Wisconsin's Definitions - International Education

Global Studies, traditionally a branch of the social sciences, helps students address problems and develop solutions that cross human borders. Global Studies emphasize linkages and systems. Examples of global studies topics might include population, food resources, environmental problems, political conflicts and global economics.

Multicultural Education

Multicultural Education embraces the diversity of ethnic groups that inhabit a space as small as a family or a school or as large as a nation or planet earth. Rather than dealing with international relations involving different cultures, Multicultural Education focuses on multiple cultural groups within a single nation, such as the United States. A study of unique histories and cultural interactions helps students make decisions about political and social issues and take action to seek local and global solutions.

Multicultural Education is not a separate discipline, but rather it is, in the words of James A. Banks (University of Washington) "an idea, an educational reform movement, and a process whose major goal is to change the structure of educational institutions so that male and female students, exceptional students, and students who are members of diverse racial, ethnic and cultural groups will have an equal chance to achieve academically in school."

Area Studies

Area Studies focus on a specific geographic region of the world, for example, Middle Eastern Studies, African Studies, or Latin American Studies. Study of one or two languages of the region, as well as its politics, economics, history, arts, religions and its literature helps students gain an understanding of how diverse and complex the human experience is within a single part of the globe.

Cultural Inquiry

Just as teachers can instruct students to use a process of scientific inquiry, so too can teachers instruct students to use a process of "cultural inquiry."

The focus of cultural inquiry can be local or global. "Local" refers to curriculum near at hand, whereas a "global" focus can refer either to topics physically or culturally farther away or to a broader view of a topic. Methodology for cultural inquiry can include fieldwork (e.g., folklore, ethnography, statistical analysis) and historical research (using a variety of narratives and documents).

Methodology for cultural inquiry requires cultural dialogue, implying both "speaking" and "listening." "Speaking" is the young teacher's voice -- perhaps researching or publishing her views. "Listening" (reading, viewing, exploring) involves receptivity to the voices of other people speaking from their own contexts (international guests into the classroom, videos, exhibits, texts, international resources). The teacher learns to "read" non-verbal cues and contexts. Teachers who use cultural inquiry become receptive to new definitions of curriculum, including the use of experiences and perspectives of minority and international students as "curriculum."

How do teachers get students to "see" the culture in which they're immersed? Students discover culture, for example, by:

1. by actual travel experiences;
2. by discovering ways others in their classroom lead lives different than their own;
3. by trying to view the world from the perspective of others (walking a mile with a bucket of water on one's head, navigating in a wheel chair for a day);
4. by "traveling" via books, music, theater, and visual art;
5. by comparison;
6. by learning to listen actively;
7. by studying history;
8. by learning to identify aspects of local environments (names of birds, styles of architecture); or
9. by being citizen activists.

For questions about this information, contact Gerhard Fischer (608) 267-9265

Last updated on 2/25/2008 1:42:39 PM