Season 7 Episode # 26 The Global Citizen: Preparing Students for a Multicultural World

In this episode of The Cultural Curriculum Chat, host Jebeh Edmunds breaks down what it really means to raise and educate global citizens in today’s classrooms. You’ll discover practical strategies to help students build cultural awareness, empathy, and a strong sense of belonging—without falling into common pitfalls like tokenism or surface-level activities.

Whether you’re an educator, leader, or parent, you’ll leave with plug-and-play activities you can use immediately to foster inclusion and prepare your learners to thrive in a multicultural world.

🎧 Tune in to explore how we can create classrooms that truly reflect the global communities our students are a part of!

Watch my Ted Talk style video  about Harnessing the Power of Your Name

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Transcript

0:36

Hey friend. Welcome back to the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast. I'm your host, Jebeh Edmunds, and if you're new here, this show helps educators, leaders, and families build learning spaces where every student feels seen valued. And ready to thrive in a multicultural world. So for today's episode, the Global Citizen Preparing Our Students for a Multicultural World, we're going to unpack what global citizenship really means in a practical classroom way of thinking and how to avoid the common pitfalls. And I'll give you some plug and play activities that you can try tomorrow. Here is a really good example of how powerful your name really is. I have always struggled. When it was the first day of school, when teachers found it very hard to pronounce my name, sometimes they couldn't even understand my gender by the name Jebeh They would fluster and blush and. Stumble a bit and it got to the point where some of my classmates that grew up alongside with me would take bets, playful bets of, oh, this teacher's not gonna get her name right. Nope. This teacher is really gonna botch Jebehs name. Just hear it. And it got to the point when the teacher just write on schedule. Flustered by looking down at her attendance sheet. And it got to the point with all of the students, you could just see like the blood drain from her face. And she looked down and all the kids in the class started laughing and they go, it's jebba. And that's when she's oh, jebba. And I raise my hand. Yep, that's me. Oh, that's an unusual name. How many times have I heard that's an unusual name from people that are not African? And I would say I am proud of my name, my parents name, me, I'm from Liberia. And so are my parents. Oh, can you show the class where Liberia is located on the atlas or on the globe? And that was my intro every school year. And so when you are looking at a child's name on your classroom roster. Always take the time to practice it. Call their adults in their lives before they come into your classroom to say, hello. I would love to get to know you and your family better, and I see that your child is on my roster for this school year. Can you please tell me phonetically, how do I properly pronounce your child's name correctly? So that. They feel that they don't, that they, so that they feel welcomed in our classroom community. It doesn't take a lot of practice to do that once you get the flow of how the parent says the child's name. But once you do get the hang of it, that child doesn't come into your space feeling embarrassed or knowing that there'll be fodder at the playground. So global citizenship isn't just about passports and maps, it starts with identity. Dignity and the language that we continue to carry every day. So when you do take the time to understand a person's identity by practicing their name correctly and saying it correctly, it really makes that student feel seen, valued, and ready to thrive in your classroom. If you would like more examples of this. I even created, yes, your girl Jeb, created her own Ted Talk. It is on my YouTube channel, Mrs. Cultural Corner. And I will also have that link in the show notes below so you can actually see the power of harnessing your name. And that is something that I think is so important in this day and age. So many people want to dismiss. Or ridicule, but when you take the time to call the child's grownup and just practice before they walk into your door, I think that will really make your school year go even more successful. So you might be wondering, okay, I need to know the names. I need to practice the names, check and check. What is a global citizen? For real, how do you harness global citizenship, especially in this day and age? And here are some really simple classroom meanings that you could harness and think about and continue to translate that. With your students. So what global citizenship actually means? It's the knowledge and the skills to understand how local and global issues connect. There was a class, my husband talked about it the other day that when he was in high school, they called it world problems. But you also need to understand that. Everyone's issues, either locally or globally, do interconnect in some way. Somebody is interconnected or is feeling the stress of what's happening across the globe. Again when we were having multiple civil wars in my home country of Liberia, I was living locally in Minnesota, but