A Guide to Four Essential Themes. School Improvement through Global Education.

To aid high school classroom teachers as they develop and implement programs on global issues, the guide outlines basic elements of an ideal global education program. Major themes are: valuing diversity; understanding the world as an interdependent system; developing effective working relationships with others; and understanding prevailing world conditions, the process of change, and emerging trends. For each theme, information is presented on background, goals, implications for global education, implications for school improvement, and learning activities. Specific objectives include developing skills to identify and understand various beliefs, values, and cultures, knowing that differences in people's values are often due to history and geography, identifying how individual activities affect the earth, understanding that actions often lead to unanticipated consequences, acquiring and using information about world issues, increasing understanding of self, and recognizing the humanness of all people. Suggested activities involve students in class discussion, reading and writing assignments, listing cultural differences among various age groups and cultures, brainstorming, listing cultural preferences, and arranging for class visitors. Activities involve teachers in cooperative lesson planning with other staff members, analyzing student behavior, visiting student homes, reporting on current international issues, and reordering the classroom environment to increase effectiveness with students. (DB)