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    Welcome to GCLA (Global Citizenship, Leadership in Action):
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    This Q2 elective course will allow you to learn more about how the decisions you make, and the leadership you take, affect the world around you. 

    On Wednesdays, you will also take part in the middle school student council during Q2 as one form of "leadership in action."  The student council will continue through the school year, meeting after school on Thursdays with Ms Grubac and Ms Kenderic.

    If you choose, you may continue your personal development in global citizenship by completing the Global Citizenship Award over the next six months.

    Monday 3 November: What is global citizenship?

    AREA 1 - Understanding other cultures and outlooks

    • Why is it important to understand other people?

    AREA 2 - Personal Global Footprint

    What impact do YOU have on your environment?  What is your personal global footprint?  How could buy goods that have less environmental and social impact?

    • Being good with money
    • Environmental responsibility

    AREA 3 - Influence & Involvement with Others

    • Personal community service
    • Advocacy, persuasion or promotion
    • Active participation in decision-making processes

    Personal investigation--Area 1

    1. Choose a culture you wish to investigate (make sure you can find somebody from that culture who you can do a face-to-face interview with)
    2. Find other methods of exploring your chosen culture (book, film, internet research).  Books & films can be fictional.

    *Wednesday 5 November (90 minutes)

    Culture Exploration continues (45 minutes)

    What should a student council do? (45 minutes)

    • Mission, Leadership and Service
    • Strategic Planning 
    • Roles and Responsibilities
    • Effective meetings--getting things done, and bringing out the best in others
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    Understanding Other Cultures and Outlooks + Introducing Leadership as Service (10-16 Nov)
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    MONDAY 10 NOVEMBER

    Film: There Once Was an Island

    • Climate change threatens a unique culture off the coast of Papua New Guinea.  How will they preserve their values and traditions?  Will they abandon their island, or find ways to preserve it? 

    WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER:  Student Council meeting

    • First influence: Wednesday afternoon PA announcement
    • Compass Points exercise:  being self-aware about how we influence a group
    • First brainstorming session:  ideas 

    • THURSDAY 13 NOVEMBER

      • Pulling it all together:  considering PNG island culture; target culture; own culture.
      • Constructing an agreed rubric for judging the quality of presentations and learning about other cultures

      Homework--by Monday 24 November, be ready to make your presentation to the class about your target culture.

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    Understanding Other Cultures (17-21 Nov)
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    MONDAY 17 NOVEMBER : Continuing to research another culture.

    • Rubric for grading is attached.
    • Your presentation may take any form (spoken, visual, film, etc.) and should take about 10 minutes.  Longer presentations may need to be 'shortened' in class, in order for the class to hear all presentations.
    • Click here for ideas: Multicultural 'World Cup for Kids' blogs on World Cup countries

    Cultural universals.  These are learned behavior patterns that are shared by all of humanity collectively.  No matter where people live in the world, they share these universal traits.  Examples of such "human cultural" traits include:

     1.  

    communicating with a verbal language consisting of a limited set of sounds and grammatical rules for constructing sentences

     2.

    using age and gender to classify people (e.g., teenager, senior citizen, woman, man)

     3.

    classifying people based on marriage and descent relationships and having kinship terms to refer to
    them (e.g., wife, mother, uncle, cousin)

     4.

    raising children in some sort of family setting

     5.

    having a division of labor  based on gender (e.g., men's work versus women's work)

     6.

    having a concept of privacy

     8.

    distinguishing between good and bad behavior

     9.

    having some sort of body ornamentation

    10.

    making jokes and playing games

    11.

    having art

    12.

    having some sort of leadership roles for the implementation of community decisions

    While all cultures have these and possibly many other universal traits, different cultures have developed their own specific ways of carrying out or expressing them.  For instance, people in deaf subcultures frequently use their hands to communicate with sign language instead of verbal language.  


    Culture and Society

    Culture and society are not the same thing.  While cultures are complexes of learned behavior patterns and perceptions, societies are groups of interacting organisms. 

    People are not the only animals that have societies.  Schools of fish, flocks of birds, and hives of bees are societies.  In the case of humans, however, societies are groups of people who directly or indirectly interact with each other.  People in human societies also generally perceive that their society is distinct from other societies in terms of shared traditions and expectations.

    While human societies and cultures are not the same thing, they are connected because culture is created and transmitted to others in a society.  Cultures are not the product of lone individuals.  They are the continuously evolving products of people interacting with each other.  Cultural patterns such as language, traditions, and politics make no sense except in terms of the interaction of people.  

