The Global Issues seminar series hosted an event Tuesday, Sept. 13 regarding Education in the 21st century where panelists commented and answered questions. 

Co-sponsored by the School of Public and International Affairs and the Office of International Affairs, this seminar featured four panelists: Dr. Jayne Fleener , Dean of the College of Education; Dr. Hiller Spires, Curriculum, Instruction & Counselor Education, Professor & Senior Research Fellow; Megan Landwehr , International Education Program Coordinator, Office of International and Distance Education Alliance-IDEA; and Katie McMahon, Principal of Wiley International Magnet Elementary School.

In the seminar, each panelist gave a brief, 10 minute monologue discussing their personal views of education in the 21st   century. After these discussions, the floor was opened to a question and answer segment.

Chantell LaPan , program coordinator at the office of international affairs, planned the seminar. LaPan says that the purpose of the series is to showcase what University experts are contributing in terms of big global issues regarding the state, the nation and the world.

“Education in NC hasn’t always been globally focused and I think this is a step in the right direction,” LaPan said. “We need to start preparing students and teachers for a global society.”

With each new semester comes a new theme for the seminar. Last semester’s theme was “Energy of the Environment,” this semester was “Well-Being,” and next semester’s will be “Health: Bridging the Gap.”

In the ten minutes allotted for panelists to discuss issues, they may choose any topic that relates back to the larger theme. One panelist, Dr. Hiller Spires, spoke about connecting globally a new ecology for teaching and learning.

Dr. Spires discussed in depth a change that is quickly arising from an old classroom ecology to a new, advanced one.

“There is a sharp contrast in the old learning ecology in which the teacher is the center of attention in the classroom and the students simply do what they are told and the new ecology that has emerged,” Spires said. “Now there is communication among students in the classroom, in the county, and even around the world thanks to new technology.”

One of the main problems Spires foresees is that not all schools have the necessary technology or interconnectivity to provide their students with the online advantages of distance-communication.

“We are currently trying to make policy changes so that all students will be able to be connected to important information on the web and learn about different cultures,” Spires said. “We are trying to create a system to take advantage of all the knowledge around the world- and then bring it into the classroom.”

Megan Landwehr , another panelist, also shares Spires’ passion for teaching students about other cultures and believes that an excellent way to do so is by giving teachers the opportunity to travel abroad.

Landwehr coordinates student teaching abroad programs for the College of E ducation that can be completed during student teaching in the last few weeks of the program.

Landwehr noted that the University has five partner institutions in five different locations across the globe including Beijing, Brazil, Russia, London and another small city in China. Last spring, Landwehr accompanied a group of eleven students to Brazil, where they did a portion of their student teaching. She will be taking another group of 10 to Beijing this fall.

“This is a new option for education students to achieve a comparative approach to teaching so that they know more than just what they experience in North Carolina,” Landwehr said. “In most North Carolina classrooms, generally anywhere from 15 percent to 20 percent of the students will be from a different background, so this program teaches them how to deal with this difference.”

These are only two of the four topics discussed, and Chantell LaPan has recorded the event for anyone to view. This link is located on the International Affairs website. The next seminar is Oct. 11  and will be titled, “Health: Bridging the gap between local and global.”