Carl F. Hobert is a clinical instructor in the Boston University School of Education. He also directs the Axis of Hope Center for International Conflict Management and Prevention, a Boston-based nonprofit organization that offers conflict-resolution simulation workshops for students and educators in middle and high schools worldwide.
Although we live in a pluralistic culture and are aware of an interdependent world where people everywhere are working together to save the planet, Americans still persist in the erroneous views that "West is best" and that we lead the world in everything that really matters. It will be up to the teachers and concerned citizenry of today to improve the global IQ of American youth.
Drawing on 30 years of teaching, developing curricula, and running conflict resolution workshops, Hobert presents five pillars of raising global IQ including language and cultural fluency. He recommends starting foreign languages as early as kindergarten and offering Mandarin and Arabic in addition to the standards of French and Spanish. Schools also need to develop programs in technology and media literacy to help students bridge geographic and social divides and connect with students from around the world. A third pillar is an emphasis on service learning and experiential education.
Helping youth to prepare themselves for a global world of diversity and change is a noble and commendable goal. But it cannot be implemented without a societal acknowledgement of global IQ. This sturdy book by Carl Hobart is a wake-up call to the challenges which lie ahead of us.
