Growing Global Citizens (GGC)
Karen Noble, Professional Learning Coordinator, Asia Education Foundation
Growing Global Citizens (GGC) is a year-long professional learning course commissioned and funded by the South Australian Department for Education to support the implementation of the Department’s International Education Strategy 2019-2029.
Targeted at school leaders, the course facilitates the participants’ inquiry into national and international research, whole school approaches, curriculum connections and examples of best practice in intercultural education.
Adopting a student-centred approach, workshop attendees are guided through an action research model to support contextualising the development of the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes of global citizens in students, teachers and the wider school community.
Facilitated by AEFs, Karen Noble (Professional Learning Coordinator) Chris Higgins (Deputy Director (Acting)) and Education Consultant Dr. Bo Hu, two cohorts of South Australian principals and school leaders from across primary and secondary schools met at the Adelaide Oval Conference Centre for two days of shared learning, connecting, and networking.
The first cohort (2021) of 25 participants completed their final workshop on Tuesday 15th and explored the need for program evaluation, methods of evidencing learning and the use of data to support the growth and sustainability of their final projects.
These participants will reconvene at the end of May to present their journeys to Department leaders, and the second cohort participants and share their successes, challenges, and inspiring stories of developing their students as global citizens.
Image: Using Scrumbler, participants investigated learning engagements to explore how evidence of intercultural learning by students could be gathered. Credit: Scrumbler, taken March 2022.
The second cohort of 23 school leaders completed their first workshop in the series of five on Wednesday the 16th.
With a diverse range of lived experiences and professional understandings, participants explored global, national, and local frameworks to uncover the rationale and connect to their own moral purpose as educators within the sphere of global citizenship.
Concepts of culture were unpacked, and participants spent time reflecting on their own cultural perceptions and potential biases. Participants collaboratively developed a guiding set of capabilities needed for leading a globally competent school and set personal goals to leverage strengths and develop areas of improvement.
At the end of the day, we asked participants what we as facilitators should keep doing.
Keep…
“Doing what you are doing, it was great”.
“Teaching theory and practice”.
“The enthusiasm and moving us around”
“It school focused and practical”
The 2022 Growing Global Citizens (GGC) Course in South Australia is funded by the South Australian Department for Education and implemented by the Asia Education Foundation at Asialink, The University of Melbourne.