Carolina Musawwir

ECI 524 Summer 2017

Learning from each other: Schools around the world

Preface
Schools around the world might look and feel very different from each other, but their
purpose is the same; to prepare children for life. This preparation varies depending on the
culture’s values and their resources. Schools change and evolve do to new technology, changes
in population, environmental needs, and new consciousness, as well as do to community and
student’s changing expectations. Our own school, George Watts Montessori Elementary, is a
product of community’s and students’ changing expectations. Once a traditional school, parents
and community members lobbied for it becoming a Montessori school, and since its big
transformation, lots of other small but significant changes have come about do to new
consciousness and changes in population. Some examples of how new consciousness are shaping
our school are; our recycling student group, our composting program, our edible garden and the
implementation of ceramic plates and cups for snack in classrooms rather than paper product.
Shifts in our school population have brought about a monthly Latino parent meeting and an
afterschool Spanish for native speakers reading class. These are changes that our school has
made because they served our culture and we had the resources. Not all school will want or need
to make the changes we did and that’s ok.
Cosmopolitanism emphasis how important it is to learn about others because then we are
better able to reflect on ourselves and the things we do, which will lead us to make more
informed decisions. Schools are many times bubbles which fail to share with others what goes
on behind their walls. That is true in schools within the same district, but also… how much do
students know about what goes on in schools in different countries? I believe that there is
always something we can learn from others. As humans we are constantly learning and teaching
each other. The exchanges that we partake in influence the way we see the world and inform our
life decisions. When students are exposed to the ways of life of other children around the globe
they are then more informed and better prepared to make decisions in their life.
In this global learning unit students will explore how a few different schools around the
world do things. The goal of this unit is to expose children to different schools around the globe,
not compare schools to U.S schools, but rather to identify the ways in which those schools meet
the goal of preparing children for life. It is my belief that a Cosmopolitan view of education
around the world will not shelter students from seeing differences in education between countries
but rather teach children to look beyond just resources and esthetical appearances. Are children
happy and safe? Are children being prepared for life? These are the real questions of whether a
school is meeting the needs of its students. Through this lense we shatter capitalist notions of the
need for outlandish resources in order to live happy, fulfilled and purposeful lives or have
effective schools.
The schools which I have chosen for the students to research are very different from each
other and I struggled with the idea that they would compare one to the other and that I would be
contributing to stereotypes. I chose to stick with these two schools because I believe that they
give a true representation of school in those countries. I wanted to do Mexico because all of the
students that I would be doing this unit with have relatives in Mexico. They love to talk about
Mexico although they really know very little about the place. The video that I will be showing
them depicts a very traditional school and it’s in Spanish, my student’s native language. It is not
a wealthy school as far as resources, but I don’t believe that that alone means that it doesn’t have
positive qualities which we could imitate. I attended a public school in my country which was
very similar to the one in the video and had a great elementary school experience (something that
I will share when I share about Uruguay). I think that we create the negative stereotypes when
we focus on what we lack because of our false capitalist misconceptions of what matters. The
Mexican school does not look like the Japanese school, but there are plenty of great things
happening there that I want the students to pick up on. For example; that school teaches a
second language, has the students exercise prior to class, has the students brush their teeth after
lunch and the seating groups allow for lots of discussions and relationship building.
Both of these schools I believe are great examples of how something could be learned
from every culture, regardless of how rich or poor it is. Also, the parent interviews for each
country will give the students a fair and balanced account of what school is like in each country.

Common Core Standards:

Key Ideas and Details 3.1- Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text,
referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Speaking and Listening 3.1- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-
on, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on
others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Writing 3.2- Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and
information clearly.

Writing 3.7- Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

Writing 3.8- Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital
sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

TESOL Standards:

Standard 1: English language learners communicate for social, intercultural, and instructional
purposes within the school setting.

Standard 2: English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary
for academic success in the area of language arts.
Learning Objectives-

- Students will identify “education” as a right of every child.

