Written By: LeeAnne Lavender, Inspire Citizens Storyteller
For PreK-12 educators in 2024/25, global citizenship education is a natural and vital component to teaching and learning.
Providing context for our students about the “why” of learning, and how to apply knowledge and skills to real local and global issues, increases student engagement and learning. At the same time, it empowers students to become the positive and purposeful changemakers that our world needs.
UNESCO actively promotes global citizenship education “to help learners understand the world around them and work together to fix the big problems that affect everyone, no matter where they're from.” From the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to local issues, assets and needs, when we equip students to identify issues and know how to act in response, we bring purpose into everything we do in our classrooms.
AMISA’s Executive Director, Dr. Dereck Rhoads, is an advocate for global citizenship education, and sees it as a foundational aspect of what it means to teach well in 2024/25. He recently wrote: “One tangible way AMISA is demonstrating its commitment to living out our mission is through an increased focus and support of Global Citizenship. In fact, we continue to align our financial approaches to our ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) philosophy as one tangible way we are working at sustainability through our own Global Citizenship efforts.”
AMISA is teaming up with Inspire Citizens to provide a tangible way for educators to increase their capacity for global citizenship education this year. Inspire Citizens offers a full Global Citizenship Certificate (GCC), as well as individual courses to support the professional learning of all educators. And this year, AMISA educators can claim a 10 percent discount on any of the courses, or on the full GCC program.
The GCC is an impactful learning experience for educators. Serene Ottes, an educator at the American School of the Hague, took the course last year and says: “I had no idea a course could be like this - stimulating, provocative, inspiring and practical. Usually when a course is over, I might be able to continue to use 1-2 resources. With this one, I’ll be able to continue to delve into the resources and keep using them to inspire, refine and improve my education focus.”
Sara Gregson, a grade 1 teacher and service learning coordinator at the International School of Kigali in Rwanda, says “you’re a part of a community of educators [in the GCC] working towards a more sustainable and just future through education” and that “there are so many resources in the program that I was able to use and implement in my classroom right away.”
The GCC aims to equip educators to think deeply and critically about our world, and to consider how to help students investigate and understand the complexities of local and global issues, as well as personal and collective well-being.
If you’re interested in learning more about the GCC, head to the Inspire Citizens website for details about modules and themes, and take advantage of the AMISA discount when registering for a course this year.