![]() And the reason is that it falls between two of the subjects that we usually teach,” said Emma Humphries, the chief education officer at iCivics, a nonprofit that promotes civics education and provides educational resources for teachers. “The vast majority of teachers don’t consider themselves subject matter experts in the area of global issues or foreign policy. One needs to understand why the world matters, how it works, how foreign policy affects the world,” Haass said.īut international relations are notoriously hard to teach. “In order to be an informed citizen, one needs to be globally literate. The group also publishes curriculum and simulation resources for high school and college educators. One is to explain: Something that’s happening across the world in Europe, why does this matter to some young person in the United States, or to the United States?” said Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit think tank that focuses on international relations and foreign policy. “The crisis is a great opportunity for teachers to do a few things. ![]() With Russian troops arrayed at the border of Ukraine, and President Joe Biden promising sanctions if Russia invades, teachers may find themselves fielding the same questions that students ask when international conflicts, war, or humanitarian crises make the news: Why is this happening? And why is-or why isn’t-the U.S. Discussing world affairs, and the United States’ role in them, requires both historical knowledge and the ability to stay on top of shifting news. “It’s kind of scary because it’s fluid,” she said. But even within those classes, Coombs said, teachers often choose to avoid discussing current international events. Just over half of all states require a world history or geography course for graduation, according to the Education Commission of the States. Even so, Coombs acknowledges that classes like hers may be more of the exception than the rule. is going to do, and then form an opinion thereafter.” “They can keep a pulse on this situation and wonder what the U.S. ![]() The conflict grabbed students’ interest, and kids left Coombs’ class with “enough knowledge to care,” she said. And they raised important questions, too, that are playing out in real time, such as: Why would Russia send troops to the Ukraine border, if it’s saying it’s not going to invade? ![]() Some wrote about NATO and the history of military alliances, others explored the idea of international borders, and a few made links back to the fall of the Soviet Union. ![]()
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