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If education is solely about preparing young people for the future, then they are being sold short of the knowledge, the capabilities and the skills they already possess – so too the impact they are capable of making right now. 2019 was a prime example of the power of youth, with 16-yearold Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg being named Time Magazine’s person of the year, eight-year-old Texan toy reviewer Ryan Kaji becoming the highest earner on YouTube with an annual income of US $37 million, and then 17-year-old musician Billie Eilish nominated for six Grammy Awards for her genre-defying debut album. And let’s not forget the countless young people who campaigned for LGBT rights, gun control, Indigenous sovereignty, mental Students from Canterbury Primary on a trip to Parliament
Teach humans not subjects
Brendan Hitchens offers a perspective on education for a changing world
House, Canberra, Australia. health advocacy, gender equality and immigration, leading to changing policy, laws, minds and thinking. The sage words of US academic and anthropologist Margaret Mead have never rung truer: ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has’. So-called Generation Z are not only engaged; they are empowered, and education must react accordingly.
With another decade of the 21st century upon us, jobs across all sectors of the workforce are already beginning to look drastically different. A changing economy, growing populations, environmental degradation and the automation of roles are but a few of the issues we continue to face. As
Greta Thunberg and Billie Eilish are two examples of the power of youth.
has been said many times, we are preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist. These new challenges present new opportunities but, as a world, we have never been better connected, nor better educated to tackle these problems.
As most professions are evolving at a rapid pace, so too must education. It’s time to say goodbye to the ‘sage on the stage’/‘chalk and talk’ era of teaching, the factory line of graduates, the rote learning and memorisation of text books, and one-size-fits-all standardised testing. Instead education across the world must utilise student voice and agency, and focus on connectedness, collaboration and co-creation. One such way to do this is through the medium of global citizenship.
The Victorian Department of Education and Training in Australia defines global citizenship as ‘an awareness of our interconnectedness with people and environments around the globe and their contribution to a global society and economy’. According to the Department, which referenced it in their Framework for Improving Student Outcomes: ‘when students develop a sense of global citizenship, they learn to respect key universal values such as peace, sustainability and upholding the rights and dignity of all people. Global citizenship programs develop students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and competencies. Effective schools draw on real life intercultural experiences which deepen students’ understanding of the world and their place in it’. Global citizenship education provides the opportunity for students to learn about real-world issues in real-world contexts. It encourages them to take on different perspectives and to make informed decisions. It also allows students to see the impact of their learning and that it is not happening in isolation. Through integrated and inquiry learning, students can learn big-picture ideas such as identity and diversity, peace and conflict, and globalisation and interdependence.
Students of today are technologically savvy, critical and divergent thinkers who are more and more becoming active and informed citizens. They want to know not only what they are learning, but why they are learning it. Student voice allows them to raise their views, concerns and ideas, as well as to share their experiences and ambitions. Through voice and agency, students can initiate school-wide campaigns, such as rubbish-free lunches, a recycling program or water-conserving drink taps. They can extend this learning to participate actively in not only their schools, but also communities, locally and globally – be it field trips, camps, study tours, volunteering with community groups, sister-school relationships or environmental education. They can amplify their voice through social media, eLearning tools and constantly advancing technologies, such as a school radio station or podcast, a student magazine, or a YouTube video channel.
Global citizenship, and consequentially contextual learning, address the key skills that many educational theorists have described as the 4Cs: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication. Using the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals and integrated into existing curriculum areas such as science, mathematics, literacy and the humanities, students can learn about and begin to tackle the world’s biggest problems as defined by the United Nations. One successful example of this is The Foundation of Young Australians’ $20 boss program, in which they encourage students to create a social enterprise that will have a positive impact in their local community and abroad. 2019 projects included Melba Secondary College students in Victoria running an event selling handmade food products to their community, with all proceeds going to refugees in South East Asia; a student from Scotch College in Adelaide who created a digital photography company that is completely carbon-neutral; and students from Tregeagle Public School in New South Wales who addressed food wastage by collecting and using seconds from local fruit farmers to make and sell condiments. In the words of the Foundation: ‘young people are ambitious, creative and capable of rethinking the world and solving tomorrow’s problems today. And can do it all with a social conscience that will let them build a better world in the process’.
With great hope and the future in mind, next time someone asks you what you teach, tell them ‘humans’. Because education is so much more than a subject. Education may be a basic human right, but being a teacher is a privilege. The chance to shape and inspire young people each and every day is a rare opportunity, and one that should never be taken for granted. So, here’s to our students: the artists and the activists, the explorers and the entrepreneurs, the creators and the change makers. Here’s to the here and now.
