Globalink-Africa Online Curriculum Teacher Guidelines
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GlobaLink-Africa Online Curriculum Teacher Guidelines UCLA Globalization Research Center-Africa GlobaLink‐Africa Curriculum Teacher Guidelines Edmond Keller, Epifania A. Amoo‐Adare, Robin N. Johnson, and Judith Stevenson University of California, Los Angeles/ GRCA November 30, 2005 Globalization Research Center‐Africa International Institute University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90095‐1487 (310) 267‐4054 http://www.globalization‐africa.org © The Regents of the University of California The work reported herein was supported under the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education Award Number 01113831/DoE Prime Grant # P116Z010019 to the Globalization Research Center‐Africa (GRCA), as administered by the U.S. Department of Education. The findings and opinions expressed in these teacher guidelines do not reflect the positions or policies of the U. S. Department of Education. GlobaLink-Africa Online Curriculum is a phenomenal example of a critical pedagogy that alerts students to the challenges of globalization and Africa’s dynamic relationship to this growing force. I can think of no other high school resource that is more comprehensive and engaging. This prescient work arrives at a time when Africa’s complexity and significance to the world is just beginning to be acknowledged in the West. Peter McLaren, Ph.D., F.R.S.A., Professor, UCLA Graduate School of Education Designed by a multi-disciplinary team of scholars and researchers, with input from teachers and students, this online curriculum successfully combines fundamental pedagogical principles, sound knowledge of the subject matter and innovative technology in a very accessible format. As an interactive tool it involves the student in active learning and critical thinking in an engaging manner. The modular design of the curriculum provides flexibility in its use and enables customization for instruction, based on the local needs of each school or class. The demi-screen format of the curriculum pages fits on most laptop screens, a user-friendly feature for many students and teachers. Besides the high school audience, this interactive curriculum should be useful to the general public as a rudimentary introduction to the concepts inherent in globalization and some of the major issues surrounding it, particularly as they relate to Africa and Africa-related policy in the United States and other Western nations. Further, these concepts, once understood, can be applied, to some extent, globally. Ruby A. Bell-Gam, M.F.A., M.L.S., Librarian, UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library The GlobaLink-Africa Online Curriculum is well aligned to the goals of the History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools (California Department of Education [CDE], 2005), particularly the goals of knowledge and cultural understanding and skills attainment and social participation. Taken together, the case studies provide students with experiences and information from which they can develop historical, ethical, cultural, geographic, economic, and sociopolitical literacy. In this way, the GlobaLink-Africa curriculum can provide teachers with powerful materials and tools to address the History-Social Studies standards. Additionally, the assignments presented to students serve as powerful assessment tools for teachers. In all cases, students are asked to integrate what they have learned from the case studies with other materials to complete the assignments. Given the complexity of the content, and the level or rigor in expectations, the assignments are appropriate as they correspond to the goals of the curriculum as well as tap into knowledge called for by the California History-Social Studies Content Standards. Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Texas Tech University The interactive GlobaLink-Africa Online Curriculum will engage students participating in Citizenship, Sociology, History, Social Studies, English and other Humanities Electives. It will enrich the Secondary/High School phase curriculum. UK and USA schools, as well as some of the International schools with good ICT facilities, should find the web-based curriculum advantageous. However, it is necessary to conduct pilots to ascertain how poorly ICT-equipped, government- funded, secondary-phase schools will fully maximise the curriculum’s potential usage. Olivia Afia Bush M.A., F.R.S.A., L.P.S.H., Senior Education Consultant (UK and Ghana) Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 Africa and Representation 1 GlobaLink‐Africa Curriculum 2 2. Curriculum Design 3 3. Curriculum Guides 7 Key Concepts 7 Underlying Ideas 9 Multiple Facets and Issues 10 Themes for Students 11 4. Curriculum Content 14 