Exploring inner & outer journeys to sustainability

This 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.

Cross-curricular Collaboration for Deep Learning

Colleagues 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.”

SL for M+S Learners, SDGsGuest UserJune 2, 2022Global Citizenship, SDGs, Secondary School

Taking it Outside: Learning in the Garden

Kerry 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.”

Eco-Photography for Teachers: A Fun & Meaningful PL Summer Experience

This 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.

Eco-Media, SDGsGuest UserMay 31, 2022Global Citizenship

Designing with Sustainability in Mind

What student wouldn’t love working in a design lab to create new products, designs and prototypes? Especially a design lab complete with multiple 3D printers and machines for working with wood, textiles, jewelry and any other product you could imagine?

Students at Seoul Foreign School in South Korea have access to state-of-the-art design labs and maker spaces, and high school teacher Neil Henderson has been working with Inspire Citizens’s Aaron Moniz to create innovative learning experiences this year.

SDGs, SL for M+S LearnersGuest UserMay 31, 2022Secondary School, International Baccalaureate, IB

Digital Storytelling for Impact

Two grade seven teachers at the International School of Bangkok used the power of collaboration to redesign a seventh grade unit about migration, and they couldn’t be happier with the results.

The teachers, Matt Piercy and Sabina Vogt, are experienced international educators and exemplary collaborators. They love working together and have had a lot of success combining their strengths and experiences to craft learning experiences for their students. When they partnered with Aaron and Scott from Inspire Citizens, that spirit of collaboration grew in exponential ways and the outcomes have exceeded expectations.

Curricular Design from Start to Finish: A Case Study

Four years ago, curriculum leaders and teachers at Concordia International School Shanghai decided they needed to overhaul the elementary school social studies curriculum. They knew they needed help for this massive task, and they called on the Inspire Citizens team to lead the charge.

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