I had a lot of anxiety of what my family was enduring. Overseas in Liberia during those civil wars. So having the wherewithal to know what is happening geopolitically as well as what is happening locally, really gives you and your students a further how do you say? Macro lens of how things started and how things are still unresolved. You also need to learn how to recognize and respect multiple perspectives, and that can be feeling a little tricky nowadays since some things are so divisive, especially if you're living in the United States. But having that. Space to recognize the multiple perspectives, but also having cultural norms set up. We're not going to give each other disparaging remarks. We treat each other with respect. Having those norms go a long way, and this is the stuff that I did when I trained, lots of organizations about having those courageous conversations. You can have those conversations, but you also need to have boundaries and stopping points and normative behaviors and expectations, and that can also translate in the classroom. And you also need to learn how to communicate across cultures. Yes, you're not gonna get everything right. Yes, you're not gonna be a expert in every single culture, but if you know your school community and the community that surrounds your school, it is up to you to understand and to be a part of that school community. Go to those fairs, go to those Juneteenth pageants that are in your area, go to, the Lion Dance festivals or we have this wonderful Dragon Boat Festival at the end of August in our area to, honor and recognize our Asian Pacific Islander brothers and sisters in our community. So take those times to do that. And that can help you understand how those cultures communicate with one another and then take informed empathic action. Yes, we're, we can't solve all the problems in our classroom, but I want you to always be informed. And as educators, we love to tout. We are lifelong learners, but so many times we get. Into the mix so far that we don't take the time to learn and be informed, but then also to take that empathic action by seeing your student as who they are and letting go of what biases had befall you as well as your colleagues from the previous years. And taking that empathic action, learning about the whole child narrative versus what is in front of you really will go far. So think of this as four pillars, identity, perspective, taking community, oh, excuse me. Think of this as four. Pinpoints identity, perspective, taking, communication, and action. Okay, so I want you to think more about that because we're gonna build on those all episode long. So here's some things that I'm gonna have in the show notes for you. Some wonderful prompts for you as the educator to journal about. And I also want you to think about, as an educator, do this for your own reflective practice piece. I want you to do this as a way of setting up your room, setting up your unit, anything that comes to mind. But here are the prompts that I want you to focus on for this month. Whose stories are we hearing today? Whose stories are missing? How does this topic show up in our community and how does this topic show up in our community and somewhere else in the world? And what is one action, big or small that we can take that benefits others? You can definitely do all of these things. You can make'em into your own lessons for your students, but I want you as the educator to look at these three questions, and I want you to really take the time to reflect and think about who's missing. How can I think about identity, perspective, taking communication, and action in my day-to-day teaching practice. Now let's set up the two guardrails. Okay. I know how we get so motivated, we just wanna do all the things and all this, but yeah, we will have some pitfalls and I want you to avoid. Two really big things. First off, I want you to avoid cultural tourism. I hate it when people go, let's visit different cultures for the day. We're gonna have the food, we're gonna have the flags and the festival, but we tend to skip the context, the people. And their form of government and how their country runs. And it is really fun. Don't get me wrong, I love a good festival. I love to eat, but that's just skimming the surface of what those cultures really live, breathe, and live through every day. Okay? And also, I want you to avoid tokenism. Representation isn't a single story. It isn't a single month, and it isn't a single student being asked to speak for an entire group of people. Trust me, I was the token princess growing up, so I know this all too well, right? So I want you to do these instead. Okay? Windows, mirrors and sliding glass doors. You've seen this. Prompt and you've seen this method before. Using your text and let students see others, the windows themselves, their own mirror, and enter in new experiences, which are the sliding glass doors. Okay. You can look and view how people live in other people's shoes, but the thing is that's the most challenging. We tend to get stuck at how we see ourselves through the other person, but we neglect, how do we enter in a new experiences by what we have learned? Yeah, I'm gonna say that again. We tend to get stuck by. Thinking, oh, I can see myself in that situation, but now that I learned about that person, how