Hayden International Club

 

 

 

EF Global Connections

Prerequisite:  Teacher approval and enrollment in approved travel program

˝ elective credit

 

NOTE:  Enrollment in this course implies certain monetary commitments, including the cost of the travel program and the additional $100 fee for enrollment in the EF for credit program.  

 

This course does not meet at a regularly scheduled time during the school day and is an independent study under the direction of the tour leader(s).

 

Global Connections is designed to break down the barriers of language, geography and culture through educational travel.  Guided study before, during, and following the travel experience allow for a greater understanding of today’s global society and our role in it.   Students participating in the for credit option will be required to complete a minimum of 100 hours study, including: research, reading, journaling, photography, and analysis of current events.

 

 

EF Global Connections

Student Credit Requirements

 

Pre-Tour Course Requirements

 

  1. Reading Assignment: Select and read 4 books from the Notable Social Studies Trade Book list.  You may choose a book not on the list if your teacher (and EF Group leader) that will be grading your work approves your choice.  Consider the following question, to be incorporated in your final project:  What are you learning from your reading that will benefit your travel?

 

Link for suggested reading:

 

National Council for the Social Studies recommended readings

www.socialstudies.org/resources/notable

 

  1. Travel journal: Brainstorm your expectations for your upcoming tour.  Indicate five examples of how you hope to address the NSS learning standards outlined on page 1 of the Student Credit Packet.  Explain why Global Connections are important to you.  Discuss the differences between learning about a place and/or culture through travel as compared to learning via books, television, radio, in class or on the internet.

 

  1. Research:  Read at least two non-fiction sources about the place(s) you will visit on tour.  In your travel journal, properly cite the sources, explain how these sources are preparing you for your travels and answer the following questions:

 

a)      How does your research prepare you to study Global Connections among different countries and among different countries and among different areas of the United States?

b)      Does the country or region to which you are traveling have solution to challenges in health care, economic development, environmental quality, universal human rights or other topics that you feel would be helpful to integrate in national or local policies?  Please describe.

 

 

On-tour Course Requirements

 

  1. Photo assignment: Carefully select 30 photos (or postcards) from your travels that demonstrate your understanding of the course themes  and briefly explain each photo’s connection to the course standards.

 

  1. Travel Journal, part 1:  The travel journal should contain notes on the following topics (suggested 500 words/day)
    • Cities, towns, destinations of educational interest
    • Personal contacts, conversations, interviews of local citizens
    • Educational materials, information gained each day
    • Instructional experiences and knowledge gained each day
    • Evaluation of EF Tour director’s impact on your learning
    • Evaluation of how experiential learning compares to learning in a classroom
    • Assessment of how travel impacts your understanding about peace, human rights, trade and global ecology
    • Assess how your travels have affected your approach to your studies
    • Commentary on your future high school, college and career plans and how your travels might affect those plans

 

  1. Travel Journal, part 2: Address 5 of the following 7 topics through examples as they relate to your tour (suggested 1,000 words per topic).  Suggested sources – local citizens, newspapers, periodicals, television, radio, internet, EF Tour Director.

·        Visit a different region or country and learn about the area’s health care system

·        Visit a different region or country and respond to the media.  Consider the following questions as part of your response: How does the media report on different events and topics?  How do people seem to respond to the media?  What is the history of the media in that country?

·        Visit a museum or art performance and analyze how this experience fits into the general culture you are visiting.

·        Comment on the following questions: How do older people generations seem to pass along “culture” to the next generation?  How would you characterize the traditional “culture” of your destination and what parts of it do teenagers accept?  Not accept?

·        Comment on the following questions: Does the place you are visiting seem to have a variety of different cultures or is there on predominant culture?  Explain to what extent the groups work together and how that may or may not affect the society as a whole.

·        Explain any values or attitudes you observe that either encourage or prohibit cross-cultural understanding.

·        Common on one of the following relevant topics: How do people seem to respond to perceived threat?  To overpopulation?  To pollution?  To hunger?  To religious conflicts?  To abortion?  To AIDS and other diseases?  To the United Nations and other multinational organizations?  To other issues of specific interest to you?

 

 

Post-tour Course Requirements

 

  1. Book review:  Pick separate themes from two of the four books you read in the pre-tour phase and relate those themes to personal reflections of what you learned on tour in two separate 1500 word essays.  Incorporate research from at least two properly cited non-fiction sources.