Research Opportunities

GEBG has a strong commitment to both furthering research in the field of K-12 global education and to develop research skills amongst our network of global education practitioners, leading the work at their schools. GEBG works to support emerging and practitioner research in the field, and curates relevant findings to improve student learning and empower global educators.

Action Research Fellows

Since 2021, GEBG has offered a professionally facilitated fellowship open to educators at GEBG member schools. This year-long fellowship allowed GEBG Action Research Fellows to learn about action research and execute a research project to improve global education practice at their schools, while learning from and with a cohort of peers.

Topics for Fellows:

The Action Research Fellows program focuses on global competence development at the K-12 level. Topics might include Assessing Student Global Competence Development, or Faculty Professional Learning for Global Competence Development. 

Benefits for Fellows include

  • a deeper understanding of the topic through exploring a curated set of research and tools;
  • leadership skill development through using action research to explore a complex challenge;
  • structures to support designing and implementing a new or pilot program in the topic area;
  • the opportunity to present and/or publish insights on the topic
  • individual feedback and support from the facilitator and ongoing community from a small cohort of peers.
Read about the action research experience in this blog post

Commitment from Fellows:

This program provides training in graduate level research methods, leadership and professional growth, in addition to mentorship and personalized feedback. The body of work produced by each fellow is meant to further their own practice, the programming at their institution, and the GEBG community. 

Fellows will meet virtually for 90 minutes once a month from October-June, every third Thursday at 3:30-5PM Pacific // 6:30-8PM Eastern.

 The cost of participation is $975. As a non-profit, GEBG offers this kind of opportunity to member schools at well below cost. 

Facilitator:

Dr. Clare Sisisky is a postdoctoral research fellow and adjunct faculty at the Klingenstein Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, where her research focuses on immersive learning, climate action curriculum, and global citizenship education. She is the Executive Director of GEBG and earned her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Applications due August 30, 2024

Apply to the 2024-25 fellow's program here

2023-24 Fellows and Topics

Throughout the school year 2023-2024, a cohort of GEBG Action Research Fellows designed and implemented a wide range of research projects at their schools. We would like to congratulate the following Fellows who worked on their research throughout the last school year and we are pleased to share their research topics. Many of them were able to share their research findings with their own school communities during the back-to-school season, at our annual conference, and have plans for continuing to use action research as a tool for furthering global education at their schools.

Patricia Muumba

First Grade Teacher, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (MA, USA)

 

  • Inquiry Topic: Does the use of maps and embedded geography curriculum into literacy units support first grade students’ development of curiosity about the world beyond their school and community?

Amber Hecker

Outdoor Leadership Coordinator and Middle School Educator, Cape Henry Collegiate School (VA, USA)

 

  • Inquiry Topic: How do faculty members define, understand, and incorporate global competence into their teaching at Cape Henry Collegiate? What are they interested in learning more about?

Luis Lopez-Febres

Global Studies Coordinator; Social Studies Teacher, Theodore Roosevelt High School, District of Columbia Public Schools (Washington DC, USA)

 

  • Inquiry Topic: How does participating in the Global Studies Showcase influence students’ curiosity as demonstrated by their global awareness and critical thinking skills?

Gillian Johnson

Director of Global Education, Spanish Teacher, The Pingry School (NJ, USA)

 

  • Inquiry Topic: What do Pingry students learn through hosting students from international partner schools? Does this impact their intercultural development?

Tommy Hattori

Director of Global Education, Chadwick School (CA, USA)

 

  • Inquiry Topic: Belonging in Global Program: How can we better support students and families on financial aid in global programming?/li>

Angelina Ferrari-Segovia

Global Learning Operations Associate, Charlotte Country Day School (NC, USA)

 

  • Inquiry Topic: How, if at all, is the pre-departure curriculum equipping students with the mindset and skills necessary to communicate across cultural differences and to show respect for the communities they are visiting?

Taryn Alston

English Teacher, Miami Country Day School (FL, USA)

 

  • Inquiry Topic: How do different methods for 6th grade English compare in how students’ report global competencies related to empathy development, including whether or not guest speakers and videos compare with in-depth reading of a book?

Kendra Sisserson

Director of Global Studies, The Pennington School (NJ, USA)

 

Laura Espinel

Spanish Teacher, Tabor Academy (MA, USA)

 

Elizabeth Siarny

Director of Global Programs, York School (CA, USA)

 

  • Inquiry Topic: How, and how frequently, are educators incorporating school-wide learning outcomes related to active civic engagement and nuanced understanding of global issues inot their teaching?

Previous topics have included:

  • To what degree, and in what ways, does an integrated arts component on global experiences foster appreciation for cultural differences and instigate in students a profound curiosity about the world?

 

    • What is the evidence that as a result of ICGL Travel, the student is able to analyze and synthesize relevant evidence concerning global issues? What is the evidence that as a result of ICGL Travel, the student can recognize and articulate an understanding of differences and perspectives other than their own?

 

    • How do global travel programs increase listening skills among Upper School students?

 

    • When teaching global studies in a strictly online capacity, what factors outside of the immediate curriculum need to be taken into account to maximise opportunities for high school students to develop cross-cultural communication skills?

 

    • Do students report that the pedagogical design of Brewster’s Global Scholar Program provides meaningful, authentic opportunities for learners to demonstrate growth toward the propensity to take action in service of collective well-being and sustainable development?

 

    • How does our school’s thematic approach to global issues impact students’ self-reflections on global competencies for each theme (i.e. climate, conservation, waste, and energy).

 

    • Identifying the characteristics, skills and mindset of globally competent educators in the context of Sacred Heart Education.

 

  • How and if SenseMaker®, a cloud-based research platform rooted in a science-based approach drawing on anthropology, neuroscience, and complex adaptive systems theory, might be an effective tool in building understanding of student journeys of self-discovery relative to the traits outlined in Collegiate’s Portrait of a Graduate.

Benchmark Data and Analysis Reports

GEBG frequently publishes data reports on topics relevant to global education at GEBG member schools. Member schools have access to these reports in the GEBG Resource Library as well as through the GEBG Listserv which distributes them. Benchmark data from both GEBG and partner organizations is also included in our annual magazine Interconnected every year.

Interconnected

Every year, GEBG publishes new research in the field of global education as well as research reviews by educators in our annual magazine Interconnected.