The Global Belonging Program (GBP) is a youth education program for 13-16 year olds that brings them together virtually to connect with peers, youth advocates and mentors from across New South Wales and internationally through Asia Education’s established networks. With diaspora here in Australia and our networks in 23 Asia-Pacific countries to engage in learning about identity, belonging, culture, citizenship, global citizenship and global issues. The program is designed to deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of culture, identity, belonging and citizenship. It explores what cultures is, different cultural perspectives, what identity is, how identity is formed, how these relate to our sense of belonging and to develop an appreciation for diversity and inclusion.
Delivered over 1-5 days online to explicitly explore culture, identity, belonging, and the link to the skills, knowledge, attitudes, values and actions needed to be an effective, active local and global citizen. This incorporates all of the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities from the curriculum as well as many curriculum alignments from the learning domains, but specifically supports intercultural understanding, critical thinking, social and ethical capability and wellbeing. The participants will use metacognitive strategies, design-thinking, inquiry-based learning, project based learning and visible thinking strategies to promote their critical and creative thinking, intercultural understanding, personal and social capability and ethical understanding while exploring their place in the world.
The primary objective of this program is to connect students from a range of backgrounds and cultures from across the geographical regions of New South Wales with diaspora and peers to explore what it means to belong, how our sense of belonging is shaped and how we as individuals and as a collective can take action to help ourselves and others feel a sense of belonging. This is through an experiential manner as students meet with each other from a range of backgrounds and share their own experiences and perspectives.
The program includes a content and knowledge focus on these areas and connections to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing. Students explore how a sense of belonging, identity and culture transcend the global, regional, national and local contexts and the importance of belonging for wellbeing through the exploration of UN SDG 3.
Multiple pedagogical approaches are used to ensure the program foster skills and dispositions that are also essential for the future world of work, and for success in education including; critical and creative thinking, collaboration, communication, intercultural understanding and ethical reasoning.
Please note that we charge a service fee to deliver these forums.
Contact us for more information or find is in the New South Wales external provider catalogue of approved programs under the wellbeing and sense of belonging theme.
The AEF Global Belonging program is available as a quality-assured program in the NSW Department of Education’s Student Wellbeing external programs catalogue in the theme/themes of Behaviour/Sense of belonging.