    Work on developing your presentation.

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    Understanding Other Cultures (24, 26 Nov)
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    TUESDAY 24 NOVEMBER

    • All student presentations, self- and peer-assessed using agreed rubric

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    Reflecting and Recording / Personal Global Footprint (1-5 Dec)
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    • WEDNESDAY 1 DECEMBER

      • Finish presentations
      • Self- and peer-assessments
      • Written reflection on learning in Area 1 Essential Question: Why is it important to understand other people?

      AREA 2 - Personal Global Footprint

      Essential question: What impact do YOU have on your environment?  

      • What is your personal global footprint?  
      • How could you buy goods that have less environmental and social impact? 
        • Being good with money 
        • Environmental responsibility

    • Calculate your Global Footprint

      Step 1: Visit these websites to calculate your global footprint.

      1. http://www.earthday.org/footprint-calculator
      2. http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/
      3. http://www.myfootprint.org/

      Step 2: What did you learn? What can you change that would improve life on planet earth?

      Your footprint is broken down into four consumption categories:

      1. carbon (home energy use and transportation)
      2. food
      3. housing
      4. goods and services

      (Challenge) Step 3: What bias(es) can you identify in each organization's quiz?  How do you know? Does this improve or detract from their credibility? What makes you think so?

    • WEDNESDAY 3 DECEMBER--Student Council Meeting

      • Committees work on projects
      • December/January and Dance on January 9: When/where/theme/music/food/decorations/karaoke/games/prizes/EVERYONE INVOLVED.
      • Plan 'Thursday announcements' for PA/whole school

    • THURSDAY 4 DECEMBER

      Step 2: What did you learn? What can you change that would improve life on planet earth?

      E-waste

      The Men Who Made Us Spend

      Dateline: E-waste in Ghana

      Where does E-waste end up?

    • Demonstration: the earth's food production and population File

      If this apple represents the earth, how much of the world's surface produces food for the entire population?

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    Personal Global Footprint (8-12 Dec)
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    • MONDAY 8 DECEMBER

      • Final presentation on Area 1: Understanding Other Cultures and Outlooks
      • 'Hour of Code' @ 2:00-3:00

    • WEDNESDAY 10 DECEMBER--Student Council Meeting

      • Committees work on projects for December and January
      • Plan 'Thursday announcements' for PA/whole school

    • THURSDAY 11 DECEMBER

      Announcements for PA at 2:55 (rock paper scissors, to determine the reader for this week)

      1. Hot chocolate day is tomorrow!  Remember to bring money for hot chocolate, during morning breaks or at lunch, sponsored by Middle School Student Council.
      2. Next week is Final Exam Week for High School students.  Good luck with your studies and your exams! 
      3. On Wednesday we will have the traditional holiday 'Sing-Along' after lunch, in the Seminary Auditorium.
      4. Next Friday, school ends at 12:00 (during G block for Upper School).  Enjoy the holidays!  School will resume on Wednesday January 8.

      30 minutes for final planning of hot chocolate sale and dance

      Being good with money:  the food we eat

      To explore more about how we spend our money on food, in your FRUIT GROUPS, watch these two videos:

      1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cpdb78pWl4 The Science of Addictive Food (11:12)

      2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNHpA4uCm7g The Environmental Impact of Meat Production and Livestock (2:56)

      Then choose one of the following videos:

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raSHAqV8K9c How to Feed 9 Million (12:21)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut3URdEzlKQ The Hidden Cost of Hamburgers (7:51)

       

      On Monday, we will discuss and review the implications of the information presented.

       

      Fruit Groups

       

      Suhyun

      Ema

      Simon

       

      Luca

      Bea

      Niko

       

       

      Josip

      Zoe

      Luna

       

      Matea

      Maria

      Frane

       

      Leia

      Madison

      Yutong
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    Being Good With Money/Personal Global Footprint (15-19 Dec)
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    Being Good With Money/Personal Global Footprint (7, 8 Jan)
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    • WEDNESDAY--Student Council Meeting

      • Committees work on projects for January and beyond
      • Plan 'Thursday announcements' for PA/whole school

    • THURSDAY 8 JANUARY--Final planning for the dance--submit event planning document.

      Continue learning about the global impact of items we purchase, and consider what to make our campaign.

      With your ANIMAL group, you will watch one video (each is ~8 minutes long).

