Integrating Global Issues into the Curriculum: The Delaware Example for World Languages

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Integrating Global Issues into the
CurriculumThe Delaware Example for World
Languages

• Dr. Gregory Fulkerson
• World Languages and International Education
  Associate
• Delaware Department of Education
• Global Issues Conference
• Washington, DC
• August 1, 2007

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International Education and World Languages in
Delaware

• Delaware K-20 International Capacity Study, 2004
• Delaware must produce better informed, more
  engaged and more internationally competent
  citizens in our communities.
• Secretary of Educations Commitment to
  International Education and 21st Century Skills
• Delaware State Board of Education World Languages
  Graduation Requirement

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21st Century Skills and International Education

• 21st Century Skills
• Core Academic Subjects, including World Languages
• 21st Century Content
• Global Awareness
• Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial
  Literacy
• Civic Literacy
• Health and Wellness Awareness

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International Education Framework

• International Education provides Delaware
  students with a developmentally appropriate set
  of experiences and a broader context in which
  to actively participate in a multicultural
  society and global workforce. International
  Education in Delaware inspires students to
  explore beyond their state and country by
  providing them with
• Knowledge of world regions and international
  issues
• Skills in communicating in languages other than
  English and working with information from a
  variety of world-wide sources
• Cultural perspectives for comparison of
  worldviews, dispositions and attitudes
• International experiences to exchange information
  with peers around the world.

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World Languages Task Force

• Underlying principles for graduation requirement
  
• Language learning is meaningful and purposeful
• Languages are needed to produce better informed,
  more engaged, and more internationally competent
  citizens in our communities.
• Purpose of Task Force
• To define the world language graduation
  requirement in terms of its functional use for
  all of Delawares students.
• Essential Questions
• What does it mean to have functional
  communicative competence in a language?
• How will linguistic competence be demonstrated by
  each student?

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Anticipated Performance Outcomes as Described in
the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign
Languages (ACTFL) Performance Guidelines for K-12
Learners
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Delaware Recommended Curriculum (DRC) for World
Languages

• Proficiency-oriented
• Performance-focused
• Two other Delaware Documents for World Languages
• Delaware World Language Standardswhat students
  should know and be able to do
• Performance Indicatorshow well students should
  know and be able to do
• DRC is how to do it!

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DRC for World Languages
GOALS
STANDARDS
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
GRADE LEVEL EXPECTATIONS (GLEs)
MODEL UNITS OF INSTRUCTION
Stage 3
Stage 1
Stage 2
DAILY LESSON PLANS
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World Language Grade Articulation
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Early Language Learning

• Partial Immersion
• At least 50 of the day is spent in target
  language as students learn content of academic
  subjects
• Two-Way/Dual-Language Immersion
• Lewis Elementary School Two-Way Immersion Program
  in Spanish and English
• FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary School)
  Program
• New Chinese FLAP Initiative (90 min/week)
• Content-Related

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National Standards for World Language Learning

• Communication
• Cultures
• Connections
• Comparisons
• Communities

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DE Memoranda of Understanding

• Spain
• Visiting Teachers
• Professional Development for Teachers and
  Administrators in Spain
• International Spanish Academies
• Student/Educator Exchange Program
• Student Preparation Programs for the AP Spanish
  Language and Literature Exams
• China
• Volunteer Teachers
• Professional Development for Teachers and
  Administrators
• Web-based Student E-mail and Teacher Resource
  Exchanges
• Student/Educator Exchange Program
• Summer Seminars for Students, Teachers and
  Administrators
• JapanMiyagi Prefecture
• Student Exchange Program
• Taiwan
• France

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Teacher Professional Development

• Focus on Language, Culture and Pedagogy
• Cluster/Mini-Course Approach
• DRC Unit Development (UbD)
• World Languages for All (Special Needs)
• Immersion Weekends
• Teaching Culture, Intercultural Communication and
  Interculturality
• Study and Travel Abroad
• MOUs
• Fulbright-Hays Seminars and Group Projects Abroad
  Scholarships

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Contact Information

• Gregory Fulkerson, Ph.D.
• Delaware Department of Education
• 401 Federal St., Suite 2
• Dover, DE 19901
• 302.735.4180
• gfulkerson_at_doe.k12.de.us