do I enter in a new experience through walking through that glass door to say, wow, I wanna experience and see for myself and be immersed in that culture. I also want you to think about asset based. Communication. Okay. We always have that deficit based thinking, but we need to think more of the asset based thinking in our communication. When you see somebody and they always say, okay, they're multilingual. Yes, they speak multiple languages. Don't say, oh, they have limited English. All right. That to me is yes, English might not be their first language, but don't diminish that human being as saying they have limited English. Hence the bias of limited education. No, they're multilingual. Okay. Multi linguistic groups of people. Also, when you're talking about another human being, don't call them foreigners. They have a global expertise. They are from another land. They have experienced things that are different from yours, but when you give them the connotation of being foreigner, you make that seem like they are intruders into your space. You make them seem like they're not welcomed or they are encroaching on your freedom and your life. So I also want you to think about that. You can try tomorrow. You don't even need to prep. Okay, I got you covered. I want you to try these routines tomorrow. Now I love to do the study of names, so for the first thing I want you to think about is a name map roll call. Okay? So students can share their story, share the pronunciation. Or the meaning of their name over a week. You could be that first model. Think about, how did you get your name or how do you pronounce your name correctly and what does your name mean? And you can have kids even take, I used to have, those wooden sticks. They look like tongue depressors and I'd, pick a name out of, my cup of these sticks. And I would even organize it in a way of, so the kids can be best prepared and say, you know what, you two friends you're going to be on this day. And I would actually have a paper calendar and I would write who's going to share what. So then they could be prepared as to when it's their day, they can share. What their name means. It doesn't have to be all three, but they could share something special behind their name. Another thing you can do if you want to have your students to have some autonomy that they get to pick their day. That they are going to share and then they would put it in their notebook or their agenda book so they can be prepared. Either way, it works very well. Today's dot, oh, I love this one. You could put a dot. On a world map where a current event or book setting is taking place, one student can share a 22nd what or why it matters where you put that dot on the map. And so it really just brings more closer to, we're not just in our little bubble of where we are, and it just gives them a wider global perspective of where things are. One word. Many worlds. This one is a one minute thing, but you can pick a word, home water celebration, for example, and I want you to invite two or three students to share what that word looks like in their family or culture. And the thing I love that you can even share with them is there is no single right answer. We're just collecting perspectives that makes the students feel less anxious, less afraid to share their perspectives because there's no single right answer. We're all in this human experience together. Now if you want to go even further, I have some wonderful plug and play to flow into your social studies and English language arts and science curricula. You could have a picture. I love this. It's called Launch, learn, connect, and Act, and you can get more of this. In my website, jebba edmonds.com, I will give you the link where you can purchase my plug and play flow for your lessons that can help revive and thrive your global citizens in your classroom. Now if you are loving these strategies, you can grab my Common Core aligned multicultural lesson plans and my self-paced mini course, including cultural competency and being an active ally. They're designed for busy educators who want clear or ready to teach resources with reflection prompts and assessments. You'll find them linked in the show notes. Now I have some really great. Project ideas. You could have a global marketplace simulation. And when you do that, I did an awesome one in my Celebrate Africa unit, which is also in my lesson plan shop. But it talks about researching everyday items and what the difference between fair trade and ethical buyers guide and action that consumers and schools can take. That's a wonderful example that you could do. Another project you could do is community voices and learning about what oral history actually is. Partner with community members, elders colleagues in the building that can help share their own oral history. You could even create a digital class archive a. Scrapbook of sorts or anything that could reflect the experience that your students had. I love a good pen pal or a class pal exchange. Definitely use the secure district approved plan. Definitely use your district approved platforms to exchange weekly prompts with a class in another region or country but also make sure it is approved by your district. Don't go on your own. And maybe do a collaborative virtual museum exhibit or even a virtual visit, like a virtual zoom