Conclusion I started thinking about global citizenship and global awareness years ago. Bringing it my classroom was inevitable.

When I began my research I realized how much I myself did not know about the topic I was so passion about. What did it mean to truly be a global citizen? What does that look like in an elementary classroom? These questions were swirling around in my head as I sifted through the masses of literature I had accumulated. As I began to find literature that was the right fit for my research I began to understand what I wanted for my students in our 2nd/3rd grade classroom. I wanted them to be caring toward all human beings regardless of ethnicity or economic status. I wanted them to take care of the environment around them and connect that care globally. I wanted them to be aware of the world in general. Finally, I wanted them to want to take action. I did not want them to do all of these things just because it was an assignment or because I told them to. I wanted them to do all of these things because they valued them. Being a global citizen in todays world is crucial. As I quoted OXFAM International in my Understandings, Ours is a world of 24-hour-news cycles, global markets, and high-speed Internet...And for our children to be prepared to take their place in that world and rise to those challenges, they must first understand it (OXFAM). Our students need to understand the broader world in order to be active participants in it. We have to start fostering global citizenship in our youth now. By starting young and showing how connected we all are to one another regardless of how far apart we are geographically, students will internalize the importance of knowing and understanding the world we live in. I found through my research that it is never too young to start. In fact, 2nd and 3rd grade students are the perfect age. One important element to note when discussing my conclusions is the structure of my school. I had my students only two days a week. The other three days they were at home being schooled by their parents. I tried to connect our learning to the at home days as much as possible. However, I accomplished a lot with my students in the limited time we had. I can only imagine the kind of growth that may have occurred if I had them a full 5 days! We worked through several units that addressed different characteristics of global citizenship. The Family History Project helped students understand their personal connections to the world first. Then, we made new connections to the world through our pen pals in Africa and Tanzania Dave. Ending my research with the Water Project allowed the students to connect to the world in so many ways that it ended up supporting all of the global citizenship characteristics. In the end, the units that the students and I covered were a good start to creating global citizens, but this task is much greater than a school year can offer. My hope is that together we have built the foundation for continued growth in global citizenship. AhaStudents are Already Empathic and Caring Too often we assume things about children that are just not true. One of these assumptions for me was in regards to empathy. I assumed that I was going to have to teach students how to be empathic before bringing their empathy to a broader global scale. In actuality, I learned that my students already had empathy. Daisaku Ikeda said in a speech at Columbia University that, the compassion to maintain an imaginative empathy that reaches beyond ones immediate

surroundings and extends to those suffering in distant places is an essential element of global citizenship (Ikeda, 1996). Students in elementary school have huge hearts! They want to help people. When another student skins a knee three other students help them walk to the teacher for a band aid. Many times the band aid is for a minuscule scrape that isnt even bleeding. I loved watching and listening to all of the thoughts that students had in relation to our units of study. Students understood that not everyone has the same resources available to them. They understood that everybody deserves these resources. Without being explicitly told they wanted to help, and they cared about the students in our classroom. All we, as teachers, need to do is foster what they already feel and help them look to their broader surroundings locally and globally for ways they can be an active participant and citizen of the world. Broadening students perspectives to think about people and places far away took thoughtful planning but it was not a difficult task. AhaFinding Common Understandings is Imperative Often, we as educators simply take a lesson and read from it and regurgitate it exactly as it is. We assume that if something worked for one class than it will work for another class of the same grade level. However, we often dont take into account that our students, the make-up of our classes and their understanding of life in general, is very different from one another. That is why we must tailor what we do to fit our students and our class. Initially, when I began my research I was not being explicit with my students. I thought that I wouldnt have to tell them what a global citizen was because we would be engaging in the act of being global citizens constantly. I realized about a month into my research that this was a mistake. I should have been explicit with them from the beginning. Students should know what a global citizen means, and be able to identify the characteristics, so that they can better understand which ones they fall under at different times, the purpose behind our activities, and how we are trying to grow. Once we began discussing our global citizen characteristics, I quickly realized that the students were very confused with what they meant. This was frustrating to me because I knew they were acting on them daily. I realized that the reason they were not identifying with the characteristics was because they didnt have ownership of them. They were someone elses words and definitions. Once we, as a class, came up with key words and definitions that we understood the students embraced them. It was easy to give a quick check question like Which global citizen characteristic did you fall under when you? Once we had a common understanding, students were more connected to them and identified with them. They also aspired to them. AhaReflection and Discussion Lead to Understanding and Internalizing The most important part of my research process was the reflection and response journals, and the constant discussions we had. This ended up being an aha!...Duh kind of moment for me. As a teacher, I constantly talk through lessons, issues, and any other topics of the day with students. I should have known that talking through our research and then having students journal and reflect on what was discussed and learned would give them a deeper connection to the

