Two movies helped to shape my adolescent dreams:Gidget Goes to the U.N. and Sabrina. In my teen years I had visions of international travel, world peace, and looking like Audrey Hepburn. Well, I have travelled a lot! Global issues have always been fascinating to me. My college degree combined the study of five foreign languages and international relations. I dreamed of being an ambassador. That dream eventually morphed into becoming a school leader in a school where the good work of dedicated insightful teachers is shaping the future of our youth and our world.
A shared planet! Local interactions generating global trends and global trends being adapted for local contexts - capture the essence of the term, "glocalization," a new word coined by British sociologist Roland Robertson. Global education is fast becoming a "must do" in Independent Schools.
The National Association of Independent Schools has written the following to ensure that our students are prepared for the 21st century: "NAIS's Schools of the Future" focuses primarily on global and environmental education and on how technology can enhance the learning process.
At St. Paul's, we have brought this new mandate to the forefront through our partnership with the NOCDC (New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council). Twice now, and with several more visits to come, our campus has been populated with international leaders sent to New Orleans by the U.S. State Department. Our students, from Little Saints through 8th grade, are learning "citizen diplomacy" as they host international visitors. To date, the visitors to our campus have been educators and journalists representing the following countries: Bangladesh, India, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Zambia, Ukraine, Ecuador, Croatia, Oman, Afghanistan, Armenia, Mauritania, Greece, Estonia, Egypt, Nepal, Montenegro, Nigeria, Serbia, Poland, Peru, Taiwan, Uruguay, Nicaragua, China, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso? It is a landlocked country in West Africa. I had to look that one up!
Our guests have observed and participated in our classrooms, danced and sang to "We Are Family" in our Media lab, participated in Q&A sessions with our Lower and Middle School students, signed our International Peace Arch in the garden, played on our play yard with the students at recess, and tasted New Orleans delicacies. Our enthusiasm, hospitality, and our experience with sustainable development and disaster recovery have made St. Paul's a favorite destination for the program directors.
As a school, we are living my dream of being ambassadors to future world leaders! And, as an Independent School of the Future, St. Paul's is embracing glocalization one handshake at a time.