Guest Post

10 Steps to Promote Global Citizenship in the Classroom

Our world has become quite a global village, and this globalization is only increasing day by day. Human beings are now more interconnected than ever, making globalization a critical 21st century skill in education.

With this transformation in the global environment, classrooms must shift their focus to accommodate the change. Teaching empathy, promoting acceptance, and celebrating diversity should be your students’ most essential 21st century skills. This step-by-step guide will help you achieve this in your classroom!

Steps to Promote Global Citizenship in the Classroom

Step 1 – Encourage Personal Branding

The most important thing for a global classroom in 21st century education is developing a sense of acceptance and empathy towards all people. An excellent way to do this is by encouraging your students to create their very own forms of personal branding. This can be done online in communities like Level Up Village that celebrate and promote your student’s individuality.

Encourage your students to discuss their personal characteristics with the classroom and make sure each child is celebrated for who they are.

Step 2 – Incorporate Elements of Acceptance and Diversity

Instead of simply teaching your students about different cultures and traditions, allow them the opportunity to take the lead. Let the classroom become an inter-teaching space for a few hours as your students teach each other about their perspectives and cultures. Not only does it create a more profound sense of acceptance and diversity, but it also allows your students to become leaders for a change and take ownership of being global citizens.

Step 3 – Introduce Global Tales in the Curriculum

The power of storytelling is most evident in a global classroom in the 21st century. Through storytelling, you can change mindsets, alter perspectives, and allow the holistic development of your students to become empathetic global citizens.

Try to incorporate global tales in your curriculum by recommending books that speak of diversity and have various characters from different ethnicities. This can be an important part of your Global Citizen Series. You should also make sure that your library is stocked with books that promote global citizenship and diversity.

Step 4 – Organize Pen Pals

Pen pals might have been a thing of the past, but why not bring them back to promote global citizenship in your students? Encourage your students to communicate with young individuals from other cultures. Signing up for global connections platforms like Level Up Village is an excellent way for your students to find like-minded people of their age group to communicate with. It creates a harmonious global classroom, with young students understanding other cultures and developing an appreciation for diversity.

Step 5 – Encourage Volunteer Work

You don’t have to take your students worldwide to give them a global perspective. It can easily be done within your community through volunteer work. Volunteering is an essential 21st century skill for students as it offers them exposure to people from different walks of life. It can teach them valuable lessons about civil service and acceptance within their neighborhoods.

Step 6 – Assign Globally Mindful Projects

No matter what subject you teach, always be globally mindful when you assign projects and plan out extracurricular activities. This promotes out-of-the-box thinking and challenges your students to step out of their comfort zones to explore all that the world offers.

Assigning global projects allows students to read upon different aspects of other societies and cultures. For example, a leading international school in singapore encourages interaction and engagement with world happenings and occurrences so that children are able to not only be aware of the situation at hand, but are also able to follow international developments.

Step 7 – Arrange Field Trips

Try to arrange field trips to museums, concerts, and other places where your students can be exposed to the art and culture of different civilizations. You can also arrange an Audio Visual class and take them on virtual tours of cities around the world, so they learn to appreciate the beauty that lies in diversity.

Step 8 – Host a Cultural Day

Most schools have Spanish clubs, French clubs, etc., but very few bring them together in a big event celebrating all nationalities. Why not create a Global Citizens Series by planning a cultural day on which everyone gets to celebrate their roots and have a great time?

Step 9 – Visit International Festivals

If your school is located in a culturally diverse neighborhood, you already have a significant advantage. Make the most of your location by taking your students to international festivals and celebrations. It could be an event that brings together people of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. You can also encourage them to participate in religious and cultural festivals to create a deeper sense of community in them.

Step 10 – Share with the World

Lastly, encourage your students to share what they have learned with the people around them. Sharing is yet another important 21st century skill in education as it allows students to become kinder and more compassionate. You can also lead by example and put up your strategies for turning students into global citizens online for other teachers to try out!