Educator Workshop

In this workshop, educators collaborate to customize a community survey lesson—a tested activity from the Global Scholars program—to develop students’ inclusive-problem solving skills and attitudes. Inclusive problem-solving is a way to demonstrate Global Engagement, one of Global Cities’ four global student learning outcomes. The workshop introduces educators to the community survey lesson and other tools for defining, teaching, and measuring inclusive problem-solving.

The workshop prepares educators to…

  • explain what it looks like for students to demonstrate inclusive problem-solving skills and attitudes

  • customize the community survey activity to implement in their unique context, and

  • customize a tool for observing student learning.

Student Work Sample: Food Security in Madrid

In this project from 2022, students in Madrid analyzed the results of a community survey they conducted to learn more about the impact of a global issue—food security—in their own community.

As you view their work, consider:

  • How does this experience give students new ways of thinking about the issue? (content)

  • How does it build their inclusive problem-solving skills and attitudes? (global competency)

Students first asked survey participants what they wanted to solve or improve to address the issue of food security and learned that people were most concerned with addressing food waste. They then asked what actions people would take to help improve food security. They found that rather than planting a community garden (the response they predicted would be most popular), most people thought a website with cheap, easy, and healthy recipes would be most helpful for their community.

Through the community survey, students learned more about the diverse ways people can experience the same problem. Students recognized how surfacing a range of potential actions to address an issue can improve their thinking about solutions. They used the survey responses to propose a solution that would directly target the issue in the ways people wanted:

After doing this survey, we think that the best way to address food issues in our community is to create a website with cheap, easy recipes that people can make at home. Because it is a good way for people to learn new skills and to use their products correctly.

Additional Resources