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 EDUCATION
 In-Service Seminars  |   ITEF  |   Trade Curriculum

Education

WCIT educates the next generation through in-service workshops for teachers, an innovative trade and economics curriculum package for the classroom, presentations at schools and by serving as an ongoing resource for educators.

The International Trade Education Foundation
The Council's educational activities are carried out under the auspices of our non-profit educational group The International Trade Education Foundation (ITEF).  ITEF's mandate is to support schools and educators in their efforts to provide information on the importance of trade in our lives and to the State of Washington. 

WCIT helped launch the International Economic Summit in 2004. In 2005 it was launched in Idaho.

In-Service Serminars
As of 2001, ITEF will replace its  summer seminar with a series of in-service seminars around the state.  The seminars will be on topics of interest to teachers in a given regional area and based on geography within the state,  current topics on the national agenda such as GMO's and food safety, and ongoing issues concerning trade and poverty alleviation, the environment, technology, and so on.  As the schedules develop we will post them on the "In-Service Seminars" page.

"A New Trade Curriculum"
Additionally, in 2001 ITEF will make available to teachers around the state an exciting new trade curriculum.  The New Trade Curriculum project will feature two videos on trade, a CD-ROM, web-based resources, support materials and curricula.

The "Trade Is"  framework includes concepts such as:

• Trade in the broadest sense is and has been an integral component of the human experience since recorded time. It is the primary means by which people living in different places—both within a country and across borders—interact with each other.
  
  
• Washington produces far more of many kinds of products than can be consumed by Washington residents. Trade has a direct economic impact both on the economy of the State of Washington as a whole and on the residents of the state, whether they realize it or not.
  
  
• Trade is something that everyone participates in during their daily lives in ways that are sometimes obvious and sometimes obscure.
  
  
• There are many viewpoints expressed about a variety of specific aspects of international trade. It is important to know the facts about issues and make informed choices based on facts rather than emotion or rhetoric.
  
  
• The U.S. is just one country in a global structure of hundreds of countries. People in other countries have different customs, different cultures, different economic structures and different standards of living. When we talk about trade we need to understand and respect the cultures and traditions of other countries.
  
  
• The opportunities created by international trade include jobs for residents of our state as well as jobs for people in many other parts of the world.  
  

For order information and details about the project, visit us at www.tradeis.com.