      A) The Story of Bottled Water

      B) The Story of Electronics

      C) The Story of Cosmetics

      As you watch, decide on 8 key points from the video that are the most important to know about this product, its marketing, and its effects on the global environment. 

      You will take your key points to a mixed group, where you will explain these points to others.

      Finally, we will decide on one global issue for our campaign.

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    Being Good With Money/Personal Global Footprint (12-16 Jan)
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    • MONDAY 12 JANUARY

    • WEDNESDAY--FINAL in-class Student Council Meeting

      • Committees reflect and work on projects for January and beyond
      • Plan 'Thursday announcements' for PA/whole school
      • Decide on days for lunchtime meetings February-May

    • THURSDAY 15 JANUARY

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    Acknowledgements and Additional Resources
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    Inspiration for the philosophy and structure of this course came from Boyd Roberts's Educating for Global Citizenship (International Baccalaureate, 2009), Oxfam's resources Educating for Global Citizenship, and all the students and educators who affect their immediate communities for the better. 

    These descriptions from the IGC Award Discussion forum are helpful in sorting through a a selection of potential resources.

    Personal global footprint – the food we eat                      

    The IGC Award encourages young people to look at their everyday lives and the impact they are having, consciously or not, on people and planet. In working on their personal global footprint, food is an obvious place to start. By considering research about and the stories behind the food we eat we can become better informed and then consider how we want to adjust how we spend our money and what we eat. It is too easy, however, to latch onto a few simple mantras (like “local good, imported bad”) which do not reflect the complexities of some of the issues involved. A more informed and critical consideration of the issues associated with our food is necessary, even with younger students. Here are a few resources that may be helpful for exploring food within the context of the IGC Award. Some are produced for school use. Others are more general. In compiling this I have drawn on the excellent Global Dimension website, which lists and reviews many resources helpful in addressing matters global within schoolshttp://www.globaldimension.org.uk/.  While some of the resources are geared to the UK context, they can certainly be very helpful in other contexts too.

    Resources are coded:

    G          General, not produced for a school audience. Some of these resources may not therefore be suitable for use with younger students.

    11-14   produced for use in schools with this age group       

    11-16   produced for use in schools with this age group       

    16+      produced for use in schools with this age group       


     
    Bottled water

    The Story of Bottled Water video (G)

    http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-bottled-water/

    The Story of Bottled Water shows how marketing has created a perceived need for a resource that is often readily available from the tap. It is produced by the people who developed “The Story of Stuff” video. Although geared to an American market, it is relevant to people who drink bottled water anywhere.  In around five minutes, the film explores the bottled water industry’s attacks on tap water, its use of advertising and the associated plastic waste.

    (The Story for Stuff website has a number of very good animated videos on consumer demand and related issues.

    But the videos from The Story of Stuff organization come in for criticism. To get some balance look also at the video The Real Story of Bottled Water (G), which puts the case for drinking ithttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwV2JpFnxWM&feature=plcp  (Both these videos are available also on the Award Ning at http://igcaward.ning.com/

    This video is developed by an organization called Bottled Water Matters (Website athttp://www.bottledwatermatters.org/), where it argues the case for bottled water. Interestingly there is no About Us page on the website, and the organization is, apparently, financed by the International Bottled Water Association. (See Huffington Post report http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/10/bottled-water-matters-new_...)

    Food production and distribution

    Food and Farming (11-14; 14-16; 16+) A short booklet (available as a pdf athttp://www.foe.co.uk/resource/factsheets/food_farming.pdf) produced by Friends of the Earth UK. Although written for the UK context, much of it is more generally relevant. It argues that we should buy local, organically produced or fair trade food.

    Some counter views on organic food are presented inhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3326624/Organic-food-is-... (G)

    A recent report from Stanford University concludes there is little evidence of health benefits from organic food (see http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2012/september/organic.html  (G) for a summary). But the authors note that there are other arguments for organic food such as concern over pesticide use and animal welfare in some farming methods.

    Fair Miles (G) This booklet by Oxfam and the International Institute for Economic Development gives an admirable consideration of food production and transport, focusing on food trade between Africa and the UK. It considers the concept of “food miles” to be an oversimplification, and presents a more comprehensive and inclusive view of “fair miles”. As it says “Food is more than a plateful of emissions. It’s a social, political and economic issue that involves millions of small farmers in poor countries who export produce to the North. They have built lives and livelihoods around this trade. By buying what they grow, you’ve clocked up ‘fair miles’.” Whilst not specifically aimed at schools, it is very clearly written and illustrated with clear, colourful diagrams. Probably most useful with participants 16 and above. http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/fair-food-miles-re...