and meet each other. That would be pretty cool. But again, you make sure you have consent forms from our grownups of our students, as well as accessible tech for both sides, both classrooms and flexible roles. So you know that every learner can contribute with that best suits their needs. Now. Another thing I really would love for you to think about when we talk about language and communication. We've talked about honoring and pronouncing our names. We've talked about how our curiosity can stem from things when people are sharing their perspectives. You can ask open-ended things like I was wondering, or can you say more about. Such and such, and I also want you to think about when things are happening and things are positively flowing, you can share with things like, I agree with this statement because dah. Or, I see this statement differently because da. Talking about more of the statement versus the individual child will really help continue moving that discourse in a productive and meaningful way. How you can repair that.'cause sometimes, we could hit a wall, but also thinking about how you could share, I realize what I said, or what's a statement said could be hurtful. I'm sorry, and I'm learning. We are all humans and we are gonna make mistakes. But having the way to repair first and foremost is really very important. I definitely would love for you to look more into how to. Understand Socratic seminars or how to have healthy classroom discussions and debates in your classroom. There's lots of resources out there that are so imperative to continue this work. Now, when we are doing our assessments, I want you to think about these four areas. Can my students describe how an issue is local versus global? That's the knowledge piece perspective. How does my students identi? How do my students identify multiple stakeholders and why each view might make sense. Okay. When we're talking about communication, do they cite evidence? Are they using respectful language and are they listening actively? And the actionable piece, can they name a feasible or ethical next step? Yes. We have to teach ethics, y'all. Yes. And you can teach ethics even in the primary. Is this fair or unfair? Yes. So again, you can make a quick exit ticket. You could make a quick four scale, four column rubric. You know how we educators love a good rubric, or you could have them create their own portfolio and a snapshot of what those four areas, knowledge, perspectives, communication, and action, actually look like, sound like, and was executed in your curricula. Let's again, decipher between heroes and holidays. First and foremost, that's a pitfall. An easy fix is figuring out identities, power, and current voices across the whole year. Do not wait for a special month, a special holiday, anything. It can't just be that one and done. You have to continue to infuse. The identities and the power and the current voices that are going on across the whole year. Another pitfall. A lot of us fall into student X. Explain your culture. Jebba. Explain your culture for the class. I'm sorry, I'm in the third grade. What used vetted resources? Invite. Never assign invite. Never assign. All right. Why am I doing more work than my classmate? No, we're not doing that. Another pitfall, we tend to. Creep into savior narratives. Okay? I want you to center the agency. How communities solve problems themselves. Yes, themselves. That's something I don't want friends to feel like, especially our students, to go, oh, because of this group of people, that's why you got out of this situation. Nope. We need to center how communities solve the problems themselves. Another pitfall. One person with an accent equals that they're less smart, not true. Teach language diversity. Remember, multilingual, mult, linguistic people celebrate those multilingual assets. All right. Global citizens of this country, not foreigner. Okay. Very important. Always hone in on your family and community partnerships. All right. Invite families. As your co-teachers of culture send a simple survey. What should we know to honor your child's identity? All. Partner with local organizations, your libraries, cultural centers, mutual organizations for authentic student led service. All of these are so important. Now remember, I want you to try this tomorrow. Okay. Rename. Your roll call. Ask a student to teach you how to fully pronounce your name correctly. Practice and model. Map the topic. Okay? Add a dot on the world map. Connect it to what you're teaching this week. One. Micro action. Think about that. Choose a tiny class action. Think about a community partner. Correct a myth on a poster. Share something that is ethical. What is your next ethical step? And share a resource with another class. Small steps equal. Big belonging. Yes. Let me tell you, for the friend in the back, small steps equals big belonging. So I hope today's episode sparks some new ideas. Please share it with a colleague and leave me a quick review. It helps more educators find this show. For ready to teach resources, check the show notes for my multicultural lesson plans and mini courses. And if you want weekly strategies in your inbox, subscribe to my newsletter, the inclusive educator. Thank you so much for leading with Courage, curiosity and Care. I will see you here same time next week. Bye-bye.