UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As a high school teacher in New Jersey’s West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, Chris Bond needs his curriculum to align with the school district’s educational goals, one of which is to develop global citizenship competence in students.
When creating those lessons, Bond said he is fortunate to be able to draw from his experiences as one of 27 educators from 14 states, four nations and eight disciplines who took part in the unique professional development immersion experience, World Food Prize Global Guides, a program created and supported by faculty in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
The initiative gives secondary teachers the knowledge, tools and resources to integrate global learning and food security into curriculum and practice, noted Melanie Miller-Foster, global learning specialist and assistant professor in the college’s Office of International Programs.
“Youth are the future,” said Daniel Foster, one of the lead instructors of Global Guides and associate professor of agricultural and extension education at Penn State. “But who’s empowering them with the skills and knowledge they need to make a difference? It’s teachers. That’s why teacher programming such as Global Guides is so important. By investing in teachers, we invest in the future.”
Started in 2018, Global Guides is a seven-month professional development program for teachers in any discipline. It is a partnership between the World Food Prize Foundation, an international organization that recognizes achievements in food security, and "Global Teach Ag!" at Penn State, an initiative that aims to develop capacity in teachers for global impact in food, fiber and natural resources through youth development and education programming.
Selected participants receive 40 hours of synchronous online professional learning focusing on topics such as food security, digital leadership and project-based learning. They receive mentorship in preparing and implementing what is called a “reusable learning artifact” — documents, presentations, illustrations, videos and the like — which can be used to enhance global learning in their classrooms and their communities.
The program includes a three-day summit at the World Food Prize International Symposium/Borlaug Dialogue and Global Youth Institute, held every October in Des Moines, Iowa. The conference features an array of international leaders, farmers, agribusiness executives, nongovernmental organizations and development experts to address the most critical issues affecting global food security.