Out of Many, One People: Jamaican Teachers’ Perspectives of Global Learning

Abstract

15 teachers from across Jamaica participated in interviews that articulated ideas about, and methods of fostering global learning. This study explores Jamaican teachers’ perceptions of global learning, as well as their thoughts of how to implement this into the K-12 classroom. The researchers applied various western definitions of the global learning process. According to these frameworks, all 15 teachers offered examples of global awareness that they incorporate into their classrooms. Some described global awareness as a mechanism for developing a global perspective. Teachers also noted that their students lacked exposure to diverse people and places, when diversity was interpreted as ethnic or cultural difference. Religious education served as a space where students could encounter diverse others. These results problematize the practice of applying Western conceptualizations of global learning in international contexts and highlight the importance of learning from the Global South when thinking through the goals and processes of global education.