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Summary: There are challenges to overcome throughout southwest Virginia to teach students the importance of globalization. Small rural schools and communities in this region are slow to experience the demographic shift in the population which has been occurring throughout the United States. Because of this low level or lack of change in demographics, the population remains isolated from the concepts of globalization and multi-cultural perspectives. The only way to offer the best education is to prepare our students for the ever-changing global economy. With America becoming a more diverse population, it is necessary to expand curriculum to schools that are not yet experiencing the impact of these cultural differences.
The stereotypical image of a southwest Virginia resident may be similar to the television depiction of “Big” Tom Buchanan on the reality series Survivor Africa. The impression that the viewing public received from the CBS network, based out of New York and Los Angeles, about Appalachian natives was regionally biased, depicting a hillbilly farmer living a worry-free life amongst his goats. It’s true, that Big Tom has lived within this community his entire life; he has made a successful living for his family, which takes both ambition and perseverance. Survivor, however, focused on how unfamiliar Big Tom was with the various cultures and backgrounds of the other competitors, more so than his work ethic, or any other positive aspects of his character. Perhaps his cultural naiveté is the result of limited exposure to different lifestyles, a result of his life-long residency in Smyth County, a part of the country that has been slow to see the multicultural changes so common throughout our nation, rather than deliberate or malicious ignorance. Hopefully, the public also learned that Tom had the ability to adapt to his surroundings better than anyone else in the group, a common trait among the people of southwest Virginia.
Information provided to the United States Census Bureau in 2000 indicated that 99.2% of residences in the community where “Big” Tom lives are Caucasian. Residents in the community, who were born in another country, constitute 0.3% of the total population. Only 1.4% of the population speaks a language other than English in their home. Of the other six randomly selected communities throughout southwestern Virginia, the lowest percentage of Caucasians in a population was 92.4%. The national average racial demographics for this 2000 census were 75.1% Caucasian, 11.1% foreign born and 17.9% speaking a different language at home (http://censtats.census.gov/data/VA/1605170096.pdf). The difference between the national average and the local averages in this rural area may serve to explain why the majority of students might feel uncomfortable or be unfamiliar in situations involving immigrants, diverse cultures, or in which they are perceived as the minority. Although this data was collected eight years ago, there has not been a noticeable demographic shift throughout most communities over the last decade. There are, however, specific areas throughout the region that have begun to see an increase in the Hispanic population.
These findings indicate an issue facing schools throughout southwest Virginia as a whole. The United States has experienced a great demographic change over the past several decades. Small rural schools and communities in southwest Virginia, however, have not experienced this shift in as noticeable a degree. Because of the lack of change in demographics, much of the population remains isolated from the concepts of globalization and multi-cultural perspectives.
The United States Department of Education (USDOE) website provides educational statistics on demographic information for school districts. Out of the twenty-seven school districts that had information listed by the USDOE, there was not one school system in Southwest Virginia. The closest school division was Roanoke County. This lack of information related to population demographics in the southwestern part of the state reinforces the idea that this is a very isolated region. Colloquially put, many residents throughout southwest Virginia hold the popular opinion that, “people in other parts of the state believe Virginia stops at Roanoke.”
Early in the education process, students are introduced to other countries and cultures as part of their Standards of Learning (SOL) objectives. Students learn and retain information better if they are able to relate what they learn to real life. Without a personal connection or a social connection to someone from other parts of the world such as Asia, Europe, or Africa, it is hard for them to relate to the material and understand the impact it has on their life. This problem may result in a lower informational retention rate. As students throughout southwest Virginia continue to progress through school, they have the opportunity to participate in World Geography, typically taught during the eighth grade. This would be an excellent time for students to discover the importance of interdependence between nations and the global marketplace. The typical expectations for this course, based on the SOL’s, are to master the locations and basic information about various regions across the world. Again, it is difficult for students to relate this to their lives if they are never exposed to other cultures or geographic regions first-hand. World History may also be taken by students who wish to earn an advanced diploma. Learning about the history of other cultures is equally important to American students as learning about U.S. History. Providing the opportunity for students to learn more universal, less Amero-and Eurocentric history from someone with first-hand knowledge of the culture is a challenge, however, given cultural and geographical isolation.
