Because of our interactions with global markets, media and technology, we are all prone to become global citizens regardless of our home address, family heritage, culture, faith or personal plans for the future.  That is why students and educators – as well as their families – need great global classrooms to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities that this expanded citizenship will bring. 
 
My learning and teaching journey has set me on an adventure in global citizenship that reaches from my Mexican upbringing near the U.S.-Mexico border, to a study abroad semester in Southern France, to a Masters in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at NYU. I’ve taught global studies in Monterrey and led students throughout the Asia Pacific, including China, Vietnam and Australia.  And that was just last semester!
 
From all this I know that creating great global classrooms takes a team effort.  Students, educators, business and civic leaders, as well as wise observers and commentators need to share their questions and discoveries, while charting both persistent and emerging problem areas and proven best practices.
 
This special feature on our website allows me to share some of the resources my students are working with as we explore global issues. I hope you will email me your recommendations, so we can all learn and grow as global citizens.
 
Elda Cantu
Global Education Director
VTM / Voices
Professor, MTEC Santa Catarina Campus
ecantu@itesm.mx

During the Fall Semester, I have my Global Issues students read sections of Thomas Friedman’s “The Lexus and the Olive Tree” as well as from “The World is Flat”.  Read more about the Times columnist and his work at http://thomaslfriendman.com. Whether you agree or not with his opinions, his books and most of his columns are solid building blocks for great global classrooms. I invite students and educators from the Asia Pacific, the Far East, Europe and Africa to let me know of public intellectuals that we can learn from in your country or region.
 
And to show you how you move from reading about globalization to living and learning it, here is an article from the Des Moines Register on how our Voices program does just that!
 
Teens Represent Iowa Abroad

Recommended websites and text to go with them.

1. The energy sector continues to be of critical importance to emerging and developed economies alike. Last September, president Michelle Bachelet of Chile spoke in the United States about the need to further trade deals in the Western Hemisphere and the significance of stabilizing the energy markets in the region. You can listen to her speech at the Council of the Americas HERE: If you have trouble with the podcast, you can access it through this LINK.
   .
2. In 2003, Goldman Sachs published a now famous economic report where Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) were hailed as the next economic powers of the second half of the 21st century. These economies represent today only a 15% of the economies of the G-6, but, according to Goldman Sachs’ projections of economy and population, should they keep their performance, these economies might as well surpass the G-6. In fact, if these trends continue, only Japan and the United States would be among the six largest economies of the world in the year 2050. You can find the report HERE. You  might be surprised to hear that some commentators talk about the BRICM countries, as they include also Mexico. My country, however, was not included in the original Goldman Sachs projection. It was until after the huge success of their paper, and of the hype around the BRIC countries, that the international firm published a list with the N-11, or the “Next 11”, meaning those economies that could follow the BRIC countries in the next 50 years. Of the N-11, Goldman Sachs considered that only Mexico and South Korea had real possibilities of becoming as important as the BRIC. You can read this second report HERE.
   As my students review the predictions and compare different sources, they are more than determined to make sure that Mexico earns its place in the BRIC group, although other countries like Vietnam are doing the same!
   .
3. Knowledge is power and thanks to newer technology advancements, many parts of the world have witnessed a democratization of knowledge. If you are interested in learning about how Information Technologies can help bring about prosperity and development in a comparative perspective, visit the International Development Research Centre’s webpage, where they have put together a set of success stories of initiatives around the world. Educators can focus on particular regions (the website presents Africa, Asia and Latin America) or select a couple of case studies from each region and direct students in comparing best practices from around the world.
   .

HOME

Australia
Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award Program of Australia
Oz GREEN
University of Melbourne
Monash University

Brunei
University of Brunei Darussalam

Canada
Global Vision of Canada
University of New Brunswick
Kwantlen University College
Queen’s University
The University of Western Ontario
Carleton University
University of Ottawa
Lester B. Pearson College
of the Pacific
Memorial University
of Newfoundland
University of Saskatchewan
University of Hong Kong

Chile
National Youth Institute of Chile
Chile Fulbright Association
Chile Foundation of the Pacific
Catholic University of Santiago
Montgomery College, Maryland

China
Shenzhen Middle School
University of Hong Kong
Tsinghua University
Communications University of
China
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Indonesia
Duke of Edinburg’s
Award Program of the Asia Pacific

Japan
Duke of Edinburg’s
Award Program of the Asia Pacific

Korea
Busan University
Korea Ministry of Education
Dongseo University
Sookmyung Women’s University
Kyunghee University
Korea University
Sogang University
Ewha Women’s University
Seoul National University
Dongah University
Konkuk University
Hongik University

Malaysia
Malaysia Technical Petronas University
International School, Kuala Lumpur

Mexico
Monterrery TEC Virtual University
MTEC Prepa System
MTEC Santa Catarina Campus
SELIDER
American School Foundation of
Monterrey, A.C.

New Zealand
New Zealand Voices / VTM Trust
King’s College
Waikato Diocesan School for Girls
Auckland University of Technology
Palmerston North Boy’s High School
Kaitaia College
University of Auckland
University of Waikato
University of Cantebury
Victoria University of Wellington

Peru
Saint Ignacio de Loyola Organization
Saint Ignacio de Recalde School of Peru

Philippines
Duke of Edinburg’s
Award Program of the Asia Pacific
Ateneo de Manilia University
Assumption College
San Beda College Manila
University of Melbourne

Singapore
National Youth Achievement Award
Duke of Edinburg’s
Award Program of Singapore
Duke of Edinburg’s
Award Program of the Asia Pacific
Temasek Polytechnic University

Thailand
University of Thai Chamber of Commerce

United States
Iowa State Education Association
Riley Institute, Furman University
Jesse Helms Center, North Carolina
Des Moines Central Academy
Hoover High School
Des Moines Independent
Community School District
Hispanic Center of Indianapolis
DECA International
Ronald Reagan International Trade Center
School District 21, Chicago

Vietnam
Hanoi University
Hanoi Foreign Trade University
Hanoi University of Polytechnics
Da Nang University of Economics
Vietnam National University
Nguyen Tat Thanh High School
Lomonosov High School
Academy of Journalism
Institute for International Relations
Hanoi-Amsterdam High School
Phan Dinh Phung High School

Dr. Jose Trevino, Sr.
MTEC Virtual University
MTEC Prepa System (ret.)
Mexico

Harriet Mayor Fulbright
Fulbright Center
Washington, DC

Jim Smith
Executive VP, ISEA
Des Moines

Rupa Sekhar
Credit Suisse
New York

Francisco Gutierrez
CEMEX
Mexico

Christina Ward
National APEC Educator
New Zealand

Javier Becker
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Chile

Kristin Ittig
Arnold & Porter
Washington, DC

Peter Parussini
Television NZ
New Zealand