The Benefits of a ‘Glocalized’ Curriculum for Multilingual Learners

In today’s interconnected world, schools with multilingual students face the challenge of balancing national curriculum requirements with the growing demand for international education. This reflects the broader tension between globalization and regionalization, as countries grapple with the interplay of global interconnectedness and the preservation of local identity.

The Glocalized Approach

The concept of a “glocalized curriculum” has emerged as a response to these complex dynamics. By weaving together global perspectives with local contexts, schools can create learning experiences that are both relevant and culturally authentic to their diverse student body. This approach emphasises the importance of contextual relevance, community engagement, and the transformative power of effective pedagogy.

Why Glocalization is Important

In a world where issues affect all of us in different ways, there is a strong argument for glocalizing international curricula, which provides the opportunity to enrich students’ learning experiences in a positive way. By translating world concepts into local settings, schools can develop the global competency and cultural awareness of learners. Educators should also consider how and why we teach diverse narratives across the curriculum in order to promote cultural diversity within schools.

The Role of Pedagogy

A well-designed curriculum must be brought to life through effective pedagogy. Teachers play a crucial role in creating engaging and culturally responsive learning environments. By understanding the unique needs and interests of their students, educators can foster critical thinking, intercultural understanding, and a sense of global citizenship.

Understanding and integrating learners’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds into both curriculum and teaching practices requires the fostering of a critical consciousness for both learners and teachers. The opportunities for learner challenge and choice through engagement with and participation in learning, the interactions between learners and teachers, the type of feedback and nature of assessment should all scaffold around the learners’ cultural experience and prior knowledge.

The Benefits

1. Cultural Empowerment: A glocalized curriculum exposes students to diverse perspectives and experiences from both local and global contexts, thus enabling them to foster a sense of curiosity about different cultures and global issues. This helps learners to build their own understanding of world events, develop global competency, and equips them with the ability to think about values, take learning into the real world, value similarities and differences and practise cultural empathy.

• Preparing learners for global citizenship: In the shifting landscape of globalization and regionalisation, it is more important than ever to nurture and enhance students’ cultural competence, critical thinking and cross-cultural communication skills, and use these to work together against issues such as climate change, racism, economic injustice, and sustainability. Adopting a glocalized curriculum offers students the opportunity to practise these skills as they navigate real-life situations in their local context.

• Providing a relevant and authentic education: A glocalized curriculum strives to be both relevant and authentic by the integration of local examples, resources, case studies and real-world applications which echo learners’ linguistic, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. When taught through a culturally responsive pedagogical lens, educators understand the importance of nurturing a relationship with, and having a social-emotional connection to, the student in order to create a safe space for learning.

As international schools navigate the complexities of the modern world, adopting a glocalized curriculum becomes increasingly essential. By balancing global perspectives with local contexts and employing effective pedagogical strategies, schools can empower learners to navigate global issues, engage with diverse cultures, and contribute meaningfully to their communities.

Read the International Curriculum Association’s ‘The Warp and Weft of Glocalised Curriculum and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy’ whitepaper here.

Learn more about how you can ‘glocalise’ your school’s curriculum here.

Sarah Blackmore is director of the International Curriculum Association.