Discovering the Day: Our Future in a Global Society by Laren Saxton

Discovering the Day: Our Future in a Global Society

By Lauren Saxton

The world is home to over six billion people. That is six billion individual people, people with their own personalities and beliefs, their own culture and heritage. And the funny part is most of these individuals are not fully aware of each other; the majority of Earth’s population does not fully comprehend the massive amount of individuals they share their planet with. It is easy to say that we know the population is big – even as children we are taught that 6,000,000,000 is a big number (look at all the zeros!) but do we actually know what that number represents? In the present day we consider our society to be what we can sense – the immediate world that we can see and hear. We have divided the world into manageable portions; hacked the globe into numerous societies so our senses would not be overwhelmed or over-stretched. There is an American society, a British society, a Chinese society; a society for everyplace and every type of people. But the world is a changing place. Advances in technology, business, communications, and several other areas are demanding a reform in society. The world is demanding the development of a global society – a society that can effectively incorporate each and every individual out of 6,000,000,000. A difficult task indeed and where to start? If an area is invested in change, if it desires to become a part of the growing global society, as Delaware does, it must start with its youth. The educational systems of all areas, especially Delaware, are capable of preparing students to be ready for college, work, and life in a global society, if they are managed and designed correctly.

If the Delaware educational system is to prepare students for life in a global society it must evolve and emerge as something never seen before. One of the greatest developments must come in awareness. Global is a small word with a big meaning; global means involving the entire world. If students are to be prepared to succeed in college, work, and life in a global society they must become aware of that society. It is not easy for a student in Delaware to understand individuals from Asia, Europe, or other foreign places. Typically, such places cannot be seen and/or experienced firsthand. So the core of those places and the individuals that inhabit them must be brought to Delaware students. The educational system must incorporate programs that introduce and teach students about foreign places, people, and cultures. These programs could be elective classes, school clubs, or even after school organizations. These would increase awareness and understanding, which in turn would prepare students to confidently enter a global society where they will likely have to deal with individuals from foreign places and/or foreign cultures.

Another change to allow Delaware students to succeed in global society must come in exposure. It is not enough to introduce Delaware students to global society. Just as listening to a summary of a book is not the same as reading the book, being introduced to a global society is not the same as experiencing it. The educational system must allow students a chance to partake in non-threatening, controlled exposure to global society. There are infinite opportunities of this sort available. If Delaware is to prepare students for success in global society it must use the educational system to introduce activities like pen pals, foreign speakers (i.e., citizens of foreign cultures), and field trips (i.e., museums of foreign art or history). Delaware should also introduce activities like teacher exchanges, student exchanges, and video conferences with students from other cultures and/or areas. These forms of activities will give students the chance to reach out and experience other cultures and places firsthand (e.g., teachers would bring back new knowledge and new methods with which to teach students).The Delaware educational system should act as a stairway for students – providing them with the needed support and exposure to gradually, self-assuredly, enter a global society.

In order for students to be successful in a global society they must first feel successful in a local society (i.e., school). The Delaware educational system must help students achieve success locally in order to prepare students to succeed in global society. The Delaware educational system must create in itself systems such as tutoring, access to library and internet resources, and motivational speakers, in order to help students succeed. The Delaware educational system must also work to increase diversity in the learning environment, setting higher expectations and striving to convey the connections between classroom lessons and real life experiences and opportunities. The educational system must offer more career exploration programs (e.g., career fairs, job shadowing, partnerships with colleges and technical schools) to allow students to understand their future roles in global society. The Delaware educational system must teach students to believe in themselves and assist students to explore and reach their full potential. Students must be surrounded by an atmosphere of capability that teaches them that each and every individual is capable of success – whether in local or global society.

As the world is changing it is becoming imperative to prepare the young for entrance into a new global society. No longer will it be okay to simply know the number of the world’s population – students will now need to understand that number. Through educational systems, such as Delaware’s, it is possible to prepare students to be successful in college, work, and life in global society by introducing and exposing them to people, places, and cultures outside their immediate senses. The clearest route to our success as a global society will come through our ability to educate and prepare our youth.

Bibliography

Central Intelligence Agency. (2008). The World Factbook.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html...

NAFSA: Association of International Educators. (2003). Securing America’s future:
Global education for a global age.
http://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/nafsapolforumtransc111803.pdf

The New Media Consortium. (2005). A global imperative: The report of the 21st century
literacy summit. http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Global_Impertive.pdf