Global Studies: Food Issues
From International to Global
Peirce has been a school of international studies for almost 20 years. Students have studied about different countries around the world and shared their learning at an international fair each year in June. With the introduction of the Global Studies class students will continue to learn about
other countries, but the focus will shift to examining how people around the world deal with specific issues and ideas.
For the 2012-2013 school year the focus of our study is “Food.” We chose this focus because it follows the same topic as the University of Chicago Center for International Studies Summer Institute. Students will learn specifics about food including where our food comes from, what people around the world eat and the role food plays in different cultural traditions. Beyond the factual level, students will also explore broader questions such as “How do we eat at Peirce?”, “Is there enough food for everyone on earth?” or “What needs to be done to ensure food security?”
Peirce School will be using a framework from the book, Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World by Veronica Boix Mansilla & Anthony Jackson, to guide the Global Studies program. The framework is divided into four main areas:
Recognize Perspectives
Investigate the World
Take Action
Communicate Ideas
Although many of the skills and ideas from each category of the framework overlap, the Global Studies class will focus on one of these areas for each quarter.
To kick-off the Global Studies Food focus, the Peirce School community will be reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. Students will read and discuss how a garden changed a community. They will also explore issues related to food production and being a member of a community.
Parents are an integral part of the Peirce Global Studies program. To begin our exploration, we invite all parents to read Seedfolks and to join the discussion during a parent book club on Thursday, October 11th from 6:00-8:00 pm. We will also be looking for parents to get involved as students research food and eating practices at Peirce and around the world during the “Investigate the World” and the “Take Action” component. All research and projects will be shared during International Week in June and at the culminating Global Bazaar on Thursday, June 6, 2013.
Peirce has been a school of international studies for almost 20 years. Students have studied about different countries around the world and shared their learning at an international fair each year in June. With the introduction of the Global Studies class students will continue to learn about
other countries, but the focus will shift to examining how people around the world deal with specific issues and ideas.
For the 2012-2013 school year the focus of our study is “Food.” We chose this focus because it follows the same topic as the University of Chicago Center for International Studies Summer Institute. Students will learn specifics about food including where our food comes from, what people around the world eat and the role food plays in different cultural traditions. Beyond the factual level, students will also explore broader questions such as “How do we eat at Peirce?”, “Is there enough food for everyone on earth?” or “What needs to be done to ensure food security?”
Peirce School will be using a framework from the book, Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World by Veronica Boix Mansilla & Anthony Jackson, to guide the Global Studies program. The framework is divided into four main areas:
Recognize Perspectives
Investigate the World
Take Action
Communicate Ideas
Although many of the skills and ideas from each category of the framework overlap, the Global Studies class will focus on one of these areas for each quarter.
To kick-off the Global Studies Food focus, the Peirce School community will be reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. Students will read and discuss how a garden changed a community. They will also explore issues related to food production and being a member of a community.
Parents are an integral part of the Peirce Global Studies program. To begin our exploration, we invite all parents to read Seedfolks and to join the discussion during a parent book club on Thursday, October 11th from 6:00-8:00 pm. We will also be looking for parents to get involved as students research food and eating practices at Peirce and around the world during the “Investigate the World” and the “Take Action” component. All research and projects will be shared during International Week in June and at the culminating Global Bazaar on Thursday, June 6, 2013.