Economics is a subject that offers unlimited opportunities for incorporating multicultural content and analysis of economic concepts from multiple perspectives. There is almost no lesson in which we don't dig into international perspectives and comparisons and explore the reasons for the differences. While in Macroeconomics this approach might be more obvious since it's focused on the whole economies and analysis of demographics, economic issues and policies of different countries, Microeconomics offers similar opportunities when analyzing markets and the reasons why people behave in a certain way. We explore how a particular macroeconomic policy was crucial at the time of the Great Depression in different countries. We analyze why is the price of one good different in different countries. We identify the most famous global oligopolies and analyze their strategies in holding the dominance in the market. We research how foreign economists came up with the most important concepts in Economics, and how those ideas could differ in different contexts. We prove that monks are still rational when they decide to devote their life to prayers. We find that there are economic implications of the development of China on the rest of the world and we research the influence of the world on China. In everything we learn, we show respect and understanding of the diversity of China, Asia, and the whole world.
Learning about other countries, cultures and their history makes our students more open-minded and culturally sensitive. They become open to accepting different opinions, decisions, and approaches, and this is one of the most important aims of international education. Besides that, taking A2 Economics course means that they are only a year away from moving abroad and having to adapt to the new environment, culture, and views. This is the most stressful period of their school life, and they are eager to learn about the country they will move to. This motivates them to understand more about the views and values of the countries far away from China, and prepare for their bachelor's studies and life abroad. As the global citizens of the 21st century, these four years in an international education are crucial for adopting those skills.
There are many ways to see their progress and level of cultural competence in my Economics classroom. This is expressed through class discussions and debates we have on international perspectives of the key economic problems. The quality of their arguments, ability to justify different views and choices and open-mindedness are easily demonstrated in those group activities. In addition to these, there is a variety of summative assessments in the form of project-based learning, and their task is to explore the experiences of China and foreign countries. These activities bring so many benefits to their learning and make them true global learners of the 21st century. Finally, their CIE exams are checking not only for application of economic models and theory, but for evaluation and analysis in an international context, and provision of as many examples as possible. As teachers, we are responsible for providing opportunities multicultural content and alternative perspectives to the problems on a regular basis and checking for their skills and perspectives using a variety of formative and summative assessments.
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