Going global with project-based inquiry: Cosmopolitan literacies in practice

As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, complex global challenges necessitate cross‐cultural collaborative efforts. Thus, developing cosmopolitan literacies among students and teachers becomes ever more important. Believing that cosmopolitan literacies are central to being literate in contemporary times, the authors build on their existing project‐based inquiry model to include global themes (e.g., poverty, global water and sanitation, climate change) and cross‐cultural exchange. This theory‐into‐practice article explains the Project‐Based Inquiry Global process and six design features that enable teachers to facilitate collaborative inquiry projects with their students. As students interact during the process, they begin to practice cosmopolitan literacies by engaging in reading, writing, and inquiry with people and topics from around the world, becoming cross‐cultural difference makers.

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Authors and Contributors

Dr Hiller A. Spires

Marie Pierson Himes

Teams

New Literacies Collaborative

Projects

Project-Based Inquiry Global (PBI Global)

A collaborative, inquiry-based instructional strategy that connects students internationally through interdisciplinary inquiry projects.

Published

February 11, 2020

Resource Type

Journal Article

Published By

Friday Institute for Educational Innovation

Suggested Citation

Spires, H., Himes, M., Paul, C. & Kerkhoff, S. (2019). Going global with project-based inquiry: Cosmopolitan literacies in practice. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 63(1), 51-64.