Parentella

The #ptchat from 2/24 was about creating globally aware citizens.  This online twitter discussion was extremely topically and it really highlighted to me that there must be a parent teacher connection in order to “meet the challenge of helping our children become global citizens” (Shelly Terrell).

 

Whilst on the chat I wore my ‘teacher hat’ and was thinking about how education and teachers can help partners with parents.  Today my perspective is from the eyes of a parent of a two and half year old (Dusty). In her short life so far I believe Dusty is already a global citizen.

 

 

My definition of a global citizen is a person who participates in the rich diversity of our world.  A global citizen learns, connects and experiences the world.

 

Dusty learns about other cultures at home, through extended family and friends and from day care.  She also connects with other cultures; sometimes on a daily basis.  This has been successfully achieved because of technology.  Skype and Facebook help my family stay connected.  You see I have one brother and law and his wife and 1 year old in Paris and another in London.   Both sets of grandparents travel overseas regularly and my sister in law just went on an 8 week overseas holiday. 

I am sure Dusty thinks that all 2 year olds have regular conversations on the computer.  And most days she is asking to look at ‘the picture page’ (Facebook) to see what everyone is up to.  Dusty has only met her uncle and aunt once, and never her 1 year old cousin, but she knows they are family and she is connected to them.

Each time Dusty is on Skype she is learning and experiencing another world.  We hear what they are up to, we can hear different background noises (markets, church bells, traffic) and we see different places.  But we are having difficulty explaining that her cousin is still asleep when it is our afternoon.  The photos on Facebook are meaningful because someone she knows is standing in that market place, or in front of that Castle.  It is not a random photo of a tourist attraction but someone she knows. 

 

And finally Dusty has experienced another culture.  We just came back from two weeks in Japan.  Even at two she was acutely aware of the differences.  The busy Tokyo subway, the sounds of Japanese and the real taste of sushi.  It was amazing to see a new place through the eyes of a child.  In every hotel room Dusty would try to ring “grand dad” – she’d either pick up a phone or start tapping at the laptop.   

Technology, finances and family living and traveling abroad has made the task of helping our child become a global citizen easier.  But I believe two family decisions were more important. 

 

Firstly my husband and I were raised the same way.  We had both traveled extensively as children, both had exchange students live with us, both were taught to learn, respect and enjoy other cultures, and finally we went to schools that were multicultural.

When we got married my husband and I made a conscious decision that we wanted to travel and continue to travel once we had children.  We didn’t want overseas travel to be a badge of wealth that our children would use to say they were better than others.  But we wanted them to value the diversity and love the learning that occurs when you see, hear and participate in living in another part of the world.

I don’t want Dusty to be a spectator of the world.  I want her to belong.  Not just belong in our family.  Not just belong in her circle of friends, school, city or country.  I want her to belong anywhere in the world.