Global Education Handbook: Modules for Teaching Pre-School to Secondary School

This handbook was developed to assist K-12 teachers who wish to introduce a global perspective into their curriculum. The modules were developed by classroom teachers and include such topics as: Anti-bias Curriculum: A Multicultural Perspective,” “The African Influence in Puerto Rican Music,” and “Multicultural Education: An Approach through Beauty, Fashion and Art.” Organized according to grade levels, each module is divided into a series of lessons complete with objectives and a detailed description of materials and activities. It is the purpose of the Global Education Handbook to contribute to networking within the community of educators, locally and globally. The Handbook provides examples of lesson plans and units with a global perspective for use at the pre-school, elementary, middle, and secondary grade levels. It identifies a global network of resources which is available to educators who want to bring the world into their classrooms. Included is an account of an early childhood educator in a rural elementary school in Western Massachusetts who is attempting to instill a global perspective in her curriculum. Her experiences bring to light many of the challenges which confront new and veteran educators who wish to globalize their classrooms and their schools. The Handbook is organized into chapters according to grade level: pre-school, elementary, middle, and secondary. The material within each of these chapters was developed by teachers who implemented these global education units in their classrooms. Each unit is comprised of several lessons that have either a geographic, cultural, or issue-based focus. These resources can be used directly from the Handbook and it is hoped that they will inspire the development of other lessons and units particular to the unique needs of each educator

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Teachers\u27 professional development across the lifespan: Shifting realities and roles

These collective case studies highlight the experiences of the preservice teachers, mentor teachers, university facilitators and other participants in three teacher training programs. The meaning that the participants make of their professional development in teaching, alongside the ways in which they describe their experiences as developing professionals, provides the framework for an exploration of what contributions professional development makes to the capacity of teachers and schools to reform. In essence this dissertation is a window into how all the participants who are currently working in a reform active environment are affected, in their practice, in their professional growth, and in their commitment to the profession. Key themes that were extracted from the data include the impact of working in a culture of collegiality; the importance of connectedness between schools and universities, practice and theory; the validity and value of practioners\u27 voices and views on educational renewal and change; and the importance of building understandings of teaching as a learning profession. Prompted by the current standards based reforms and high stakes assessments being implemented in schools and teacher training programs across the country, this dissertation seeks to highlight the importance of teacher agency and ownership across the professional lifespan. It asserts that teachers who assume an inquiry stance (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) will be best able to meet the current demands of students in classrooms, schools as learning communities and teacher training as preparation for lifelong learning. The data suggests that if the rhetoric of reform that pushes for changes in standards and assessments, new modes of school organization and decision making, and revised curriculum are to become a reality, teachers\u27 professional development across the lifespan from preservice training to lifelong learning needs to become a central focus in the process and implementation of educational change

Using mentoring circles to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing students: guidelines for sharing and learning

A mentoring circle is a teaching and learning strategy that has been used to support students in tertiary education. In this study researchers implemented a mentoring circle at a remote satellite university campus in the Torres Strait. The aim of the study was to foster the emotional and social growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing students to improve the students' experience and retention rates. Early results of the study showed mentoring circles support the development of time management, communication skills and self awareness, which students need to work effectively in a university setting. Although this study was conducted within a nursing degree in a Torres Strait Island community, its findings have potential for use in other contexts. In this paper researchers offer guidelines to establish a mentoring circle in a tertiary setting