experiences. Through these avenues students found meaning in the work we were doing. For example, after the water recycling facility tour, I gave students a list of reflection questions to answer before the next class period. When the students came to class they had all written their responses but I could tell that they had not reflected as deeply as I had hoped. We discussed the questions and responses whole class. As I questioned students to help them dig deeper with their responses I began to see little light bulbs go on over their heads. I then gave them time to elaborate on their original responses. Responses to the question Do you think you can help our local environment by conserving water? Why? went from a yes because I can save water to Yes because if I conserve water everyone else will want to and it will spare water for the rest of the world and our area because we pretty much live in a desert and we shouldnt use a lot of water. In general, if the students did not completely understand something, our discussions cleared up their misunderstandings. When the students discussed and then reflected, or vice versa, amongst the group a sense of group understanding emerged. We all learned things from each other. It was fascinating to question their understanding of topics and then be able to read their thinking on it. Through the reflection journals I saw the true heart of my students, which I may not have witnessed in pure discussion. One example of this was Johns response to What are the best things you discovered as you cleaned this area? To which John replied, I discovered dolphins waddling around thanking me for cleaning the beach. John understood that cleaning the beach helped the animals connected to the beach stay healthy. Reflection and discussion were critical to understanding and internalizing the topic at hand, and this needed to be a continual process. Once I finished my research it was too easy to move on to something else and not keep the global citizenship ideas alive in the hearts of the students. In order to make a lasting impact in the hearts of students, their learning about global citizenship needs to be ongoing. Dewey stated, Every experience is a moving force. Its value can be judged only on the ground of what it moves toward and into(1938, p. ?). They will not always be working on the water project or raising money for water filters, but parents, teachers and students can use those experiences as building blocks for continued learning and continued action. In our classroom, this occurred in several ways. Through the fundraiser for the water filters, students were able to continue taking action even after we wrapped up our unit on water. I also continued to ask reflection and response journal prompts related to global citizenship. In addition, one of the most important take-aways from my research was the importance of giving myself reflection time, so that I could generate new actions. I personally reflected after each school day and after each field trip. This helped me think about next steps to help solidify the learning that had taken place. In doing so, I was constantly thinking of quality reflection questions to ask the students that would drive their thinking deeper. Taking Action Helped Solidify Student Learning Why is it that teachers and schools still constantly study topics from books and take one field trip at the end of a unit, or worse, weeks after a unit is over, and think that students will connect and gain deeper learning from it? Through this research, it was clear to me how important hands-on learning is for all students. Beyond reflection and discussion the students had many opportunities

to apply what was being learned. Getting their hands dirty instead of only sitting in the classroom and talking about the actions we should take helped the students connect knowledge with action. They applied and solidified their learning in a way that cannot be done in the classroom alone. The variety of experiences helped them to get the same information in several different ways. For example, throughout the research we discussed water and the importance of clean water. It was introduced through brainstorming and discussion, the students gathered water samples from areas close to them, we investigated the samples through microscopes, we discussed and made cartoons to help other students understand types of germs in water, and so on. We took action in many ways that helped the students solidify the information being learned. Having students act on an issue will take the learning deeper for everyone. By doing so, the experience will linger long after the lessons have been completed. According to OXFAM, students need to be equipped with the necessary skills and confidence to be pro-active in making a positive difference in the world (OXFAM). The hope is that taking action will spark students to become little activists. They wont wait for someone else to take the lead on an issue. They will take the lead. In the first weeks after I discussed the water filter fundraiser with my students and the site I worked at I became disheartened at what I perceived as lack of interest. We had officially finished our unit and werent engaged in water activities onsite anymore. When it first began, we would discuss how the fundraiser was going in class. The students didnt seem to be raising money or taking action. However, as I checked in over the rest of the fundraiser time period I realized students actually were taking action. It just took them a little while to get started. They were holding bake sales and doing chores among other things to raise money to donate. They were proud of how they helped. That was never more evident in the excitement of the student who found the $.27 when cleaning the couch. His mom had written his check for $24.27 and that ended up being the change amount at the end of our grand total. When I wrote our final money raised ($2735.27) I asked him, do you know whose $.27 that is? and a huge smile crossed his face. He turned to his friend and with all the pride in the world said That is my $.27! He felt proud that he had made a difference. To take action as global citizens, I found that it helped greatly to connect with national and international organizations (Appendix D). There are so many that can help teachers and students on the journey to becoming global citizens. Many of them have built curricula that can be used all together or separately. For instance, World Wise Schools through the Peace Corp has a wonderful library of interactive activities, lessons, and podcasts among other resources that connects students to the broader world. I connected with Tanzania Dave through the Peace Corp Correspondence match. Connecting with international organizations helps to deepen learning and build global citizenship. Tips for Teachers What are you passionate about?

