The insensitivity toward cultures other than his own demonstrated by Governor Le Page’s February 11th ‘joke’ at the expense of a Chinese man and name perfectly illustrates the need for more World Language and Global Education in Maine. To begin with, in an era when the demographics and economy of the state are changing, and […]
As I was walking down Church Hill today the potential of our nation torpedoed toward and then past me in the form of a vigorous 8 year-old girl. Her feet pounded the pavement, her wide golden eyes locked with mine, and then she was gone. “Who knows?” I thought. “Maybe that girl will do humankind […]
Proficiency in a second language is important and is most easily achieved by those who start young and who have the good luck to be educated in a school system that has a coherent and sequential language program. In this age of globalization, schools should be prioritizing all aspects of global education. While just one element […]
School boards make decisions that greatly influence the education students receive, yet some school board members know very little about curriculum, brain research, child development, or what is going on state-wide, nationally, or internationally in schools. In Maine we value local control of our schools and we are reluctant to cede decision-making authority to bureaucrats. […]
We live in an age when pundits, presidents, business leaders, and the general public alike extol the importance of global education. Yet the curriculum in most of our elementary and middle level public schools in Maine consigns social studies and geography to the category of second-rank subjects, and views world languages as a ‘frill.’ The […]
