global perspective assignment

• Global Perspective
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Objectives
• 3 The Grand Challenges:
• 4.1 Assignment
• 5 The Premise:
• 6.1 Assignment
• 7.1 Assignment
• 8.1 Assignment
• 9.1 Assignment
• 10 The General Solution:
• 11 Specific Solutions
• 12 Suggestions for further reading:
• 13 Resources
• 14 References

Introduction [ edit | edit source ]

Knowledge and technology growth has been explosive, however well-being has stagnated. This presents grand opportunities for humanity. Albert Einstein advised: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." As philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer observed: “Every person takes the limits of their vision for the limits of the world,” therefore it is important for us to expand our vision toward a global perspective. This course explores the prospects of adopting a global perspective to begin to meet the grand challenges. Only a global perspective brings us uncensored realty.

Objectives [ edit | edit source ]

The Objectives of this course are to:

• Quickly survey the Grand Challenges we now face,
• Understand how narrow perspectives have contributed to creating problems,
• Explore how broader perspectives can lead to solutions,
• Introduce specific skills for solving problems by adopting a broader perspective,
• Adopt higher integrating models that change your perspective,
• Outline an approach to solving a particular problem,
• Expand your worldview to encompass the entire world as it is.

This course is part of the Applied Wisdom Curriculum .

The Grand Challenges: [ edit | edit source ]

Many of the world’s Grand Challenges , the greatest, most pervasive and persistent problems facing humanity, have languished for a long time and may seem immune to analysis and solution. These are the subject of the companion course on the Grand Challenges . An important premise of this course is that adopting a global perspective can help us accurately establish priorities, and can suggest new solutions to these important problems.

If you have not already studied the Grand Challenges course , please take time to read over the Mountains of Problems described there. Give some thought to how a narrow perspective may contribute to those problems and how a Global Perspective can help to identify solutions.

Seeing Through Illusion [ edit | edit source ]

Each of us face convincing illusions every day that distract us from seeing the full extent of what is . Perhaps the most pervasive and persuasive illusion is that what I see is all there is . To attain a global perspective it is important to recognize these illusions and strive to see through them.

Assignment [ edit | edit source ]

• Read the essay Toward a Global Perspective—seeing through illusion .
• Identify the illusions that you have recognized and overcome as you have learned more about the world. These may include childhood beliefs as simple as the Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy stories, or more significant misunderstandings about the diversity and scope of the world, its people, and the universe. What caused you to see through these illusions? How did your worldview change as a result?
• What illusions do you not yet see through? What can you do to see beyond these and expand your perspective?

The Premise: [ edit | edit source ]

Problems persist because a narrow point of view has prevailed:

• We often have a narrow focus on economic growth (and economics is a flawed and narrow metric)
• Negative externalities are dismissed.
• We often consider only a short term time frame.
• We often adopt a narrow scope of concern. When we accept a narrow point of view, we are like the blind men examining the elephant . We are each correct within the limited scope of our reference frame, but we are incorrect when a global perspective is adopted.
• Our instincts are tribal. We have evolved to promote in-group cooperation at the expense of competition between group.
• Evidence is denied, delayed, distorted, and disputed.
• We often settle for a narrow definition of success.
• We often make assumptions of unlimited growth .

Externality [ edit | edit source ]

An externality is an economic impact resulting from your activity that is kept outside the scope of your organization’s financial accounting. Here are some examples.

Owners of coal mines manage several externalities . Coal miners risk death or injury from a mining accident. They can get black lung disease from long exposure to coal dust. Extracting the coal diminishes the supply of a non-renewable resource, and burning coal is dirty. The environmental impact of the coal industry includes land use, waste management, and water and air pollution caused by the coal mining, processing and the use of its products. In addition to atmospheric pollution, coal burning produces hundreds of millions of tons of solid waste products annually, including fly ash, bottom ash, and flue-gas desulfurization sludge that contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals.

Air pollution including anthropogenic climate change ; water pollution , depletion of the commons , and systemic risk are all important examples of negative externality.

A key skill in attaining a global perspective is to become aware of the externalities of any activity, then take action to reduce impact on others from that externality.

• Study the Tragedy of the commons .
• Identify your own activities, such as driving a car, eating meat, cooking dinner, heating your home, turning on the air conditioner, taking out the trash, flushing the toilet, using a string trimmer, protection from the rule of law , living in freedom, and enjoying civil liberties , that create or depend on externalties.
• For one activity identified above, identify the externalties it creates or depends on. Suggest a fair scheme to eliminate, manage, or assign the costs for those externalties.

Economics and Well-Being [ edit | edit source ]

How similar are economic prosperity and well-being? To answer that question we need to consider:

• Who’s prosperity?
• What level of prosperity?, and
• What does well-being require?

Although Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is not a measurement of the standard of living in an economy, it is often used as such an indicator , on the rationale that all citizens would benefit from their country's increased economic production. Similarly, GDP per capita is not a measure of personal income. GDP may increase while real incomes for the majority decline.

GDP does not measure externalities , including wealth distribution and ecological damage. It also makes no distinction between activities that negatively impact well-being and those that contribute to it. For example, a fatal car crash increases GDP because it requires economic activity to care for the dead and injured, replace the destroyed cars and other property damage, and litigate the various injuries and other damages.

Historically, economists have said that well-being is a simple function of income. However, it has been found that once wealth reaches a subsistence level, its effectiveness as a generator of well-being is greatly diminished . [1] This paradox has been referred to as the Easterlin paradox [2] and may result from a " hedonic treadmill ." [1] This means that aspirations increase with income; after basic needs are met, relative rather than absolute income levels influence well-being.

No comprehensive model for attaining well-being is widely accepted. Until such a model emerges, the definition of good from the Virtues course provides a suitable surrogate for well-being. It may be helpful to imagine prosperity in terms of flourishing rather than as opulence.

• Read the essay " Simply Priceless "
• Read the essay "Economic Faults" .
• Identify: 1) Ways in which economic prosperity is contributing to your well-being, and 2) Ways in which your well-being is independent of, or even harmed by, economic prosperity.
• Study the good module from the Virtues course and complete the assignment in that module.

Tribal Perspective [ edit | edit source ]

It is helpful to contrast a global perspective with a tribal perspective, and to acknowledge our deeply routed tribal tendencies.

