Expecting the Exceptional: Pre-Service Professional Development in Global Citizenship Education

Year 2011, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 6 - 32, 01.08.2011

Natalie Appleyard Lorna R Mclean

Abstract

This case study analyses a professional development (PD) program in global citizenship education (GCE) that seeks to develop teacher education candidates’ knowledge and capacities as global citizens during a one-year Bachelor of Education program. In particular, we explore how pre-service teachers perceived and experienced PD in GCE as a component of their professional learning and how this knowledge related to their understanding of curricula and pedagogical practices. First, we explore a model of effective PD and use this model to describe and analyze the GCE PD program, followed by a brief discussion of its context within the Faculty PD program; next, we outline the pre-service teachers’ conceptions of PD in GCE; and finally, we suggest ways that PD for pre-service teachers can be enhanced to meet the specific curricular and pedagogical demands of GCE. Our findings suggest that best practices for PD in GCE include consistent use of pedagogies such as experiential learning and explicit modeling; targeted instruction in specific intellectual, affective, and action domains of GCE; providing pre-service teachers with opportunities to practice and reflect on the implementation of GCE in classroom settings; and developing collaborative networks of support

Keywords

Case Study, Professional Development, Global Citizenship Education

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• Table 3: Main and sub-themes of findings and related case descriptions Themes
• Nature of the of the innovation being introduced
• Case Descriptions of PD in GCE
• Specific content of PD in GCE varied depending
• on the activity or workshop, but generally
• included background information on issues
• commonly associated with GCE (social justice,
• democracy, youth engagement, community
• involvement, citizenship, environmental and
• sustainability issues) which address both the
• cognitive and affective components of GCE, as
• well as modeling and provision of pedagogies,
• lesson ideas, and classroom resources which
• reflect the active component.
• in complementary pedagogies for GCE.
• Nature of the delivery system •
• Modeling of complementary pedagogies for GCE;
• Opportunities for experiential learning;
• Opportunities for critical reflection and discussion;
• Opportunities to learn from classroom
• teachers with experience in GCE;
• Collaboration with Faculty and community members.
• Fall and Winter Institutes: one- to two-day
• conferences which included a series of panel
• presentations, keynote speakers and workshops
• led by teachers, professors and non-governmental
• organization volunteers and employees.
• Participants selected from a variety of workshops
• that generally employ participatory learning,
• provide background information on specific
• issues or organizations, and often equip
• participants with classroom resources and/or lesson ideas.
• In-class workshops: 60-80 minute workshops led
• by professors, non-governmental organizations
• such as CHF (formerly Canadian Hunger
• Foundation), UNICEF etc. These workshops
• provided important background information on
• specific issues and organizations, sample lessons
• and activities for bringing these issues into the
• classroom, and often facilitated the provisions of
• (or exposure to available) classroom resources;
• these workshops frequently involved participatory
• learning and modeling of classroom activities.
• Film viewings: participants viewed films
• (documentaries, feature films, classroom video
• resources) related to issues common to GCE with
• lunch provided; discussions were then facilitated
• by GCE team members regarding participants’
• learning and impressions of the films and
• discussions regarding how these resources might
• be used in their teaching. Participants were also
• able to request or recommend future films to be
• viewed and discussed.
• Website: a website was launched to provide a
• forum for pre-service teachers to discuss GCE,
• share resources and lesson plans; links to existing
• resources and organizations were added and pre
• service teachers were encouraged to create and
• submit lesson and unit plans and resource
• reviews. Updates for upcoming GCE PD activities were also posted.
• Transition to Practice: The GCE team took on
• the organization of a day of workshops (within a
• week of scheduled PD activities), for all B.Ed.
• students during the last week of classes. The team
• decided on an environmental sustainability theme.
• The day included keynote addresses by
• environmental advocates Lisa Glithero (founder
• of Project EYES) and a Member of Parliament
• and former teacher, Justin Trudeau, and offered
• workshops facilitated by NGOs, classroom
• teachers, and in-house and visiting university
• professors. While many of the workshops focused
• on themes of environmental sustainability, other
• topics related to GCE were also represented, such
• as civil liberties, social justice, and peace
• education. Two of the focus groups used in this
• study were conducted over lunch during the week
• of Transition to Practice PD activities.
• The B.Ed program in which this case study is
• situated is a full-time one-year post-undergraduate
• degree in the anglophone sector of one Canadian
• Faculty of Education. The program is divided into
• three divisions: primary/junior (kindergarten
• grade 6), junior/intermediate (grades 4-10), and
• intermediate/senior (grades 7-12). The program
• has an enrolment of approximately 800 students,
• the majority of whom are racialized “white” and
• many are women in their mid-twenties. • •
• Foreseen environmental barriers to GCE*.
• While the GCE PD program under study is extra
• curricular, members of the GCE team also teach
• in the Faculty and as a result have opportunities to
• incorporate GCE into their teaching, as well as
• building bridges with other Faculty members to
• offer in-class workshops in other courses and to
• promote extra-curricular PD opportunities in
• GCE. The GCE team receives considerable
• support from the Faculty for publicity for PD
• activities and collaboration in the planning of
• conferences, workshops, and film viewings.
• The school environments in which pre-service
• teachers are conducting practica and looking for
• future employment vary greatly from school to
• school with regard to their openness to and
• experience with GCE. While themes common to
• GCE can be found in various provincial
• curriculum documents (most notably
• environmental sustainability), no explicit mandate
• exists for many of its components such as social
• justice and peace education. Given the substantial
• demands of the existing curricula, therefore, some
• see GCE as an “extra” that they may or may not
• have time to include in their teaching. Similarly,
• many progressive pedagogies used in GCE are
• currently in use in many classrooms across the
• country, however, these approaches vary with
• individual teachers and the resources available to them.
• Changed pedagogical practice •
• Change in pre-service teachers’
• understanding of GCE and required pedagogy.
• Opportunities to develop instructional units in
• teacher education classes and to implement these
• units during pre-service teachers’ practica;
• participating in film discussions regarding
• pedagogical practices and potential resources;
• organizing a university wide mini-enrichment
• week comprised of global education activities for
• grade eight students; and creating and
• reviewing existing GCE resources for the website
• all serve to develop pre-service teachers’
• understanding of GCE and its required pedagogy
• by engaging them as creators, evaluators, and
• participants in learning.