    Food Stories (11-16; 16+) is an interactive website that considers food in a broad context. This includes consideration of food production and consumer choice, as well as aspects of food which are less generally relevant to the IGC Award.  Produced by the British Library, it includes recordings of interviews with people concerned with food and colourful graphics. There is also an accompanying teacher’s guide.http://www.bl.uk/learning/resources/foodstories/index.html

    Sustainable Table (G) is a US website promoting sustainable food. There are general factsheets and information on a wide range of food-related topics, such as factory farming, food safety, local food and waste. There are special teachers’ resources. 
    http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php

    Nourish (G; 11-14; 14-16) is a website promoting good healthy food and an awareness of the issues underling food. The website includes a number of short videos on topics such as Fairtrade food, how supermarkets get us to but etc. 
    http://www.nourishlife.org/

    Show R World (G) is an interactive website, which provides data in a visually interesting form on many features of global interest, such as population, education. It also gives information on production and consumption of certain key food animal and plant resources http://show.mappingworlds.com/world/ (see under Planet)

     

    Coffee

    Just Coffee (G) is a 20 minute film produced by Consumers International. It looks at the processes involved and benefits of various coffee certification programmes (Utz Kapez, organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance). There are interviews with coffee producers, campaigning organisations, and international coffee organisations. The film is at  http://www.safeshare.tv/w/TzlJiOfxbv

    Oxfam has a number of resources relating to coffee production and Fair trade. These include the Coffee Chain Game (13+) which explores the coffee supply chain and where money goes along the way.http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/coffee_chain_game/?31

     

    Food Certification programmes

    Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the background to the foods they eat, and many are looking for indications that what they buy is grown and processed with proper regard for the workers and the environment. This has led to a proliferation in certification programmes, but also in the use of unverifiable claims – such as “sustainable”, “locally sourced” – sometimes examples of “greenwashing”.

    If we wish to be ethical shoppers, we need to become more familiar with the various certification schemes.

    Fairtrade is one of the best known, and applies to food and other products, such as flowers and cotton.

    The international certification body is Fairtrade International, and there are local certification organisations in many countries.

    UTZ certifies tea, coffee and cocoa. Its website (available in French, Spanish, Chinese, German and English) explains the certification programme and its benefits. http://www.utzcertified.org/

    The ecological case for and against vegetarianism

    Why it’s green to go vegetarian (G) is a 20 page leaflet presenting the ecological case for vegetarianism. Produced by the UK’s Vegetarian Society. http://www.vegsoc.org/document.doc?id=166

    But see also campaigning author George Monbiot’s article I was wrong about veganism (G) in which he renounces his own veganism, after reading Simon Fairlie’s book Meat: a benign extravagance , which he summarises here. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/06/meat-production...

     

    Videos

    Support Ethical (G) is a short video (1:43) on the importance of food choices, produced by how it should behttp://vimeo.com/38400764

    The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter (G) Prominent philosopher on ethics in everyday life and Harvard professor Peter Singer  discusses. A lecture to a university audience -  53minutes.http://vimeo.com/1760066

    Is local food more ethical? (G)  A short video (2:10) from the Carnegie Council raises key issues about local food. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbJqmKcw2p4


    For younger students

    Oxfam has a number of food-related resources for younger students, including

    Go bananas (7 -11) which traces banana from the Caribbean to the UK.

    Making a meal of it (7-11) includes a number of lesson plans and activities on food, food supply and distribution. These include

    Where does our food come from? http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/making_a_meal_of_it/fil...

     Unpacking the supermarket bag http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/making_a_meal_of_it/fil...

     

    Food issues more generally

    Consideration of our own food may lead us into a wider consideration of food supply and distribution more generally in the world.  A Healthy Diet. Who decides? (11-14) produced by UNICEF UK includes case studies and activities on food in three countries. http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Education-Documents/Resources-Do...

    Oxfam UK has some excellent general education resources (Food for Thought (11-14; 16+)) on food production and distribution, although developed for use in a classroom context and as part of a larger project rather than by students independently -http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/food_for_thought_resour...

    Global Eye – a website (not currently updated) overseen by the Royal Geographical Society – has some background information and links on world food production and distribution athttp://www.globaleye.org.uk/secondary_autumn2001/focuson/index.html