Jenny recalls that the parent response to the shift in Chinese language instruction was a little uncertain at first. In a context that has long respected parent expectations for a rigorous curriculum, the updates were viewed a little skeptically. “Now, I almost never receive any questions,” explains Jenny. “Parents see their kids differently - they observe their children not only learning language skills but also thinking about their responsibilities in the world.”
Read MoreIt’s a moment every educator cherishes: sunshine is streaming through the windows as a fourth grader comes running into the classroom. He nearly trips over his own feet as he can’t wait to share with his teacher (and anyone else within earshot!) that, “We DID it! We’re HELPING!”
Read MoreAs anyone involved in the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program knows, there’s a compass built in to every activity that eventually leads to a meaningful destination: The PYP Exhibition. It’s the ultimate culminating event and a public demonstration of each student’s commitment to the PYP learner profile attributes. Progressive school educational teams lean into the PYPx as their chance to promote the best outcomes among learners who are capable of showing great empathy as they learn to engage with the world around them.
Read MoreAs a former classroom teacher who regularly tethered her instruction to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Middle School Principal Jennifer Ivory’s first administrative steps were informed by advanced concepts she developed from Inspire Citizens.
Read MoreTwo passionate educators from Frankfurt International School (FIS), Mariko Jungnitsch and Mette Sarstedt, have been on a collaborative journey to reshape their 8th-grade English Language Acquisition (ELA) curriculum. Their inspiration has been sparked by the Global Citizenship Certificate (GCC) course with Inspire Citizens.
Read MoreInspire Citizens partnered with AISA (the Association of International Schools in Africa) in September to facilitate a 3-part student leadership series that involved 115 student leaders from dozens of AISA schools.
Read MoreYoung learners at COJOWA (Colegio Jorge Washington in Cartagena, Colombia), are embarking on a journey to raise awareness about water conservation, and their enthusiasm is nothing short of inspiring. Partnering with Inspire Citizens, the school's preschool initiative, known as the Maternal Water Project, is making waves in early childhood education.
Read MoreMany educators and leaders in international schools around the globe recognize the value and urgency of global citizenship education (GCE) and the need to empower PreK-12 students to engage in authentic community engagement and active local and global citizenship. In this article, check out Inspire Citizens’ Co-Founder Aaron Moniz’s recipe for sustainable all-school global citizenship.
Read More2023 marked the rebirth of the Primary Years Program (PYP) Exhibition at the Canadian International School of Beijing (CIS). After three years of Covid restrictions, the grade 5 students were able to host an exhibition on campus that could be shared with parents, community members and other schools. And did CIS ever run with this opportunity!
Read MoreInspire Citizens has been offering eco-photography workshops and online courses for a few years, and this past month our facilitator Ivy Yan introduced a week-long experiential learning option through Seoul Foreign School’s (SFS) Discovery Week program.
Read MoreGrade 2 students at the Colegio Jorge Washington (COJOWA) in Cartagena, Colombia recently celebrated stories with peers from a local partner school as a capstone for a peace project for narrative writing. The stories that the COJOWA and local students wrote were powerful, reflecting the deep impact of connecting with others through deep, compassionate listening.
Read MoreGrade 12 Social Studies and Spanish students at the Colegio Jorge Washington School (COJOWA) in Cartagena, Colombia, have created a meaningful partnership that will span multiple years. From their service learning experience in class, they have seeded a reciprocal partnership founded on deep listening and service as action.
Read MoreAt the end of March, grade 7 students at the Colegio Jorge Washington School (COJOWA) in Cartagena, Colombia, embarked on a powerful learning investigation. Their goal was to learn more about SDG #5 (gender equality) in the local context; in their social studies and Spanish classes, they began reflecting, questioning and thinking about the local community. What followed was a rich learning journey involving journalism and sustainable solutions to needs related to clothing and textiles.
Read MoreGrade 5 students at the International School of Prague (ISP) were recently immersed in understanding and creating art for activism. Their “Art Attacks” were vibrant and demonstrated a deep understanding of how students can channel their creativity to create positive change.
Read MoreWhen visual art teacher Zoe Coughlan learned about Empathy to Impact, she found herself on a journey of transformation. She now designs her courses so that the first unit in each grade level focuses on skills, and then the second unit offers a way to apply those skills in relation to global issues and global citizenship topics.
Read MoreA grade 6 student at Frankfurt International School takes action to “twin” toilets at her school with a community in Malawi. She is passionate about helping girls and women gain access to safe & secure sanitation facilities.
Read MoreThis past year, middle school teacher Julia Fliss expanded her focus to include the Inner Development Goals (IDGs), five categories of 23 skills and qualities of human inner development and growth. The IDGs were created as a response to the SDGs, as leaders from a variety of different sectors realized that how we think and feel impacts our ability to work towards targets for the SDGs. The IDGs encompass five broad categories of “being, thinking, relating, collaborating and acting”. Read more about how her students in Colorado are engaging with global citizenship from both inner and outer perspectives.
Read MoreColleagues Angelia Crouch and Pim Arora at the Western Academy of Beijing were playing golf one day when a casual conversation sparked the genesis of a multi-layered, interdisciplinary learning experience.
“This story starts with the grade 9/10 design team,” explains Pim. “The design team is close-knit and we were evaluating our units. There’s a design unit that focuses on clocks, where students design and create clocks. At the end of that unit, I found myself disposing of 100 clocks that students didn’t want to take home. This became a great opportunity to to rethink the unit, the more responsible use of our resources, and how me might design a learning experience around a concept that is relevant to the lives of all of us.”
Read MoreKerry Craig is the Outdoor Learning teacher at the International School of Prague (ISP) and she is thrilled to see how this new program is growing roots and gaining momentum.
“We’re looking at the Sustainable Development Goals throughout the school and we’re about to start the PYP (Primary Years Program) and MYP (Middle Years Program),” says Kerry. “It’s new at our school to use a sustainability lens at these levels and we want to do this intentionally, to create embedded and integrated learning experiences throughout the program. I can see how our Outdoor Learning program is going to play a key role.”
Read MoreThis July, Inspire Citizens is offering an Eco Photography camp for teachers, a month of fun and meaningful professional learning that will get you outside, viewing the world through a creative lens, and that will also equip you with skills to introduce your students to Eco Photography.
Ivy Yan, an Inspire Citizens and Two Birds facilitator, and Steve Sostak (co-founder of Inspire Citizens) have teamed up to create a dynamic and engaging experience for educators.
Read More
