Registration is now open for the Spring session of Cultivating Global Citizenship, Tanenbaum’s 36-hour intensive professional development course for educators. The course will be offered on April 9, 10, 11, 13, 21 and 28 through the NYC Department of Education’s After School Professional Development Program (ASPDP) and is worth 3 P-credits.
This past summer, NYC public school teachers representing an array of schools, grade levels and subject areas joined together to learn about and discuss the role of diversity, religious identity and multiculturalism in their classroom. A wide variety of hands-on activities complemented by readings, conversations and films allowed teachers to get a broad sense of how diversity affects the lives of their students. Participants tackled challenging questions such as how to incorporate multiculturalism into any type of lesson and whether one can teach about religion in the public school classroom (the answer is yes!). Ultimately, they gained new skills and insights to bring back to their classrooms and schools.
Through creating ready-to-implement lessons, teachers experienced first-hand the various ways of teaching respect, multicultural awareness and religious and cultural diversity within their particular classroom settings, across subject area and grade level. At the end of the course, one participant remarked, “I realize more now how necessary it is to include diversity in every aspect of my work. NOT just skimming over or skirting around issues.” Another participant observed that “addressing issues of diversity doesn’t just occur in lessons (content) but within the class while learning.” Indeed, Cultivating Global Citizenship not only highlights the issues, but also prepares teachers to address them with their students in a relevant and inclusive manner. For instance, participants might discuss how to connect current events – such as the recent suspension of ethnic studies programs in Arizona, the climate of the U.S. in a post-9/11 world and the 2012 election season – to conversations regarding the role of diversity and/or religion in the United States. Upon completing the course, teachers leave with a powerful set of tools and techniques to bring multicultural education into their classrooms, navigate school-wide issues of diversity and religion, and instill in their students the importance of respect for religious and cultural diversity.
If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please email [email protected].
Jael Goldstein
Project Assistant, Education