New Project Provides International Resources and Connects Educators the Partnership to Prepare Global & International Educators

There is a growing resource for educators who want to internationalize their teaching. The Partnership to Prepare Global & International Educators (P-GLIE) is an interdisciplinary, collaborative project that is developing partnerships across the MSU campus and the educational community to promote international teaching and curricula at MSU and in Michigan schools.

This project provides resources to encourage and support international teaching, said Kristin Janka Millar, co-director of P-GLIE project. The goal is to make connections and infuse international content and perspective across all subjects.

One of the ways P-GLIE is doing this is with the Global & International Curriculum Resource Collection (GICRC) in the International Center Library, which is located in the Delia Koo Academic International Center (ISP). Millar, who works on P-GLIE in her free time, said the GICRC currently holds more than 300 resources for educators and students including DVDs, maps, books and other materials. She expects more resources to be added to the library over the summer.

The resources collection provides curriculum to support and encourage global and international teaching in teacher education courses at MSU, Millar said. Its a centralized resource available to MSU students, faculty, staff and K-12 teachers. GICRC Resources were chosen by Teacher Education faculty/instructors and students, ISP area and thematic centers, LATTICE (Linking All Types of teachers to International and Cross-Cultural Education) members and local K-12 teachers.

In addition to the library, P-GLIE runs a seminar series. During the 2006-2007 academic year, there were eight seminars that featured a variety of MSU faculty, teacher education graduate students and ISP staff, ranging from Peter Briggs of the Office of International Students and Scholars, Inge Steglitz of the Office of Study Abroad to Marilyn McCullough from the Asian Studies Center and John Metzler of the African Studies Center.

The P-GLIE project also works with six courses for pre-service teachers in the College of Education. This project builds on an initiative started in 2004 between the College of Education and ISP area studies centers to internationalize Teacher Education 250, a required course in the teacher preparation program. Next year, the P-GLIE project will focus on 400-level courses (math, literacy, science and social studies) in the elementary teacher preparation program.

Developing partnerships is another major facet of P-GLIE. According to Millar, P-GLIE works with MSU departments and colleges, the Ingham Intermediate School District, LATTICE and the East Lansing Library and to create a network of educators committed to using global and international content in their curricula.

The P-GLIE listserv and Web site (www.educ.msu.edu/teachglobal) are also ways educators can learn about the international teaching resources available to them.

P-GLIE is entering its second year at the Department of Teacher Education in the College of Education. It is funded primarily by a Professional Development Network grant from the Department of Teacher Education with support from the MSU Libraries and International Studies and Programs, in particular, the African Studies Center, Asian Studies Center, the Center for Advanced Study of International Development and Women and International Development, and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Two recent partners include the College of Arts and Letters and Ingham Intermediate School District. The P-GLIE project was recently awarded a grant from the Longview Foundation to continue the project next year.

- Kristin V. Johnson, ISP news intern