The book Moral Tribes [3] by Joshua Greene can help us understand our inclinations to automatically react from a tribal perspective, and encourages us to overcome this tendency when controversy arises and we need to adopt a global perspective. The book is briefly summarized below (quotes are from the book.)

Following the organization of the book, it is helpful to draw on three metaphors:

The first of these metaphors is Me versus Us (issues of morality within a group) and Us versus Them (issues of morality between groups). Morality evolved to enable cooperation within groups, but at the cost of competition between groups. Our need for within-group morality is old enough that evolution has provided the “moral machinery in our brains” in the form of intuitive heart-felt feelings of: right and wrong, love and hate, fear and comfort, joy and sadness, loyalty and jealousy, threats and mercy, vengeance and compassion, fairness and anger, and guilt and shame. The morality of our hearts preserves tribal harmony at the expense of global conflict. It is now time when we must augment this moral machinery with new moral thinking that can solve the problems of intergroup cooperation.

The second metaphor is that “The moral brain is like a dual-mode camera with both automatic settings (such as ‘portrait’ and ‘landscape’) and manual mode.” This metaphor illustrates our System 1 (automatic, fast, intuitive) and System 2 (difficult, deliberate, slow) modes of thinking that are more fully described in the excellent book Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. In the chapter titled “Efficiency, flexibility, and the dual process brain” Greene describes how our fast and efficient emotions help us solve everyday problems of cooperation, yet instinctively provide solutions to intergroup problems that are contrary to more rational and deliberation considerations. Sometimes the right thing to do just feels wrong. What is going on here?

The third metaphor introduces the “common currency” required to allow trade-offs among competing tribal values and resolve the conflict between what our hearts and our heads are telling us to do. He chooses “deep pragmatism” (his proposed renaming of utilitarian philosophy ) as this common currency. Greene identifies and addresses the many misunderstandings and objections that have arisen to the utilitarian philosophies introduced long ago by Bentham and Mill . As he explains, deep pragmatism provides the answers to two essential questions: What really matters? Who really matters? After an in-depth exploration of these questions, he provides this shorthand answer: “Happiness is what matters, and everyone’s happiness counts the same.”

The automatic settings of our brains quickly solve the moral problems we face every day within our tribe, but we need to switch from automatic to manual mode to deliberately solve intergroup problems from a global perspective. These solutions may not feel right, because they contradict our automatic settings. “The natural world is full of cooperation, from tiny cells to packs of wolves. But all of this teamwork, however impressive, evolved for the amoral purpose of successful competition.” When controversy arises, it is time to switch from automatic mode to manual mode, appeal to the common currency, and reason our way to a solution. “Here we have a choice: We can use our big brains to rationalize our intuitive moral convictions or we can transcend the limitations of our tribal gut reactions.”

If you can obtain and read the book Moral Tribes , that will be ideal. If not, then please view this YouTube video [4] of author Joshua Green sharing ideas from the book.

• Demographic unit (gender, age, ethnicity),
• Socioeconomic class, Social groups,
• Schools attended,
• Religion, belief systems, life styles, cultural groups
• Political party affiliation,
• Favorite sports teams,
• Sports, hobbies, clubs, special interests, leisure activities,
• Workplace, organization memberships, and other groups and affiliations.
• Voting, and participation in regional, national, and international government,
• Advocating for public policy, especially including policies that establish or restrict the rights, duties, and behaviors of others,
• Attitudes and advocacy regarding human rights ,
• Allocation and use of various commons , including: atmosphere, water, forests, wetlands, oceans, fisheries, land, wilderness, minerals, electromagnetic spectrum, and other natural resources.
• Creating externalites .
• Tolerating and valuing customs of other tribes
• What really matters? (Hint, see: What Matters .)
• Who really matters? (Hint, everyone does, see: Dignity and the Golden Rule )
• Read these Six Rules for Modern Herders .
• Apply these rules to resolve moral controversies.

The Virtues [ edit | edit source ]

The virtues guide us toward a wise global perspective.

Complete the Wikiversity course on the Virtues .

The General Solution: [ edit | edit source ]

• Seek Real Good .
• Compete the course on moral reasoning .
• Expand the time horizon.
• Internalize the externalities .
• Become aware of any moral instincts arising from a tribal perspective. Assess these deliberately and dismiss them if they are not helpful in this context. Determine how a global perspective can provide a more consistent solution.
• Ask: What really matters? Who really matters? Answer from a global rather than from a tribal perspective.
• Know how you know and insist that others do the same.
• Acknowledge Limits to Growth and incorporate these as design constraints.
• Advance human rights , worldwide.
• Insist on intellectual honesty in yourself and others.
• Employ these System Analysis Tools
• Manage redundancy, resilience, and efficiency.
• Integrate symptoms to identify and address common causes.
• Use a prevention-based approach.
• Understand variability
• Reduce waste
• Become Creative in seeking solutions
• Use Wisdom to guide us.
• Use the Twelve leverage points
• Compete the course on problem finding .
• Compete the course on solving problems .

Specific Solutions [ edit | edit source ]

Apply the general solution described above to selected problems listed below.

• Could adopting a global perspective have prevented us from losing our way along the tobacco road ?
• Can the Global Zero campaign succeed in eliminating nuclear weapons?
• Can adoption and pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals reduce poverty and hunger, increase education, improve health, and increase environmental sustainability?
• Can we work to advance human rights , worldwide?

Suggestions for further reading: [ edit | edit source ]

• Kelleher, Ann; Klein, Laura (2005). Global Perspectives: A Handbook for Understanding Global Issues . Prentice Hall. pp. 240. ISBN  978-0131892606 .  
• Rosling, Hans (April 3, 2018). Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think . Flatiron Books. pp. 352. ISBN  978-1250107817 .  
• Greene, Joshua (December 30, 2014). Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them . Penguin Books. pp. 432. ISBN  978-0143126058 .  
• Azarian, Bobby (June 28, 2022). The Romance of Reality: How the Universe Organizes Itself to Create Life, Consciousness, and Cosmic Complexity . BenBella Books. pp. 320. ISBN  978-1637740446 .  

Resources [ edit | edit source ]

• Knowledge to Wisdom — helping humanity acquire more wisdom by rational means.
• The Power of Outrospection , an RSA Animate by Roman Krznaric
• The World Values Survey is a global research project that explores people’s values and beliefs, how they change over time and what social and political impact they have.
• The Long Now Foundation
• Our World In Data is an online publication that presents empirical research and data that show how living conditions around the world are changing.
• HumanProgress.org presents empirical data that focuses on long-term developments.
• Gapminder seeks to promote a fact-based worldview everyone can understand.

