TEACHING WORLD CULTURES IN PROMOTING GLOBAL AWARENESS
OLIVIA O. STEPHANT
Learning different cultures from different countries in the world can give information to every student about the attitudes, customs, traditions and beliefs of the people. Being a teacher in social studies subject, one of my teaching goals is to impart to all the learners the required knowledge for them to become globally competitive and quality learners. It is also my duty as a History teacher to develop the learners’mastery when it comes to the learning area that I am teaching. One of the learning competencies that learners should be discovered in the social studies is the world culture.
World culture encompasses the arts, customs, rules and laws, habits and historical patterns of the people living in a society. Fostering global awareness and understanding cultures of others can be beneficial to the students. Students who are very familiar with the way the other people live in the different areas of the world could easily lead them to global awareness. With this, learners who will find opportunities to live in the other side of the country can easily adjust in the manner of living. Global awareness also supports the mission of the Department of Education (DepEd) policy of “No Child Left Behind”.
Furthermore, a new world of connection and understanding will be open up to the learners once they are studying the different people’s cultures. Learners will gain insights about other’s culture. Familiarity in the recent past will give the learners a better sense of the way on how humans progress, and what has stayed similar about every individual. Knowing other cultures will give students a much more favorable presence to people of those cultures, especially to those who appreciate a worldly person. Nobody is going to look down upon the student once they have adequate knowledge about various concepts and culture of other countries. Lastly, it is an exciting way to let the students feel that they are in the world of travel while the teachers are discussing about the places and culture in the entire world.
Today, education is increasingly interconnected and globalized world. Traditional learning is supplemented by new trend of technology. Through the means of modern communication such as video conferencing and social networks, learners can experience the local and foreign cultures. It is now being encouraged to all the teachers that innovative teaching approaches should be implemented in teaching world culture to avoid boredom among the students. Teachers must continue to impart quality knowledge to all the students. I believe that power comes from knowledge, let us all be knowledgeable to all different facts in the world for us not to be left behind.
— oOo— The author is Master Teacher I at Lubao National High School