How teachers teach using global education materials

Despite an increased level of global interconnectedness within the countries of the world research has shown American teachers are less attuned to global issues in their instruction than their counterparts in other nations, especially issues involving developing countries. Among other things, this weakness is attributed to lack of teacher preparation. In this study the author pilot tests a young reader's book, which, introduces a common challenge found in developing countries, with a primary school teacher in two classes to assess teachers' instructional needs to effectively teach this type of material. The author found that teachers naturally make connections with students' previous experiences, students' prior classroom learning, and their own personal experience in order to introduce new information. This skill implies that teachers do not need to be experts in global issues. Instead, the author concludes that teachers need support, such as the provision of instructional material and resources, to bridge their knowledge gap and to ease the time devoted to designing lesson plans from a book not included in their school's standard curriculum.