References [ edit | edit source ]

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 Explaining Economics
• ↑ • Carol Graham , 2008. "happiness, economics of," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics , 2nd Edition. Abstract. Prepublication copy.   • _____, 2005. "The Economics of Happiness: Insights on Globalization from a Novel Approach," World Economics , 6(3), pp. 41-58 (indicated there as adapted from previous source).
• ↑ Greene, Joshua (December 30, 2014). Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them . Penguin Books. pp. 432. ISBN  978-0143126058 .  
• ↑ Joshua Green: "Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them" | Talks at Google

• Resources with an attribution
• Peace studies
• Applied Wisdom
• Humanities courses

Navigation menu

 "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

Albert einstein, global perspectives teacher support,  these resources have been put together by oxford university press.

Guide to teaching Global Perspectives

Ideal for teachers who are new to Global Perspectives, this short guide includes tips on skills development, the Global Perspectives learning process and more.

Skills development planner

Use this guide to see at a glance where different skills are covered throughout the book, to help with your planning. This includes study, critical thinking, and exam skills.

Project and research checklists for students

Use these checklists to help students to prepare for their individual research reports and group projects.

Advice on presenting a group project

Includes a breakdown of what needs to be submitted, with guidance on structuring the Project plan, Group report, and Individual evaluation.

IGCSE Global Perspectives - Climate Change This is the group's final IGCSE Global Perspectives Documentary outcome based upon the topic of Climate Change from CIS-sierra, akansha, keerat and vanessa

This is an example of a final IGCSE Global Perspectives Documentary outcome based upon the topic of Climate Change from CIS.  The project is carefully crafted with engaging content and images.

Global Perspectives Cambridge learners from New Zealand and the UK share ideas and research using the new shared learning area as part of their Cambridge Global Perspectives cou...

Cambridge learners from New Zealand and the UK share ideas and research using the new shared learning area as part of their Cambridge Global Perspectives course.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

These modules illustrate ways in which Education for Sustainable Development can be integrated into all areas of the curriculum, especially into cross curriculum themes such as health and consumer education.

• Sustainable futures across the curriculum
• Citizenship education
• Health education
• Consumer education

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

This section illustrates ways in which a variety of curriculum themes may be recognised to integrate an interdisciplinary emphasis on a sustainable future.

• Culture & religion for a sustainable future
• Indigenous knowledge & sustainability
• Women & sustainable development
• Population & development
• Understanding world hunger
• Sustainable agriculture
• Sustainable tourism
• Sustainable communities
• Globalisation
• Climate change

TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES

This set of modules develops professional skills for using teaching and learning strategies that can help students achieve the wide range of knowledge, skill and values objectives of Education for Sustainable Development.

• Experiential learning
• Storytelling
• Values education
• Enquiry learning
• Appropriate assessment
• Future Problem Solving
• Learning outside the classroom
• Community Problem Solving

Further Publications :  Read More

This edition has been restructured to match the latest Cambridge syllabus, it focuses  even more  on skills and assessment

Global Perspectives

What is this subject.

Global Perspectives is an innovative and stimulating skills-based programme that uses the world around us to explore current issues and develop vital skills. It provides you with the opportunity to explore the perspectives of cultures, both familiar and unfamiliar, from your own personal opinion to the opinions of children on the other side of the world, all whilst developing your critical thinking and research skills.

What skills will I develop?

• Ability to think critically and creatively
• Ability to research efficiently and effectively
• Ability to collaborate and work well with others
• Ability to present your ideas confidently to others
• Develop open-mindedness and learn to consider issues from other perspectives
• Develop and express own opinions on issues of global importance
• Gain an independent world-view and become a global-thinker
• Learn how to inform others, raise awareness and take action on issues

Key problems and solutions for the Cambridge Global Perspectives & Research™ classroom Join our Cambridge International AS & A Level Global Perspectives & Research author David Towsey as we address key issues such as academic writing, engaging ...

Key problems and solutions for the Cambridge Global Perspectives & Research™ classroom

Areas of subject knowledge explored

Global Perspectives focuses on acquiring and developing skills, rather than on subject knowledge. We will develop skills by investigating the Local, National, and Global perspectives on six main topics. The topics studied are:

• Family and Traditions
• Sport and Health
• Technology and Leisure
• Education and Employment
• Environment and Animals
• Justice and Conflict

These topics can include a wide range and variety of issues, and you will be able to explore each topic in a way that suits your own areas of interest.

 Water, Food and Agriculture

CIE IGCSE Global Perspectives June 2014 Paper 33 Walkthrough This is Part 1 of a series where I will go through past papers for CIE IGSCE Global Perspectives. Thanks and enjoy!(Recorded with http://screencast-o-matic.com)

CIE IGCSE Global Perspectives June 2014 Paper 33 Walkthrough

Cambridge AICE Global Perspectives- Human Trafficking No Description

Cambridge AICE Global Perspectives- Human Trafficking

IGCSE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE GROUP PROJECT | TO PROMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE🗣 We (Bryan Soon, Sandra Anne, Wong Li Man and Low Si Wei) are Year 11, from Rafflesia International School Kajang, Malaysia 🇲🇾.This is the video of our IGC...

IGCSE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE GROUP PROJECT | TO PROMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE🗣

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Global Perspectives Project

Cambridge Lower SecondarGlobal Perspectives

Cambridge Lower Secondary Global Perspectives has been designed to support learners to develop the skills required for success in their upper secondary education. The skills developed in the Cambridge Lower Secondary phase have been carefully designed to progress to the next stage of the Cambridge Pathway. More information on progression can be found in section 6 of this document

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Cambridge Primary Global Perspectives

Cambridge Primary Global Perspectives has been designed to support learners to develop the skills required for success in their primary education. The skills developed in the Cambridge Primary phase have been carefully designed to progress to the next stage of the Cambridge Pathway. More information on progression can be found in section 6 of this document.

Primary Framework

PDF Resource Pack 588060-cambridge-global-perspectives-primary-lesson-pack

CAMBRIDGE IGCSE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES WEB LINKS

Websites Resource List

The content of internet websites is not static and is constantly changing. Make sure that you take appropriate steps to try to ensure the sites listed are suitable for your students before the lesson.

INTRODUCTION TO ISSUES WITHIN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Global Perspectives Hub

www.globaldimension.org .

