Adding this segment to our news program will authentically celebrate students' and families' cultures and heritage.  

I cannot make this change alone.  I will work with the community to fill all sorts of roles (hosts, guests, scripts, technology, etc.)  It seems like a great opportunity to collaborate with community members of all ages, levels, and positions!  This type of format is definitely long-term.  By celebrating one person at a time, it will take a while to impact mindsets.  I am confident, however, that if I see/hear students, staff, and families asking culturally relevant questions, engaging in respectful discourse, and celebrating one another for our differences that it has worked.  We'll see! 

Collaboration 

There are both short term and long term goals.  

How will I know whether it has been successful? 

 

I would also like to use a display for each unit where we take keywords from that unit and have students bring in home language connections and translations. This would be a long term strategy as I would like to continue it for all the units. Since I'm in an International School and have students from various different cultural backgrounds, it would be a cool way for students to learn about each other 's cultures through the translations and help each other process those languages. I would also like to open a space for students to make connections to prior knowledge, so that they can start to build connections in their knowledge across various different topics as well.

 

I also try to find current news that would relate to the units I teach and the topics we are learning, so that students can learn about what's happening and understand information and see it in action across the world in real time. I find this strategy the most beneficial in having students engage with their content and try to understand information that they may not necessarily be familiar with.

- Muskan

At ECEC we have a weekly Shabbat celebration, followed by a mitzvah (service activity) and an entertainment activity or performance.  Making the entertainment or engaging activity intentionally multicultural and encouraging educators to incorporate the theme into their curriculum and conversations for the week (themed literature, language activities, food enrichment, song/dance/physical engagement).  During Spring conferences we would host a multicultural night on campus:  each class would choose a country to represent with décor, food, mock ceremonies or celebrations, costumes and story telling.  
Kindergarten students would Art and evidence of learning from the weekly themes of the year would be on display around the piazza and common areas.  The ECEC would host the event which would be open to the Temple Community at large

This would very much be a long-term strategy for engaging the international mindedness of the ECEC community as a whole over the course of the entire academic year and would require a consorted effort in collaboration across the entire ECEC community and Temple at large – educators, administrators, facilities staff, catering, parents and volunteers.  Engagement and attendance at events as well as producibles and evidence from classroom activities will provide a measurable standard of the program’s effectiveness, but the subjective assessment from conversations and displays of enthusiasm will be equally valuable. 

My idea involves initiating international-mindedness by raising their awareness of global issues and inviting them to reflect on worldwide impacts. I intend to start by offering a diverse range of carefully selected materials that will expose them to new cultural traditions, daily routines, and perspectives. Also, I'll foster an environment where students learn to respect each other's traditions and encourage them to demonstrate open-mindedness, respect, and curiosity about diverse cultures and viewpoints.

I plan to assign research projects on various subjects, such as climate change, world religions, and human rights. These projects will encourage students to be aware of global issues. The access to this materials will not only engage students but also facilitate collaborative cross-cultural projects. 

All in all, I believe that these adjustments will create an environment where international-mindedness can grow, helping students expand their horizons and develop a deeper understanding of the world around them.
But I can't do this alone, it is a transdisciplinary and colaborative works with other teachers, coordinator, librarians and the students of course, we will always listen to their suggestions.
Is this a short-term strategy that can turn into a long-term because it start right now but last forever and I will check the results by assessments and feedback from the students.

Short-term Strategy: What I can do in my classroom? 

For different units of inquiry, when relevant, I can ask my students to pick a country where we will explore a new country’s facts, culture, traditions, and customs. As I have suggested to Andrea, I will do my best to incorporate international elements into my teaching lessons. When teaching my students about different countries and cultures, I will include stories, songs, games, and bring in artifacts from different countries to share with them. If there is an opportunity to cooperate with a language teacher, we could team up to facilitate a lesson where students have the chance to practice their mother tongue or second language. I think this is a good way to foster international-mindedness, because the learning of another language, namely bilingualism, will no doubt enhance intercultural understanding. 

I also think that developing international-mindedness should go hand-in-hand with encouraging students to be more open-minded and caring to each other. To develop these qualities, the teacher needs to be a good role model and demonstrate these qualities in action, such as how to be a good listener and how to be respectful of those who are different. 

Long-term Strategy: 

Start with local issues and weave relevant topics into the teaching plan, then link them to broader global issues that affect us all. From my understanding, fostering international-mindedness should not only focus on the ability to appreciate and respect different cultures and perspectives. Understanding global issues and fostering collaborative skills to solve them would be valuable for developing a well-rounded global citizen, and achieving the IB learning profile attributes. Equally important is the need to showcase student projects related to international-mindedness and celebrate their learning success as a learning community. 

Considerations: 

While the homeroom teacher can initiate and lead the process in the classroom, it is definitely important to collaborate with colleagues, parents, and the wider community. By using formative assessment and constructive feedback, I can reflect on to what extent my strategy to embed international-mindedness is effective in my classroom. I don’t have a concrete suggestion as to how teachers can involve parents in fostering international-mindedness but I recognize this is also an important factor. Perhaps we can partner with the parents and the local community to organize cultural events, celebrating international holidays, and diversity.