By: Erica Pryor (GECP 2021)
It is crucial that America’s future educators are prepared to teach students to appreciate their global citizenship. The Global Educators Cohort Program (GECP) has provided several opportunities that have allowed me to understand my own global citizenship. One of those ways is through the collaborative global learning project with students from Shimane University located in Matsue, Japan.
Global Learning Project
During this project, my TE 150 class split into several groups containing two to four MSU students and two Shimane students.
We had two weeks to complete a fully collaborative project where each group was tasked with interviewing other MSU students outside of the GECP and then analyzing and summarizing our collected data in a video. We chose two groups that we thought might be interesting to compare, and we also chose some questions that we thought were most interesting. The most significant takeaway from this project was that this project had to be completely collaborative; we couldn’t delegate the responsibilities, and we all needed to be actively interested and engaged with each other.
Learning from Each Other
This collaborative project helped me develop as a GECP student because I was able to learn about a culture different than my own in a not strictly academic setting where I could learn from normal interactions with peers from across the world.
Before our first meeting, I met Yuri and Yukino, my fellow group members from Shimane University, and we walked past Spartan Stadium. They both marveled up at the towering stands, and I quickly realized that they had not had a tour of MSU yet. I explained what Spartan Stadium is and what we use it for. They both got really excited because one of Yukino’s friends back in Japan wanted her to bring back an MSU football jersey, and now they were on campus not only getting to bring back a jersey, but they were also getting to see the amazing Spartan Stadium.
Even though we were going to be late to our six o’clock meeting time at the library, I decided to take them over to see Beaumont Tower because I wanted them to see another landmark on MSU’s beautiful campus. They got to hear the clock chime and they took videos and pictures that they were so excited to share back in Japan.
These few moments were some of the most meaningful for me throughout this whole project because in these few moments, I was able to share my culture with my peers from across the world.
These few moments were some of the most meaningful for me throughout this whole project because in these few moments, I was able to share my culture with my peers from across the world. I noticed, as I was standing there taking pictures of Yuri and Yukino by Beaumont tower, that it was because of the GECP that I was able to have this opportunity to share my culture and also listen and learn as much as possible about Japanese culture on a first-hand account. This was not the only time that we, Michigan State students, were able to share our culture. Most of the questions on our survey were asking about what MSU students thought about Japan. Some of their responses not only revealed how much or how little MSU students knew about Japan and Japanese culture, but also revealed some important notions about American culture or the culture of MSU students.
Several of our questions forced our survey participants to think about why Americans enjoy and respect certain aspects of Japanese culture while not understanding other aspects. The answers to these questions provided insight to how Americans as a whole might view various aspects of Japanese culture. There were many times upon completion of these surveys when Yuri and Yukino would think it was so interesting about how Americans viewed themselves and their knowledge on Japanese culture.
The answers to these questions provided insight to how Americans as a whole might view various aspects of Japanese culture. There were many times upon completion of these surveys when Yuri and Yukino would think it was so interesting about how Americans viewed themselves and their knowledge on Japanese culture.
Through this project I enjoyed getting to know some of my peers from across the world and I enjoyed learning about different cultures outside of the strictly academic setting. This was a unique project that I would not have had the opportunity to have if I had not joined the Global Educators Cohort Program. I grew as a global educator during this process because I was able to identify some important parts of my own culture and share those and also learn about and interact with people who come from a culture different than my own. These are important parts in becoming a better global educator because the more times one can expose themselves to learning about new cultures and celebrating differences the more well-rounded a person will become. This project was not easy by any means, but it made me collaborate with people who I probably would not have gotten the chance to collaborate with. Having this special opportunity as a GECP student is one of the many reasons why global education is so important.
