Global Education Partnerships: Empowering Students to Become Agents of Change

• In Event: Youth Essential Workforce Skills and Engagement in Climate Action Locally and Globally through Virtual Exchange Programs

Proposal

International education, as an integral part of the curriculum, is a crucial shift in our approach to education. Unlocking this next educational paradigm creates real world opportunities to connect inclusive education across continents. Through virtual and in-person project based international education, my students have engaged in collaboration across cultures. They are learning to value and understand diversity, to cultivate teamwork by communicating effectively and most importantly, take action to solve our world’s most pressing global challenges. Their involvement has resulted in drastic changes in their perspectives including how to succeed in a global economy and contribute as global citizens. Their focus has changed from not only succeeding in school assessments and curriculum but engaging in real world collaborative projects between peoples of diverse cultures working together to better understand each other's perspectives and meet the challenges of living in a 21st century world.

These projects center on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), adopted by the United Nations in 2015. The 17 goals cover three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. Through the World Smarts Program (IREX) my students engaged in a life-changing STEM challenge (US and Ghana) to create sustainable solutions as a response to their communities' challenges around SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities. The international team developed an innovative STEM prototype to recycle plastic into 3D filament. Together they interviewed community members, developed mind maps, created problem and solution statements and collaboratively built the prototype that they had designed.

Following World Smarts, my students engaged with 58 students from nine countries as members of the Sejong International Youth Forum, held in Sejong, South Korea, Living in Harmony with Nature - Preserving Ecosystems and Biodiversity. For three days, these young emerging leaders listened to speeches from industry activists and shared their current actions related to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation in their communities related to SDG 14 Life below Water and SDG 15 Life on Land. In the closing ceremony, each country’s representative spoke in their native language jointly declaring how they will take action to change sustainable practices and engage their individual communities when they return home. The power of emerging youth leaders to build worldwide consensus across the globe may be our strongest ally to generate power through collective action and challenge the status quo. Another world is possible!

How can we fully prepare students to take action for positive global change and collaborate effectively in our interconnected world? We will discuss best practices for forming successful international student partnerships, along with tips for how to integrate global education into the classroom. Along the way, we will explore how to integrate resources, platforms, and tools that enable our creative and visionary response to 21st century globally significant questions. We will connect, extend and challenge curricula with innovative ideas to unlock the next paradigm of engaging in STEM and sustainable development issues. Through collective learning and action, we can empower our students to become global agents of change and bring about a more just and inclusive education.

Author

• Mary Jo West, Falls Church City Public Schools