Overview 14 Contested Narratives 15 Guide Characters 15 Naomi Stiner ‐anti‐globalization 15 Jalalu Bello ‐pro‐globalization 16 Case Study Characters 16 Global Transformations 17 Ghana ‐Kofi Amoakohene 17 Kenya ‐Irene Chege 17 Mozambique ‐Maria da Sousa Sitoe 18 USA ‐Lillie Elizabeth Patterson 18 Global Relationships 19 Ethiopia ‐Solomon Mulugeta 19 Liberia ‐James Dweh 19 Sudan ‐Bashir Ahmad al‐Faki 20 Sierra Leone ‐Babashola Ahmed 20 Global Systems 21 Madagascar ‐Lila Adrianambinina 21 Cameroon ‐Constance Enoh 21 Nigeria ‐Barine Gobari 22 Namibia ‐Tsamxao John Xishe 22 Global Time and Space 23 Democratic Republic of Congo ‐Ngolela wa Said 23 South Africa ‐Siboniso Kunene 23 Senegal ‐Abdoulaye Faye 24 Egypt ‐Aminah Murad 24 i 5. Performance Assessment 25 Rationale and Overview 25 Pre‐activities 27 Assignments 28 6. Universal Student Access 29 Learning Goals 29 Knowledge and Skills 30 7. Curriculum Contributors 33 8. References 37 9. Appendices 41 Aligned History‐Social Science Standards, Grades 9‐12 41 Aligned English Language Arts Standards, Grades 9‐10 45 Aligned English Language Arts Standards, Grades 11‐12 50 Concept, Theme and Case Study Table 54 ii INTRODUCTION Africa and Representation Today the word “globalization” conjures many different, sometimes conflicting impressions and understandings of how the world is working. There is intense, public debate regarding how to focus the increasing impact of globalization processes on people, particularly in the Third World. Africa’s position in those debates is also contested, with some claiming gross economic, social and political marginalization, and others declaring Africa as a hopeful space for economic and social development. Unfortunately, Africa’s contested position is enveloped by consistent inaccurate representations of the continent. This makes it difficult for many to realistically gauge the impact of globalization on Africa and African people. The GlobaLink‐Africa curriculum1 makes it possible for students to better make sense of the phenomenon of globalization in relationship to Africa, by providing insights that challenge largely subscribed to stereotypes and misrepresentations about Africa. Through popular media, and historical documentation, Africa is often presented as an uncomplicated, homogenous, and “primitive” continent that is war‐torn, genocidal, uneducated, diseased, and underdeveloped. The realties of Africa are often obscured, and its triumphs and rich cultures are consistently overlooked. Such representations often go unchallenged in American society and lead to generalizations, which people use to interpret or evaluate Africa and its diverse peoples. The GlobaLink‐Africa curriculum responds to such misunderstandings about Africa, through dynamic and complex presentations of African peoples, politics, cultures, and history. This realistic and non‐stereotypic portrayal provides students with a concrete base, from which to begin to understand the real impact of globalization on the African 1 The GlobaLink‐Africa curriculum project is one of four signature projects developed by the UCLA Globalization Research Center‐Africa (GRCA). GRCA conducts research on the dynamics and effects of globalization, with particular emphasis on impacts within Africa. The overall aim of the Center is to engage in research on the ways global forces impact African societies; the ways in which African societies have an impact upon the globalization process; and the comparative, cross national and cross cultural comparison of global processes as they relate to Africa. This work is policy relevant, and its results are to be widely distributed to educators, policy makers and the public at large. GRCA’s intention is to develop an institution open to collaboration with and input from different disciplines in academia, and to partnering with other research endeavors in both the public and private sectors. The other GRCA signature projects are as follows: Conflict, Conflict Management and Democracy, HIV/AIDS in Africa Initiative, and Urban‐Rural Governance and Poverty Alleviation. 1 continent and the various ways in which African people and governments contribute to the process of globalization. GlobaLink‐Africa Curriculum In the tradition of critical pedagogy, GlobaLink‐Africa is a school‐year‐long, multimedia, online curriculum resource for critical thinking about globalization and its relationship with Africa. The curriculum objective is to offer high school students an interactive series of sixteen case studies that make the complexities of the process of globalization accessible and understandable. It is also to provide two fictional, on‐ screen guide characters that take contesting positions on many of the facets of the unfolding globalization phenomenon as they affect Africa and its people, and United States‐Africa relations. Since