Global & Cultural Understanding

Learning that Matters: An Expanding Universe

What's worth teaching is perhaps the most central question of education. Choices about what's worth teaching made by educators, school boards, and governments fill up the schooldays of students. However, many educational leaders today feel that this fundamental question does not get enough attention. Too much effort goes toward doing the same job better and not enough toward rethinking what the job is. In this spirit, educational leaders in many independent schools and some public schools have introduced new themes, such as 21st century skills, digital technologies, interdisciplinary learning, world citizenship, global perspectives and global problems. While mastery of reading and mathematics remains a tremendously important agenda, the universe of what's deemed worth teaching by one or another advocate is expanding dramatically.

This white paper offers a broad but brief overview of trends in that expanding universe.

Places to Play in Providence: A Guide to the City by our Youngest Citizens

The guide that resulted from a collaboration between the Making Learning Visible team at PZ and a school-readiness initiative, Ready to Learn Providence (R2LP). The publication was created by preschool children and teachers from eight inner city programs and programs and features children's illustrations and descriptions of their favorite places to play in the Rhode Island capital.

Educating for Global Competence: Preparing our Youth to Engage the World

Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World is intended for classroom teachers, administrators, informal educators, policymakers, community leaders, researchers, parents, students, and all other stakeholders interested in preparing our youth for the 21st century.

Integrative Learning: Setting the Stage for a Pedagogy of the Contemporary