Foreign language courses offer an excellent example of a means to teach students important information concerning other countries and cultures. Students receive the majority of their foreign language experience in these courses. Dr. Rachel Fowlkes, Executive Director of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center and a former fourth grade teacher, suggests children should begin to learn additional foreign languages in elementary school to adequately be able to relate to a language and learn its application properly (Fowlkes, personal interview). This idea is also supported by the writings of MIT’s Stephen Pinker, who suggests that children are naturally better equipped to learn languages more easily than adolescents and adults. These ideas can be found in his book titled The Language Instinct. A guidance counselor in Russell County, Virginia expressed her frustration with the current foreign language curriculum: “my upper level kids will complete three years of foreign language here (in high school), but when they get to the community college, they can’t pass the introductory course (personal communication with district personnel 1).” This may be related to the lack of exposure students have to the languages they are learning. With few foreign-language speakers living throughout southwest Virginia, many students only practice speaking foreign languages inside of the classroom. According to Beverly Clark, author of First- and Second-Language Acquisition in Early Childhood, “the society that children find themselves in and how important each language is viewed within that society are very important (http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/pubs/katzsym/clark-b.pdf).” Since multilingualism is a rarity in this region, it is not viewed as an important part of the society of southwest Virginia. Most high-schools in the area teach Spanish and French exclusively. Students may participate in Latin or Chinese courses, however, through Virtual Virginia, an online learning provider. Unfortunately, few students opt to participate in these courses.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills research suggests that, “Americans increasingly recognize that the U.S. education system can and should do more to prepare our young people to succeed in the rapidly evolving 21st century. Skills such as global literacy…have become critical in today’s increasingly interconnected workforce and society (www.21stcenturyskills.org).” Often, the mindset of residents in the community present a challenge; many parents of school age children seem to believe that changes to the demographic makeup of our country is not real, or that it will never affect their community. Some residents remain prejudiced against immigrants; hoping immigration will stop and never impact their community. Others believe that the United States should be self-reliant, and depend on no other countries. Until these misconceptions are addressed, challenges will continue to exist when trying to implement changes in the educational system to teach more realistic ideologies. The SOL’s are often used as an excuse to limit our expansion of new ideas into the classroom. One administrator from southwest Virginia states, “I know nothing about global awareness. We’re SOL awareness (personal communication with district personnel 2) (sic).” This administrator was emphasizing the importance he/she places on the standards, and the lack of importance he/she places on educating the youth on the topic of globalization and cultural awareness. He/she is an excellent administrator; however, the focus on SOL’s has resulted from excessive emphasis on mandated standards. This idea was supported by another administrator from the region, who states, “The problem lies in the change of thinking or attitude of the teachers who have grown up in the old system (personal communication with district personnel 3).” Until the mindset of our educational leaders change, anti-progressive trends will continue.
Schools have been slow to change teaching methods to incorporate these issues further into the curriculum. A local administrator sums up the lack of globalization education throughout southwest Virginia, stating, “Students in rural schools seem to lack the basics of geography. They seldom know where they are, much less where other countries are. Since our area lends itself to isolation, we are often culturally deprived and see no need to learn of other cultures. Up until a few years ago, cultural differences were not a focal point in classroom instruction. It was geared to American children only. With the influx of Hispanic and Asian students, cultural diversity has taken on an added importance. …Rural schools are reluctant to change, and are oftentimes left out due to lack of funding or resources. The mind-set of educational administration in the rural schools is to give them the basics, and that will suffice. Of course, the parents accept this as the way education should be, and do not demand more for their children (personal communication with district personnel 3).”
Students need to understand global issues and to be able to relate to other cultures both inside and outside of their borders if they are to thrive in the 21st century. Throughout the region, the schools are often the centerpiece of community activities. There has, as of late, been an economic shift as rural communities begin to rely more heavily on national and international markets: in many other areas, the sense of community identity is diminishing, but this is not as prevalent in southwest Virginia communities. The mere mention of consolidation, or closing a school, sends residents of rural communities into a state of uneasiness or panic. It is obvious that most residents want the best for their community, and this means the best education possible. The only way to offer the best education is to prepare our students to work within an ever-changing, ever-expanding economic paradigm. With America’s population becoming more diverse, it is necessary to expand curriculum in schools that are not yet experiencing the impact of these cultural differences.
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This work is licensed by Dawn Hutton under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.
Last edited by Dawn Hutton on May 17, 2009 9:34 pm -0500.
