Test modal

In Chapter 6, I endeavoured to discuss and explain the findings and link them to the implications of the research project. Based on these findings, I collected the steps that would be necessary for the successful implementation of GCED in teacher training programmes (with a special focus on EFL teacher training) and consequently, in EFL classes.

 

As a first step, it would be paramount to enable teacher trainers to become global citizens and/or to develop themselves in the role of global citizens and globally competent teacher educators (Boix Mansilla & Jackson, 2011; Longview Foundation, 2008; Tarrozi, 2020). It would be advisable to make foreign exchanges easier for them, to support them in networking and travelling, and to encourage them to participate in international conferences (Cates, 2004). Moreover, organising workshops, training events, and continuous professional development circles (Fekete & Divéki, 2022; Landorf & Doscher, 2013) for them in connection with global education would also be recommended (Bourn et al., 2017). To this end, however, the institutions should allocate sufficient financial and human resources to support the development of the trainers and ensure fidelity of implementation (Landorf & Doscher, 2013).

 

Secondly, it would be important to green the curriculum and include sustainability- and global education-related themes in the curriculum in every subject (Bourn et al., 2017; Lányi & Kajner, 2018; Mónus, 2020). Nevertheless, instead of being occasional and ad hoc, systematic approaches should be used and their progression should be verifiable (Ferreira et al., 2007), as it was suggested by the interviewed teacher trainers (Study 1). To emphasise this commitment, it would be highly beneficial if global education received more attention in the training and outcome requirements and it appeared more markedly in the final examination topics for teacher trainees. Naturally, these efforts should go hand in hand with the previous step because teachers who are not committed to global change are not likely to be authentic in their roles of globally competent teacher educators. Teacher trainers should receive support to learn about the global dimensions of their subjects and creatively incorporate them into their courses.

In teacher training, trainees should be prepared to take on new roles (Lányi & Kajner, 2018) and rethink their role as teachers. They should be trained to become facilitators and to accept that they are not the only source of knowledge and sometimes they will not know the answer to students’ questions. To have a vision, the findings of Studies 1–4 on the characteristics of globally competent teachers could inform trainees about what aspects they should develop in and the visual representation of these characteristics in Figure 7.1 could be used as a guide to this end. As shown in Table U.1 in Appendix U, the participants of Studies 1-2-3-4 could not fully describe what it takes to be a globally competent teacher. It would be thus worth addressing this issue in initial teacher education and putting more emphasis on the characteristics not mentioned by the participants, such as having a wide range of knowledge about world history, geography and cultures or being a community teacher. Apart from this, as Goodwin (2019) proposes, trainees should be encouraged to think about what professionalism means in teaching, to learn how to stand up for their rights and to think about collective agency, advocacy, and the communal power of teachers.

 

 

In EFL teacher training, trainees’ foundation courses (e.g., language development, content-based language development, skills development, academic skills) could include global content. While also developing their language skills, students could learn about complex, real-life issues and develop their global competence. Local issues should appear as markedly as global and intercultural issues in these courses, to shed light on the relevance of these issues in students’ lives (Lányi & Kajner, 2018). Also, they could be involved in experiential learning activities, e.g., web-collaboration projects, service-learning activities, ethnographic research, to develop their global and language skills, and to have first-hand experiences of the usefulness and transformative nature of these activity types. These activities could contribute to their becoming global citizens and may raise a desire in them to nurture global citizens in turn in the future. The findings of Study 5 may now serve as evidence that it is possible to include global content in foundation courses with dual aims (language and global competence development) and students also find activities relying on their active participation useful and conducive to their becoming globally competent. Based on the EPIC model (Aragón et al., 2017), exposing trainees to global education and making sure that they are persuaded of its gains would be particularly important during initial teacher training, so that trainees could move along the other phases of implementation (identification, commitment, implementation) during their practice. Consequently, having been familiarised with the main premises of GCED and having experienced it in practice, hopefully, young teachers will feel empowered to act as critical educators (Giroux, 2021) and change agents for a more sustainable and just future, even at the beginning of their teaching career.

 

As suggested by the respondents in Study 1, in their methodology-related courses, teacher trainees should be familiarized with the global competence framework and the main premises of global education. To ensure that all trainees learn about the concept and its applications, it would be paramount to address the topic in compulsory courses (e.g., at Eötvös Loránd University, from Autumn 2021 on, students have a lecture on Nurturing the global mindset in ELT in their Methodology Lecture series in their 5th year), but also to provide them with opportunities to learn more about the global perspective in elective courses.

 

In their methodology-related seminars, teacher trainees could learn how to incorporate the global perspective into their EFL classes. They could learn about the activity types and materials that could be used in lessons revolving around global content. They could be encouraged to create lesson plans and worksheets to this end. Moreover, they could acquire the basics of classroom dynamics and learn how to create a safe space for their students. During this training, teacher trainers should destigmatize conflict in the classroom. As results of the focus group interview with the teacher trainers (Study 7) suggest, instead, they should touch upon the benefits of tense moments in the classroom, familiarize trainees with the pedagogy of discomfort (Boler, 2004) and teach them conflict management techniques in practice. Also, in methodology-related seminars, teacher trainers should encourage trainees to learn about transformative learning practices (e.g., service-learning, storytelling, event-based learning) and point out the importance of creating a link between the classroom and the real world.

 

In-service teachers should be provided with opportunities to expand their methodological repertoire. By participating in continuous professional development workshops, conferences, and self-organised professional development circles, they could get support from like-minded colleagues, and learn about new techniques and materials. To help these endeavours, I compiled a figure (Figure 6.2) with good practices (see Section 6.3.6), which could serve as a quick guide to help teachers who are thinking about bringing global content into their classes. Moreover, it would be important to make practicing teachers realise that developing their students’ global competence does not take away anything from the language learning process, but it actually enhances it: it is a win-win situation, where the students are dealing with important real-life issues, developing skills needed for living and working in the 21st century, developing their language skills using authentic materials, and developing skills (e.g., argumentation, talking about global topics at length) needed for language exams, all at the same time.

 

Finally, it would be advisable to set up activity banks with worksheets, lesson plans and interactive activities revolving around issues of global, local, and intercultural interest. Based on the findings of Studies 6 and 8, secondary school teachers are highly appreciative of teacher-friendly, ready-made materials they could bring into their classes without too much preparation. I referred to such activity banks where all materials are available for free in Section 2.1.5.3. Also, the worksheets created for the research project are uploaded to my website (Divéki, n.d.) and my new worksheets as well as those of my teacher trainees’ will be added to this collection in the future. It is much hoped that these materials will be useful for in-service and pre-service teachers and their students alike.