Emerging Studies of Global Consciousness
Our focus on the teaching of globalization among high school students in the larger Boston area led to a new line of research in the area of global consciousness.
We define global consciousness as the capacity and the inclination to place people, objects, situations and the self in the broader matrix of our contemporary world. Three capabilities are at the heart of global consciousness: global sensitivity – i.e., a sensitivity to local phenomena and experiences as manifestations of broader developments in the planet; global understanding – i.e., the capacity to think in flexible and informed ways about contemporary world issues and developments; and global self – i.e., a perceptions of self as a global actor, a situated sense of planetary belonging and membership in humanity that supplements action and prompts civic commitments.
Nurturing Global Consciousness: Guiding Students’ Interdisciplinary Study of World Issues
This action research project has two goals: First we seek to nurture IBO Diploma students’ ability to design and conduct independent interdisciplinary inquiry on contemporary issues of global significance and document the learning challenges that such inquiry presents. Second we seek to nurture students’ global consciousness, –i.e., their ability to view themselves as informed local and global actors in an increasingly interrelated world, and characterize these youngsters global consciousness and the learning challenges it presents.
See also our related publications for the global consciousness projects.