Debra Donnelly

Contesting and Constructing International Perspectives in Global Education

This volume addresses the need for an international perspective on global education, and provides alternate voices to the theme of global education. The editors asked international educators in different contexts to indicate how their own experience of global education addresses the broad and contested concepts associated with this notion. Following the lead of the internationally acknowledged authors from North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia, perspectives were provided on a wide variety of contexts including tertiary education, and teacher education; various pedagogies for global education, including digital pedagogies; and curriculum development at school, tertiary and community levels. Contesting and Constructing International Perspectives in Global Education explores the tensions inherent in discussions of global education from a number of facets including spatial, pedagogical, temporal, social and cultural; and provides critical, descriptive and values-laden interpretations. The book is divided into five sections, “Temporal and Spatial Views of Global Education”; “Telling National Stories of Global Education”; “Empowering Citizens for Global Education”; “Deconstructing Global Education”; and “Transforming Curricula for Global Education”. It is envisaged as a starting point for a stronger international conception of global education and a way to build a conversation for the future of global education in a neo-liberal and less internationally confident time.

Geography and Numeracy

At first glance, Geography may seem a simple study concentrating on locating places and determining how near or far they are from each other. Indeed, the origin of the term supports this idea. The term ‘Geography’ combines two Greek words, ‘geo’ meaning Earth and graphia ‘meaning to draw or describe the earth’. (Gilbert & Hoepper, 2014) However, the contemporary discipline of Geography has a much more ambitious agenda. Modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks to understand the world and all of its human and natural complexities. It is now defined as the investigation and understanding of the earth and its features and distribution of life on earth. It is the study of the earth and its features, inhabitants and phenomena. Geography answers questions about why places have their particular environmental factors and/or human characteristics, looks to explain how and why these have changed and developed over time. These issues are investigated at all levels from local to global with an eye to management and sustainability (Taylor et al, 2012).

The Digital Studio as a Global Education Site

The investigation of human rights and social justice are major objectives of an innovative pre-service teacher-training course at a regional Australian university. The course immerses a cross curricula cohort of secondary pre-service teachers in an arts-led critical global education agenda (Gibson, 2011).

Concepções em mudança do pensamento histórico no ensino da história: um estudo de caso australiano

Muitos paises vivenciaram conflitos em torno do conteudo do seu curriculo de historia e tiveram debates sobre a importância relativa de habilidades (pensamento historico) versus conteudo (conhecimento historico). A Australia nao e uma excecao. Este artigo busca contribuir para as discussoes sobre a importância do pensamento historico no ensino da Historia explorando as concepcoes em mudanca de pensamento historico nos curriculos de historia de New South Wales (NSW) (o mais populoso estado da Australia, que evoluiu de uma antiga colonia britânica e tem uma ininterrupta tradicao de ensino de historia no ensino medio, e um curso adicional ao ensino obrigatorio, que e unico no pais). Recentemente, a historia se tornou um tema obrigatorio em todas as escolas australianas, desde o primeiro fundamental ate o ultimo ano da escola obrigatoria (F-10), pela primeira vez desde a federalizacao dos estados australianos (1901), quando se determinava constitucionalmente que o curriculo era uma responsabilidade do Estado. Este artigo mapeia as formas cambiantes e a importância relativa do pensamento historico como um resultado explicito do ensino de historia nos curriculos de historia de NSW, desde o seu surgimento no curriculo de historia eletivo da decada de 1970 ate a explicitacao nas ementas de NSW para o Curriculo “nacional” obrigatorio australiano. Ele tambem explora a natureza e o significado do curso adicional “senior” de historia posterior a escola obrigatoria de NSW, uma opcao para os alunos de historia no ano final nao obrigatorio de escolarizacao. Este curso adicional incorpora em grande medida o estudo da historiografia, exigindo dos alunos que apliquem suas intuicoes meta-historicas numa investigacao historiografica original, ancorando teoria historica complexa numa experiencia de ser historiador. Defendemos que esta atitude de incorporar a historiografia no curriculo expande a nocao do que constitui o pensamento historico no ensino de historia. Assim, concluimos com a reflexao sobre o que esses diferentes modos de conceituar o pensamento historico significam para a funcao social e educacional da historia, e quais implicacoes eles sugerem para o ensino da historia. Palavras-chave: Ensino da Historia; Pensamento Historico; Australia.