This site provides reviews of 350 teaching resources for 14-16 year-olds (books, films, websites etc). UK source but global topics covered.

www.teachandlearn.net/teachglobal/

This is the Open University and the BBC World Service’s free online professional development unit.

www.oxfam.org.uk/education

Oxfam’s education website designed for teachers in UK but with a range of material which may be suitable for international schools.

www.local4global.org.uk/sites/local4global.org.uk/files/DFID-Treasury-global- partnerships.pdf

Guidance and advice on finding partner schools and developing a global dimension in school.

www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/

Oxfam’s site for children including teaching resources, children’s stories, fair trade information..

www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/category.htm?5

Oxfam school site includes resources on climate change, conflict, water, human rights

www.sln.org.uk/geography/

Staffordshire Learning Network is a geographical site with teaching suggestions, many of them tried in the classroom.

www.globalgang.org.uk/

Downloadable resources on refugees, fair trade etc.

www.peopleandplanet.net/

A range of topics e.g. population and food, climate change, food and agriculture etc

Section B LINKING/SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS- PROJECT WORK

Making a formal link with a partner school abroad can help in devising project work.

www.rafi.ki/site/

Rafi.ki is free to schools outside the UK and provides a way to create international partnerships and has resources for projects. It has sections on finding a partner, the projects that schools could work on, communication tools e.g. audio and video conferencing and guidance on secure communications for students.

www.ukowla.org.uk

A UK based charity helping communities make international links.

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IGCSE GP Teaching Pack – Resource List Amended Feb 2011

www.bbc.co.uk/worldclass/ A BBC website aimed at supporting schools who wish to make international links.

www.etwinning.net

Website for linking schools based in the European Community.

www.britishcouncil.org/learning-connecting-classrooms.htm

Advice on linking between UK and international schools. Case studies, collaborative projects and professional development.

www.soundaffects.org.uk

UK based organisation that links children across the globe through audio recordings. Two examples of Ghana and Sri Lanka linking with schools across the UK.

www.delicious.com

Delicious is a free, online social bookmarking tool that allows you to share articles, links, and any web-based information you find in one space.

CURRICULULUM SUPPORT

BELIEF SYSTEMS

Amnesty International’s website.

www.amnesty.org.uk

 United Nations website.

www.religioustolerance.org/var_rel.htm

 Information on religious tolerance and many belief systems.

www.reep.org/resources/weblinks.php

Website provides background information on the core beliefs of world ... provides links to resources for more than 20 world religions and belief systems.

BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM LOSS

www.whyorganic.org Soil Association in UK website.

www.foe.co.uk

Friends of the Earth website. UK based charity website that campaigns for

solutions to environmental problems.

www.plantcultures.org.uk

 Website demonstrating the importance of South Asian plants. Downloadable resources aimed at UK schools but could have some relevance in other contexts.

www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/safeguarding_the_natural_world/index.cfm

 World Wildlife Fund website. Identifies threats to natural world and campaigns against damage to the natural world. Schools section offers resources and ideas.

www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/biodiversity

UK Natural History Museum biodiversity site. Information about what biodiversity is and how to measure it. Some UK focused information but also general information for students in an international setting.

www.trees.co.za

 Food and trees in Africa. www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/educators.html

 Resources for teachers.

www.biodiversity911.org/EducationalResources/EducationalResources.html

 WWF educational resource centre.

www.rafi.ki/gemin-iplus/

 Rafiki project on biodiversity: Circle of Life. CLIMATE CHANGE

www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/english.html

Information about the atmosphere, climate and environment.

www.atlanticrising.org/

 Atlantic Rising explores what will be lost around the Atlantic Ocean if sea levels rise by one metre. Links to resources for schools.

www.yourclimateyourlife.org.uk

Royal Geographical Society (based in London) website to highlight the issues of climate change for young people.

 Friends of the Earth website. See above.

www.cat.org.uk/education/ed_content.tmpl?subdir=education&sku=ED_50

 Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, United Kingdom. A centre dedicated to promoting alternative technology for energy, building, food production etc and a greener lifestyle.

www.coolkidsforacoolclimate.com

 Student-centred website offering information on climate change.

www.carbontrust.co.uk/publications

 Free energy saving guides available for download.

www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html

United States Government Environmental Protection Agency site for children with information on climate change and resources for teachers.

www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/links.html

Information for students. Www.gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Resources/FAQs/glob_warmfaq.html

Global warming and the Greenhouse Effect.

www.pewclimate.org

/global-warming-basics Information about global warming. Www.tiki.oneworld.net/global_warming/climate_home.html

Climate change for children. globalwarmingkids.net/ Global warming for children.

www.rafi.ki/gemin-iplus

 Rafikiproject on Carbon footprint.

Rafiki project on Climate change. www.rafi.ki/gemin-iplus/ Rafiki project on Recycling.

CONFLICT AND PEACE

Amnesty International.

www.everyhumanhasrights.org

Website promoting human rights with case studies where

human rights are under threat.

www.kimberleyprocess.com/home/index_en.html

Trade in Blood Diamonds.

www.oneworld.net

 News from over 1600 human rights websites.

United Nations website.

www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus

United Nations site for young people.

www.ipisresearch.be

International Peace Information Service.

DISEASE AND HEALTH

World life expectancy information

https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/int/geog/health/development/social/life_expectancy/index.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4850986.stm

Example of UK variations in infant mortality. www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/int/geog/health/health/index.shtml

A resource with an

interactive map to look at cholera, cancer, malaria and coronary heart disease. www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/

 World Health Organization (WHO) site on obesity.

www.who.int/features/2005/chronic_diseases/en/

Malri’s story: facing obesity (Kenya). Chronic disease site from the WHO.

www.who.int/topics/child_health/en/index.html

WHO Child health site. www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/en/index.html WHO diet and physical activity campaign.

www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2007/2007WorldPopulationDataSheet.aspx

Population Research Bureau statistics including report on malnutrition (2007).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7018057.stm

Article about a young American boy who died through lack of access to health care.

www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb

/ A site for producing country scale population pyramids for present and future.

www.census.gov/aboutus/stat_int.html

 A gateway into all national statistics sites. www.prb.org/Articles/2007/OctDCPBlurb.aspx

 A brief site with links to the debate on

elderly populations.