If you are not passionate about what you are trying to implement in your classroom the students will know and it will be less meaningful for everyone. Find your passion in relation to a global cause or concern and work the global citizen characteristics into a project related to it. Dewey said, Our desires are the moving springs of action (1938, p. 71). My enthusiasm for our topics in class helped to keep the students engaged and enthusiastic as well. Know your students Global citizenship looks different in kindergarten than it does in 6th grade. The ideas are the same. However, how you will implement those ideas will differ greatly depending on the grade level you teach and on the individual class you are teaching. Due to this, it is important for you as the teacher to understand what global citizenship is and what it means to you, before creating and working through lessons and projects with your particular group of students. Something important I learned with my class is that we had to make the global citizen characteristics our own. Even though I modified them myself to what I thought my students would understand, we were at an impasse with terms until we created our own language for them. Once the students had ownership of the terms they were able to identify and comprehend their own growth in the different areas. Step back so students can thrive One area of teaching that had been hard for me in the past was micromanaging group and partner time. I knew that this would be a challenge for me but I made sure that this was a key element in my research. I wanted the students to be able to discover, discuss, and work through differences to gain better problem solving skills. I had to do some scaffolding at the beginning of the year, but once I let go of my desire to control the dynamics of the groups by micromanaging how they interacted with one another they thrived. Stepping back was critical to their development as global citizens because it gave them opportunities to understand and work through differences together. I just had to give students the time they needed to do so. It was incredible to see the students grow as communicators in this way. The class dynamics changed from I didnt pick that one. They didnt listen to what I wanted to I think it is this answer and he thinks it is this answer. I would then ask how they could figure out which answer was correct. They would then go back and explain how they got their answer to the group or their partner. Inevitably, the light bulb of understanding would go off in one of the partners eyes after an explanation and they would finally agree on which one was correct. All the students needed was a little direction on how to communicate appropriately to one another. I then was able to step back and watch the sometimes not-so-smooth process of student collaboration. This helped them begin to thrive as communicators. Connect the learning across grades and geographic locations As Daisaku Ikeda stated, The work of fostering global citizens, laying the conceptual and ethical foundations of global citizenship concerns us all. It is a vital project in which we all are participants and for which we all share responsibility (Ikeda, 1996). Developing global citizens

is not the work of one teacher alone. For schools, an all-inclusive connection between grade levels to foster global citizens will ensure that what one teacher is promoting continues to be a lasting experience. Collaboration needs to be consistently fostered beginning in kindergarten and continued throughout each consecutive grade level thereafter. This is crucial to ensure that these efforts are sustained. Teacher and administrator collaboration is also very important. This type of collaboration will help to foster a community of connection within the school as a whole and ensure that students will be able to carry on their experiences in and outside of the classroom. Finally, it is important to reach out beyond the school to develop true authentic relationships with people in other places in the world. We did this throughout our research. Connecting with Tanzania Dave in Tanzania, Africa and our pen pals in Guinea, Africa helped the students connect to the world in a way that helped solidify their thinking. Through this type of collaboration, students will internalize the importance and the meaning of being citizens of the world. This will help them to carry their learning beyond the school environment. Last Thought In an ever-changing world that grows closer and more connected daily it is a must that all students know about the world beyond their home, school, town, or city. Students need to be aware of all of the worlds struggles and how we are connected to them. They need to understand the importance of keeping our environment clean and healthy for all living things. We are the caretakers of the world today and the keepers of the world tomorrow. We are all responsible for what we do and we need to understand how our actions affect others for good or for bad. Showing students the broader world early on can help them feel the connectedness that we all need to feel when dealing with the issues of the planet. The good news is that I discovered through my research that it is not so hard to teach students these characteristics related to being a global citizen. The hard part comes in maintaining and keeping up the discussion and actions required in sustaining a global citizen mindset. As Dewey stated in Experience and Education, "A primary responsibility of educators is that they not only be aware of the general principle of the shaping of actual experience by environing conditions, but that they also recognize in the concrete what surroundings are conducive to having experiences that lead to growth" (1938, p. 40). We can all foster global citizens in our classrooms, but the only way that our students will continue to grow in this area is if we as educators collaborate and are thoughtful and purposeful in what we are teaching.