Abstract
This study is interested in understanding curriculum as an international text and evaluating the connections between junior high school students’ global knowledge and attitudes and the required national curriculum in Taiwan. The study also examines whether the global knowledge and attitudes vary by demographic variables. By using the Global Knowledge Scale and Global Attitudes Scale, data were collected from 1,017 students in central Taiwan and analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-square and one-way MANOVA. The results of this study revealed that, first, the global knowledge of the junior high school students was insufficient, but their global attitudes were positive. Second, there was no gender difference in global knowledge but there was a difference in global attitudes. Third, ninth graders held significantly the highest knowledge and attitudes than eighth graders and seventh graders. Fourth, there was a socioeconomic status difference in global knowledge and attitudes. Finally, students with overseas travel experience have better global knowledge and attitudes. This study suggests that practitioners and researchers need to find practical ways to improve global education including curriculum design and implementation, teacher preparation, school environment, and students’ assessment.
Highlights
How is this relevant to education? According to Kirkwood (2001), students today face a new world order and their daily contacts include individuals from diverse ethnic, gender, linguistic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds
The results indicated that the global knowledge of the junior high school students was not enough, but their global attitude was positive
In order to further investigate the differences in item responses among four dimensions and within each dimension, Ȥ2 tests were administered on Global Knowledge Scale (GKS); the results are presented in table 2
Summary
How is this relevant to education? According to Kirkwood (2001), students today face a new world order and their daily contacts include individuals from diverse ethnic, gender, linguistic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. By shedding light on the complex ways in which students learn global knowledge and develop global attitude during adolescence, this paper provides information critical to global education These findings should stimulate reflection on the curriculum of global education, in Taiwan but in any society where global education aims at contemporary relevance through its impact on young people. Global education will enhance the individual’s ability to understand his or her condition in the community and the world and will improve the ability to make effective judgments It includes the study of nations, cultures, and civilizations, including our own pluralistic society and the societies of other peoples, with a focus on understanding how these are all interconnected and how they change, and on the perspective of world issues, problems and prospects, and an awareness of the relationships between an individual’s enlightened self-interest and the concerns of people elsewhere in the world. In order to promote students’ cognitive, affective, and participatory outcomes, curricula for the society must include multicultural and international content (Clarke, 2004)
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