Http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4756650.stm

A BBC report on encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42250152

Article on adopting a healthy lifestyle.

www.netdoctor.co.uk/teenagehealth/index.shtml

A general site with information about teenage health.

www.youthhealthtalk.org/

 Real life case studies of teenage health issues. Local help lines e.g. school nurse, health clinics, Samaritans.

www.dpi.org

Disabled Peoples’ International – an organisation that promotes rights of disabled people worldwide.

www.unicef.org

UNICEF main website.

www.childinfo.org

a UNICEF site focused on child welfare.

www.wethepeoples.org.uk

A DVD of 9 films which support the UN Millennium Development Goals.

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www.actionaid.org

 International charity website with national site links. www.sightsavers.org International charity aimed at supporting those with sight difficulties. www.avert.org/aids.htm

Global information about Aids

Rafiki project: MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) is an international medical humanitarian organisation. It delivers emergency medical aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters or exclusion from healthcare.

EDUCATION FOR ALL

 A DVD of 9 films which support the UN Millennium Development Goals.

www.un.org United Nations website.

www.unesco.org.uk

education_for_all Includes some teaching resources.

www.peacechild.org

Empowering young people.

www.rgs.org

/AboutUs/About+us.htm Royal Geographical Society website with

suggestions and links.

www.globaleye.org.uk

 Teaching resources.

International charity website with national site links. Includes resources, some free to download.

www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/download/get08.pdf

 Global employment youth unemployment and other links.

https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2016/08/global-youth-unemployment-rise/

Article about global unemployment.

www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36714&Cr=employment&Cr1=

 Article about global unemployment from the UN

FAMILY AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE

www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/features/essentialguide/theme_fam.shtml

BBC World Service web link-population and family structure change. 2 pod casts - one on global demographic change and one on changing family structure.

                     7

Www.geographyfieldwork.com/DemographicTransition.htm

 Demographic Transition model.

US government census site. Information on countries around the world and population pyramids.

www.refugeecouncil.org.uk

 UK based support for refugees.

www.unhcr.org.uk

United Nations High commission for Refugees.

www.childinfo.org Part of the UNICEF sites – includes statistical details.

FUEL AND ENERGY (see also CLIMATE CHANGE above)

 Friends of the Earth website.

www.cat.org.uk

 Centre for Alternative Technology.

Includes information on renewable energy.

Free energy saving guides available for download.

HUMANS AND OTHER SPECIES

A range of topics e.g. population and food, climate change, food and agriculture.

www.childinfo.org Part of the UNICEF sites – includes statistical details. www.humanrights.com/#/what-are-human-rights

www.unicef.org/voy/explore/rights/explore_4406.html

 Site for young people on human rights.

Rafiki project: Make the link, break the chain – a project about slavery.

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

www.shirky.com

 The effects of the internet on society. pewresearch.org/pubs/1508/internet-cell-phone-users-news-social-experience The rise of

the internet.

www.freewebs.com/international-languages/

Global election of one language.

www.whatissocialnetworking.com

 Information on social networking.

www.guardian.co.uk/media/socialnetworking

 Articles about social networking.

                        8

LAW AND CRIMINALITY

 Amnesty International.

www.everyhumanhasrights.org/

Human rights.

www.hg.org/crime.html

Guide to criminal law.

www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2366036917&topic=3547

 Facebookdiscussion group on ‘stealing’ from the internet.

www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/sep/19/prisonsandprobation.civilliberties

Article on giving prisoners the right to vote.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/

 For the latest news.

POVERTY AND INEQUALITY

www.actionaid.org/main.aspx?PageID=2

Committed to fighting world poverty. Also has links to countries worldwide. www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/games/

Resources for children about world poverty.

www.dfid.gov.uk

Department for International Development is the part of the UK government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty.

www.liveaid.org.uk/default.aspx

 Charity striving to alleviate hunger and suffering.

 The United Nations website.

www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

 Information and resources for poverty in different countries.

www.savethechildren.org.uk

 Children’s’ rights.

SPORT AND RECREATION

www.hg.org/sport-recreation-law.html

Guide to the laws concerning sport and recreation.

www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/

Sport and recreation alliance in the UK.

www.globalsportsdevelopment.org/?gclid=COm0_876lqcCFUYifAodPyxUbw

The foundation for global sports development.

www.world-recreation.com/

World Recreation Educational Association. www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/olympic.htm

 Information about the Olympic Games.

Www.olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/resources/olympics

 Resources for teachers. TECHNOLOGY AND THE ECONOMIC DIVIDE

www.cfsk.org/

Computers for schools.

www.digital-links.org/ Information about recycling computers and providing technology inthe developing world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8568681.stm

 Article about the digital divide

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/10/99/information_rich_information_poor/466651. stm

Article about bridging the digital divide.

www.digitaldivide.net/

The digital divide network. www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sustainit/closing-the-digital-divide-1640433.html

Article about ICT improving the quality of life in developing countries. www.digitaldivide.org/

The digital divide institute.

www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2000/02-01trio.mspx

 Response to the digital divide.

TRADE AND AID (See also – POVERTY AND INEQUALITY section)

www.fairtrade.org.uk

 Website of the Fair-trade Foundation.

www.dubble.co.uk

 Pioneering fair trade chocolate with Comic Relief.

www.ethicalconsumer.org Information for consumers on how to buy ethically-sourced goods.

Trade in Blood Diamonds. www.rafi.ki/gemin-iplus/ Rafiki projects: Fair trade around the world and Free and Fair

TRADITION, CULTURE AND IDENTITY

www.diversityanddialogue.org.uk

An organisation that aims to build relationships between

different communities in the UK.

www.movinghere.org.uk

Stories of journeys to Britain in the last 200 years.

  www.issues.tigweb.org

culture Discussions about culture.

www.lessonplanspage.com/SSLAOCICountriesandCulturesIdeas18.htm

 Ideas for teaching about traditions and culture.

wilderdom.com/games/MulticulturalExperientialActivities.html Multicultural, Cross-cultural & Intercultural Games & Activities.

Rafiki project on Celebrations.

Rafiki project on diversity: Diverse Links.

TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE

www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab79

The history of transport and travel.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7055720.ece

 Article about the online electric vehicle.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4652534.stm

 Article about future transportation

  www.futureagenda.org/?p=326

Discussion about Transport – Global challenges. URBANISATION

www.earthfromtheair.com

 Some aerial photos of urban areas. www.globaleye.org.uk Includes teaching resources.

www.sln.org.uk/geography

Staffordshire Learning Network is a geographical site with teaching suggestions, many of them tried in the classroom

www.geographyinthenews.rgs.org

 Up-to-date articles about geographical issues. Registration required for full use.

www.google.com/earth/index.html

 Explore, search and discover by combining the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world’s geographical information at your fingertips. Free download for PC, Mac, or Linux.

www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/cache/offonce/pid/1820

 Teacher resources supporting the integration of a global perspective across the curriculum in Australia. Resources also for other Global Perspectives’ topics.

www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/vgd/links.html

Teacher resources for Geography topics.

WATER, FOOD and AGRICULTURE

www.wateraid.org

International website with country specific pages

  www.nrdc.org/water

 American website. National Resource Defence Council working

towards protection of natural resources.

                        11

www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/water_for_all

An online resource for students about water.

www.waternet.be/

A website setup to look at the geopolitics of water in the Middle East. Www.whyfiles.org/131fresh_water/2.html

Information about water shortage.

www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/acdi-cida.nsf/eng/REN-218125537-Q2B

 Canadian website about water.

www.globalwater.org/links.htm

 Links to sites about water. www.lenntech.com/water-food-agriculture.htm About the use of water in food and

agriculture.

www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/malnutrition/en

Water sanitation and health.

www.hrea.org/index.php?doc_id=404

 Human rights education associates. www.facingthefuture.org/GlobalIssuesResources/GlobalIssueResources/FoodWaterSecurity/tabid/243/Default.aspx

Resources for teachers about food and water

http://www.fao.org/3/w0078e/w0078e00.htm

Food and agriculture organisation of the United Nations. Resources for teachers.

            12

Lesson Resources For Global Perspectives Teaching

AA. Evaluating Arguments

AA. Lesson_MLA_8th edition

AA. Component 3 Powerpoint Example 1 2017

AA. Component 3 Powerpoint Example 2 2017

AA. Component 3 Powerpoint Example 3 2017

AA. Example_Comp 2_Essay #1

AA. Example_Comp 2_ Essay #2

AA. Example_Comp 2_Essay #3

AA. A Level Project Proposal

AA. Lesson_Deconstruction Essay_structure

AA. MLA Citation 8th Edition PPT

AA. Lesson_Inductive_deductive reasoning

AA. Candidate Responses 9239

AA. Project Proposal Updated A Level

AA. Deconstruction_Essay_Example_4

AA. Deconstruction_Essay_Example_3

AA. Deconstruction_Essay_Example_2

AA. Deconstruction_Essay_Example

AA Global Topics survey...Australia

AA. Example Project Proposal A Level Global

AA. Example Project Proposal A Level Global (2)

AA. Comp 3 Power Point Structure.example

AA. Comp 3. Power Point Structure example 2

AA. Comp 3 Power point structure example 3

AA. Power Point Example. Global Exam. Structure of Power Point

AA. Resource booklet Access to the internet

AA. Access to the internet questions

AA. Outline Proposal form 2015.2016

AA. Example.group project

AA. Deconstruction format power point

AA. Student example Deconstruction essay

AA. Student example Deconstruction essay #2

A. Global Perspectives.exercises.structure

B. Logical Fallacies: power point

C. Lesson.logical fallacies.2

D. Exercise.logical fallacies

D. Human Rights activity

E. Team project guidance

F. Reflective Paper Component 3

G. Global Survey

How to Discover and Incorporate Global Perspectives

| By Gale Staff |

For those developing and revising their curricular goals for the year, it’s important to integrate a variety of perspectives for any given topic. There’s no one-size-fits-all narrative for the often complicated subjects your students explore. Studying the nuances and different sides of modern-day global affairs helps K-12 learners develop critical-thinking skills. Plus, they’ll better understand how international conflicts aren’t often straightforward, and their solutions demand a patient, open-minded approach.

As a Gale subscriber, one of your district’s strongest assets is its access to vetted and varied content. Specifically, Gale In Context: Global Issues houses materials related to government, science, health, and culture—and it represents voices from around the world. No matter what subject you teach, this resource lends itself to a range of academic topics.

Alongside the sheer size of the collections, your students can take advantage of Gale’s user-friendly organizational and navigation features. While at first similar to a traditional search engine, students will soon discover that Gale’s functionality goes well beyond a conventional internet query. With Gale In Context: Global Issues , students can filter results by a publication’s nationality and, therefore, obtain first-hand news from within a country’s borders. This exercise guides users toward multiple perspectives rather than limiting them to the viewpoints of prominent Western media.

Explaining the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Gale In Context: Global Issues allows educators to support various perspectives via our collection of international publications. Few global disputes are as complicated and longstanding as the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, but Gale provides a portal to start the conversation . Begin with Gale’s comprehensive summary , featuring essential background, targeted critical-thinking questions, and a synopsis of recent developments. From there, students can browse related featured content, biographical entries, statistics, primary sources, images, videos, audio files, academic journals, and more.

After developing a general sense of the conflict’s foundations, it’s time to leverage Gale’s extensive navigation features and find resources outside the United States that offer a balanced perspective. Using the publication search option will help you narrow your search to just those publications from Israel, for example. You can even search for specific topics with each resource. Find scholarly journal articles on the peace process from Ariel University , one of Israel’s leading research institutes. Or, learn how humanitarian aid is disbursed by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) to Palestinian refugees and what challenges the UNRWA are facing by reading the latest news from Palestine News Agency (WAFA) . As you develop your curriculum, use these international resources to spark classroom discussions on inequality, religious strife, propaganda, and power.

Learning How Climate Change is Viewed Globally

Across the globe, our youngest generation is particularly invested in preventing climate change. Many see an investment in climate change as an investment in their own futures and well-being. However, perspectives vary from unified supporters to climate change deniers . For example, the United States left the Paris Agreement in 2020, only to rejoin those efforts when President Biden took office. But what about other nations? After all, climate change is a global issue that affects everyone. To answer this question, begin with Gale’s climate change portal . Then, filter the news results to international publications; there are dozens of options to choose from.

One of the greatest benefits of using Gale In Context: Global Issues is that educators and learners are able to evaluate any topic from multiple perspectives. Readers can look at any topic with a global lens, allowing them to form their own opinions based on facts and firsthand accounts.