- Students will be able to describe how communities improve their schools as they become more

conscious of the environment and the needs of their students.

- Students understand that humans learn from each other new ways of doing things.

- Students become aware that good ideas are everywhere and one just has to look.

- Students create a book to share about the school in the country that they researched.

- Students interview an adult in order to gather information for their research.

- Students present their research to an audience.

Phase 1
Entering Inquiry (1 day)

Through a read aloud of For Every Child, a Better World by Kermit the Frog, Louise Gikow,
students will be introduced to the rights of children. How does the right to education play out in
different countries around the word? We will watch this video to introduce us to schools in
different countries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at2gAjtsgtk

School around the world might be very different from each but they all serve the same purpose;
to prepare children for life and there are things we could learn from all of them.

Compelling Question- What can we learn from schools in other countries?

To begin the unit I will talk to the students about school in Uruguay, where I attended. I will
show students this video to illustrate how schools around the world change;
http://video.aljazeera.com/channels/eng/videos/uruguay%3A-teaching-sustainability-in-self-
sustainable-school/5257157017001 - I will explain to the students that this school in Uruguay
contains some of the traditional school elements of the school that I went to when I was young
but has also evolved to address some of the sustainability issues that face our planet, like how to
use less resources and use trash so that it doesn’t end up in a landfill. I will make a connection to
how our own school has been evolving and how when we live in a world community we all learn
from each other and do things better over time, including school.

I will let the students know that they will be researching a school in a different country to find
out what things we can learn from those schools and then share their findings to the group.
Students will be split into two groups of 3, one groups will research Japan and the other Mexico.
(I chose Mexico because I have many Mexican children and they are very curious about what
school is like there. I also have lots of Mexican parents who I could use for students to interview.
I chose Japan because I think they have neat ways of teaching children about communal
responsibilities and I also have a parent who the students could interview).

Students will brainstorm questions that they have about schools in other countries and I will
write them on chart paper for us to reference later.

Phase 2
Gathering and analyzing information (3 days)

Day 1

Using the questions that they students brainstormed the day prior, the teacher (on the smart
board) with guidance from the students, will put together a graphic organizer that the students
will use for their research.

The following questions will also be added to the student produced ones:

How is the school teaching children to value community?

How is the school teaching children to care for the planet?

Choose two qualities from the school that you would like to incorporate into your school. Why?

Day 2 and 3

Students will use the following for their research:

- A webpage that I created to introduce the research :

- Parents from both countries will come into the classroom for interviews.

Students will use the graphic organizers created the day prior to guide their research. Interesting
findings that do not fit under a question on their graphic organizer, will be written on the back of
the organizer, and the students will need to create questions for that information. The rubric will
be shared with students.

Phase 3 (2 Days)
Synthesize
Students will create an All About Book with the findings from their research. They will use their
graphic organizer to organize their book. The questions on the graphic organizer will now
become subheadings in their All About Book and information they gathered to answer those
questions will fill this informational text.

Phase 4 (1 Day)
Evaluate and Revise
Editing and revising will be the last step of the writing process. Students will be encouraged to
read the book to their partner in order to catch any mistakes prior to sharing with the larger
group. I will conference with groups and give suggestions as they revise and edit, and they will
use the rubric to assess their work.

Phase 5 (1 Day)
Share
Groups will present their research to each other.

Assessment

The rubric below will be shared with students and used to assess their research.

Reach of student objectives will also be evaluated during share outs through reflection on the
thoughtfulness of the research. Because this lesson was designed for a small group of ESL
students, informal formative assessments will be ongoing from the 1st until the last phase of the
unit.

School’s Around the World

3 points- Great 2 point- Fair 1 point- Poor

Research
Student answered
questions on the
graphic organizer.
Product
The All About Book
is informative, neat
and beautiful.
Presentation
Student presented
the information with
confidence