
making intentional choices that foster and
model global citizenship.
A MAP OF MYSELF
Who are you as a person? What have your past
experiences been? What has shaped, and continues
to shape, your worldview? Who are you as a global
citizen? Creating a map of yourself is a useful
starting point in identifying some of the
assumptions that guide your values and beliefs
about teaching and about global citizenship.
The map does not, in itself, identify assumptions
for you, but it can spur your thinking about how
different domains of your identity and past
experience shape a) who you are today and b) how
these affect the lenses you use to understand the
world.
Almost all of us have some experiences of privilege
and some of marginalization. Note that these
experiences are relative, and context matters. For
example, a person may face discrimination or
marginalization in the context of Canadian society
but still privileged in a global context, or vice versa.