You can explore commentaries from Canada’s Toronto Star . Consider climate change investment concerns from Ireland’s breakingNEWS.ie . Read editorials from the Philippines’ Mindanao Times . You can even find stories that question and criticize the U.S. deniers . Push your students to consider why a scientific phenomenon like climate change inspires such varied perspectives worldwide. Discuss why some in power might benefit from spreading false information and why reviewing a variety of sources from throughout the world is good practice.

Comparing Perspectives on Vaccines

Now that schools are somewhat back to normal and the pandemic has ebbed, the media coverage and debate around vaccines have also abated. However, addressing the science behind vaccines and debunking false information about them is still an essential conversation for your young learners. Schools play a vital role in educating the next generation about how vaccines and viruses work.

Of course, COVID-19 and other viral diseases affect nations beyond U.S. borders, and vaccines are critical for global public health. What’s more, Americans aren’t the only ones touched by mistruths and false science. Read an article from the Philippines’ Manila Bulletin that discusses the efficacy of modern medicine and the risk that misinformation poses to others. Similar doubts and vaccine resistance plague the citizens of Sri Lanka, claims an editorial from the Sri Lanka Daily Mirror . Your students can easily draw parallels between different countries’ coverage of vaccinations and the harms of misinformation.

Discussing Global Gender Disparities

Encourage your students to research how different countries view gender equality and how women in the United States may or may not share similar experiences. For example, westernized nations like Canada and Australia discuss gender issues such as the wage gap and paid maternity leave . While important topics, especially regarding equal rights and healthcare, women in these countries are nonetheless relatively advanced regarding their roles in society. They can vote, attend college, and work in whatever professions they like.

With Gale In Context: Global Issues , your research is not limited to Western perspectives. Consider how women are advancing their cause in countries like Pakistan or Ghana . What are the issues with which these women are concerned? In India , women face outdated work restrictions and, especially in rural areas, struggle to access basic education. In Kenya , women worry about job security should they get pregnant. In Iran , women protested for the basic right to wear clothing of their own choosing, even under threat of violence. By diving into gender rights and different perspectives worldwide, students can learn to appreciate their freedoms and help stand up for basic human rights.

Expanding Research Opportunities and Inspiring Global Citizens

With a simple search in Gale In Context: Global Issues , you’ll find thousands of resources, including news pieces and magazine articles from dozens of international publications. In our increasingly interconnected world, it’s vital that your students develop a curiosity for and appreciation of diverse, global perspectives. Identifying similarities, despite international borders and cultural barriers, helps inspire compassion and understanding for others around the world. Expanded knowledge gives students the power to find solutions through global perspectives and opens their minds to challenges and opportunities outside of their immediate world.

If your school district is not a current Gale subscriber, speak to your local education consultant today.

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A Global Perspective: Bringing the World Into Classrooms

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The need for students to be able to empathize with others, value diverse perspectives and cultures, understand how events around the world are interconnected, and solve problems that transcend borders has never been greater. Just consider the recent attacks inspired by hate and terrorism in Orlando, Fla., San Bernardino, Calif., Brussels, Paris, Tunis, Istanbul, and Yemen, or the unparalleled flow of migrants—many of them children—from war- and violence-stricken regions in the Middle East and Central America. Then there’s threat of damaging and deadly viruses such as Zika and Ebola hopping across people and countries.

The quick tick of news headlines exemplifies just how interconnected the world is today. It also points to the intercultural collaboration and problem-solving skills necessary to thwart the hatred that spawns terrorist attacks, successfully integrate culturally and linguistically diverse populations into classrooms and communities, and solve health and environmental crises.

Engaging students with the world is one step toward one day accomplishing such objectives. But what should educators teach to ensure that all students are prepared to successfully engage in the globalized world in which they already live? Furthermore, what steps can educators take to effectively foster globally minded knowledge, skills, and attitudes in students?

As part of the movement to educate the whole child and ensure students are challenged academically and prepared for participation in a global environment, the organization for which I work, ASCD, has launched an effort to focus on answering these questions. The place to start, I believe, is with some definitions on what global engagement means in a practical sense.

More Than a ‘21st-Century Skill’

For students to participate effectively in the global community, they will need to develop global competence: the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to live and work in today’s interconnected world and to build a sustainable, peaceful, inclusive world for the future. Global competence is often, and rightly, labeled a “21st century skill” needed for employment in today’s global economy. Yet global competence is so much more than a ticket to a competitive job. Students also need global competence to participate as empathetic, engaged, and effective citizens of the world.

What exactly does global competence entail? Many organizations have devised specific frameworks that define the term (see examples from the Asia Society , the OECD , World Savvy , and the Globally-Competent Teaching Continuum ). These frameworks tend to coalesce around the following attitudes, knowledge, and skills:

• Attitudes : This includes openness, respect, and appreciation for diversity; valuing of multiple perspectives, including an awareness of the cultural and experiential influences that shape one’s own and others’ perspectives; empathy; and social responsibility, or a desire to better the human condition on a local and global scale.

• Knowledge : This refers to the ability to understand global issues and current events; global interdependence, including the impact of global events on local conditions and vice versa; the processes of globalization and its effects on economic and social inequities locally and globally; world history; culture; and geography.

• Skills : These includes the ability to communicate across cultural and linguistic boundaries, including the ability to speak, listen, read, and write in more than one language; collaborate with people who have diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds; think critically and analytically; problem-solve; and take action on issues of global importance.

Connecting Educators Across the World

Just as teachers of algebra know how to solve equations and music teachers know how to play scales, educators should also strive to develop these global competencies in themselves so that they can foster them in their students.

Engaging with the world is one way educators can develop global competence. Traditionally in the United States, educators as a whole have experienced limited training around global diversity. For example, very few teacher-preparation programs provide opportunities for preservice teachers to study abroad or require coursework in global topics. Therefore, connecting practicing teachers, principals, and district leaders across communities and continents through summits, conferences, exchanges, and virtual meetings geared towards common professional learning needs can provide experiences that help develop a globally oriented mindset, knowledge base, and skill set. Furthermore, when provided a platform to network, educators can lead the way in changing the broader education system locally and globally to better support the whole child and elevate the teaching profession.

A number of opportunities already exist for teachers to connect with one another across the world. There are an array of exchange programs run by the U.S. State Department and NGOs (e.g., American Councils for International Education , EF Tours , Teachers2Teachers-International ) that provide educators with opportunities for meaningful cross-cultural interactions. And if travel is not always feasible due to financial or familial obligations, teachers can still engage with the wider world through virtual exchanges that connect classrooms across the globe as partners in learning activities that prepare students to be productive, engaged citizens of the world (for example, iEARN , Global SchoolNet ).

