For the interview project, I initially attempted to interview a principal and teacher from another school that’s primary focus was engaging students for the task of becoming 21st century global citizens. However, under the short time constraints I was unable to do that. But I would like to say that I have made plans to go and do this anyway and will report it to the blog when I have completed it. I also hope to include pictures of the facility so all can see that there is hope for educating the global future.

I interviewed my team partner Laura Hastings for the project. Laura is originally from New Jersey, close to the New York border. Laura is married to a former marine, has three children and has lived in different places around the world, including Japan. Laura and I currently teach at Tarawa Terrace II in the fifth grade. The school is on a marine base, providing for a very unique environment. Laura has been afforded the opportunity to travel the world and discuss educational matters that concern both Americans within the continental United States and on US soil in foreign countries. The Department of Defense provides education to families that are stationed overseas with their military parent. Many times, the student cannot attend school in the country because they do not speak the resident country’s language. The fact that many of the students that live on military installations have lived overseas provides opportunity for a great development of the 21st century student due to their prior exposure of different cultures.

Working with military families requires you to be a flexible person. Parents come and go and students can miss school for extended periods of time. Being a member of the Department of Defense also has its drawbacks. Currently America has been fighting a war on several fronts for almost a decade. Education of military children has become a secondary thought when their parents so desperately need body armor and bullets to defend the freedoms we hold dear. Due to the war and the expensive price tag, our schools have suffered.

While talking with Laura I am reminded that our school mission highlights our desire to teach critical thinking skills; however, there is nothing about being a 21st century student. Community is part of our mission statement but what community is not defined. Students at our school do not receive any language instruction and have not in the past. Because of this and the focus of the fifth grade curriculum, creating opportunities to involve the global world do not always come easy. As an experienced teacher, Laura attempt to engage the students with discussion of current topics being discussed in the news. She creates and facilitates projects that ask the students to solve community problems and explore solutions to scientific issues plaguing not only America but the globe. Through discussion Laura and I evaluated what other teachers bring to the global discussion. Unfortunately, many staff members see their job as solely being an elementary teacher and teaching reading, writing, and math skills. Several of the staff members are military spouses and have lived overseas and provide a rich cultural environment but not a global perspective.

Since I started working here, Laura has been not only a team partner but a friend and mentor. Her advice to new teachers is to develop a sense of hunger in your students. Find the topics that engage them and allow them to inquire about questions that arise. Provide them with opportunities to express their thought and ideas. Above all, give them access to lots materials that will assist them in their inquiry and growth. Laura also highlights the importance of not being discouraged by setback or lack of engagement. Issues need to be raised more than once for people to realize the gravity of the situation. By educating the parents about our standards and what a global world is, we open the door to educating the child.

What I took away most from this project, is that we as teachers on base, take for granted the fact that the students don’t have a great deal of access to diverse environments after they return home. Since transferring schools this past year, I have been made aware that different branches of the military are not as diverse as others. Previously I worked with students that came from different areas around the world and spoke different languages. In my new position, my students are almost entirely white, native speaking English. Also, their parents are not eager to share their personal culture or history. I can truly say that prior to this; I was blessed to have the experience of nine ELL students that spoke 5 languages and American citizens that were eager to share their geographic culture within the United States. Here I am a teacher of basic skills and knowledge, before I felt like an educator of the entire child providing guidance through their global community.