Chapter 13: Global, Gifted, and Geography Education: Thinking Critically and Creatively in the Social Studies

A transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, global education has been incorporated into multiple content areas and, by doing so, has proved adaptable to a diversity of learning styles, strengths, and interests. Global education has a long history in social studies education and has generated a rich body of literature, research, and recommendations for learning activities that inform the work discussed in this chapter (Anderson, 1990; Gaudelli, 2013; Merryfield, 1998; Tye & Tye, 1991). More recently, work in global education and global citizenship education has included global competence education as researchers and educators examine the capacity and disposition of students to understand and act on issues of global significance (Harshman, 2016; Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). Interested in how the associated skills and pedagogical strategies come together, we focus our chapter on the pairing of global competence education and gifted education through geography instruction to illustrate how to incorporate higher-level thinking, critical thinking, and creative opportunities in a social studies classroom. The ideas included in this chapter will support educators who engage students identified as gifted and talented in de-colonizing and de-centering their worldview in order to develop global competence through human and cultural geography education (Merryfield, 2001).