Classroom Strategies

There are plenty of steps that educators can take today to put students on the path towards creating a better world for tomorrow. This doesn’t require legislation that mandates a change in the curriculum, the introduction of a global studies course for graduation, or a line item from the state or federal budget. In a recent study of teachers committed to globally competent teaching , researchers found that the educators used the following common strategies to foster global citizenship and competency:

• Integrating global topics and perspectives across content areas. Globally competent teaching does not require a separate course or unit of study. Instead, teachers infused global content into the required curriculum, regardless of subject area. For example, math teachers used real-world global challenges as contexts for introducing new concepts (e.g., using word problems on population growth as a way to teach the rules of exponents) and language arts teachers used texts that represent diverse cultural perspectives and that take place in settings around the world to teach literature and informational texts.

• Providing opportunities for authentic engagement with global issues. Teachers provided real-world audiences for students to engage with around global issues. This took the form of pen pal and Skype exchanges with schools in other countries, service-learning projects emphasizing issues of global concern (e.g., access to clean water), or working in teams to devise and debate solutions to real-world problems, such as climate change, and sharing those solutions with government leaders. Notably, these activities were student-centered and inquiry-based.

• Connecting the global experiences of students and teachers to the classroom. Teachers adopted culturally responsive teaching practices that incorporated the cultures, languages, perspectives, and experiences of diverse students into curriculum and instruction. Teachers also incorporated their own cross-cultural experiences into the classroom through informal conversation, discussions around artifacts and photos, and lesson plans that incorporated knowledge gained and relationships built through their global experiences.

With these strategies in hand, the time is now for teachers to engage themselves, and their students, with the world. The lives of all students, no matter their zip code or their cultural, racial, linguistic, or economic background, are in some way influenced by the wider world. They too have the potential to shape that world. Their future, and the future of our world, depends on it.

What does global engagement mean to you? Why do you think it is important? Join the conversation by posting your reflections in the comments section.

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Programmes & Qualifications

Cambridge international as & a level global perspectives & research (9239).

• Syllabus overview

Cambridge International AS & A Level Global Perspectives and Research is a skills-based course that prepares learners for positive engagement with our rapidly changing world. Learners broaden their outlook through the critical analysis of – and reflection on – issues of global significance. They will develop unique, transferable skills including research, critical thinking and communication by following an approach to analysing and evaluating arguments and perspectives called the 'Critical Path'.

Collaborative skills are enhanced through participation in a team project. The skills gained through study of this course help students to meet the demands of Twenty-First century learning, preparing the transition to higher education and the world of work.

As part of the course learners write a research report on a research question of their choice. You can find out more information on this on the School Support Hub and viewing the supporting documents.

View our Global Perspectives and Research Statement of Support .

The syllabus year refers to the year in which the examination will be taken.

• -->2023 - 2025 Syllabus update (PDF, 145KB)
• -->2026 - 2028 Syllabus update (PDF, 150KB)

Syllabus support

• -->2023-2025 Grade Descriptions (PDF, 118KB)

Syllabus updates

We revise our qualifications regularly to make sure that they continue to meet the needs of learners, schools and higher education institutions around the world, and reflect current thinking. Please see the 2023-2025 syllabus document for full details on the changes.

What are the main changes to the syllabus?

• refreshed the list of Cambridge International AS Level topics
• updated the assessment objectives to make the links to the assessed skills clearer.

What are the main changes to the assessment?

• For Component 3, learners can now choose between recording a live presentation or submitting a presentation with a recorded voiceover. This offers greater flexibility for centres and is more accessible for some students.
• The Cambridge Research Report (Cambridge International A Level) is now marked by Cambridge International. We have discontinued the oral explanation and learners do not submit an Outline Proposal Form.

When do these changes take place?

The updated syllabus is for examination from June 2023 onwards. Examinations are available in March 2023 for India only. Please see the 2023-2025 syllabus above for full details.

We are developing a comprehensive range of materials to help you teach the updated syllabus. These resources will be available from June 2021 onwards (before first teaching) through our School Support Hub and include:

• Scheme of work
• Learner guide
• Teacher guide
• Specimen Paper Answers
• Example Candidate Responses (after first examination).

Face-to-face and online training will be available. For up-to-date information, visit our Events and training calendar .

Endorsed resources

Cambridge International AS & A Level Global Perspectives and Research (Collins)

Encourage critical thinking, self-reflection and independent thought and provide students the opportunity to engage with key global issues. This series comprises a Student’s Book, Workbook and Teacher’s Guide.

Read more on the Collins website

Guide students along the critical pathway as they advance their Twenty-First century skillsets in areas such as research, reasoning, thinking and communication. Includes essay writing support and guidance for forming research questions.

Read more on the Cambridge University Press website

Important notices

We are withdrawing Cambridge International AS & A Level Global Perspectives & Research (9239) from the March exam series. The last March series for this syllabus will be March 2025. 

From 2026, we will only offer this syllabus in the June and November exam series.

We communicated this change to schools in September 2022.

Schools offering Cambridge International AS & A Level Global Perspectives can access resources, courses and build online communities through our . Access the Online Learning area .

For some subjects, we publish grade descriptions to help understand the level of performance candidates’ grades represent.

We paused the publication of grade descriptions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the temporary changes to the awarding standard in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

As the awarding standard has now returned to the pre-pandemic standard, we are working to produce up-to-date grade descriptions for most of our general qualifications. These will be based on the awarding standards in place from June 2023 onwards.

The national agency in the UK for the recognition and comparison of international qualifications and skills, UK NARIC, has reviewed Cambridge International AS & A Level Global Perspectives and found that it is comparable to UK A Level and develops skills that are particularly relevant in preparing students for higher education study internationally. Read the executive summary of the UK NARIC report.

Check the Submit for Assessment page and the samples database for information and guidance on submitting moderated and examined work using Submit for Assessment.

School Support Hub

Teachers at registered Cambridge schools can unlock over 30 000 teaching and learning resources to help plan and deliver Cambridge programmes and qualifications, including Schemes of work, Example candidate responses, Past papers, Specimen paper answers, as well as digital and multimedia resources.

Schemes of work

Example responses, past papers, specimen paper answers.

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Sign up for updates about changes to the syllabuses you teach

• Past papers, examiner reports and specimen papers
• Published resources