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Global Awareness at YCIS

IN the past few years the concept of globalization has taken on new meaning. Originally, the term "global" resulted from advances in communication systems and transportation that allowed news and people to travel quickly around the globe.

Recently, we are witnessing through health, environmental and economic issues just how interdependent the world has become. The challenges of the coming years will require a new generation of young people who are internationally minded.

The international population in Shanghai is at the forefront of this trend. Many families are multicultural, moved many times, work for international companies that deal with global issues, and transfer from place to place to provide expertise to their company.

Increasingly, schools are attaching the word international to the name to reflect the fact that their students are from different countries. While this certainly is an enriching experience for children, it should not be confused with international education.

At YCIS, careful thought is given, emanating from our philosophy, to the concept of global education.

This is reinforced through current research and discussions from organizations that are in the forefront of international education such as international conferences on Early Childhood Education, the Alliance for International Education (AIE), which YCIS hosted in Shanghai two years ago, the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) and Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). Concepts vital in the future, such as global citizenship, international mindedness, inter-cultural respect, global awareness, global economics, global eco-systems, and global leadership are at the forefront of these discussions.

The fundaments of this approach to education are; understanding of one's own national or ethnic identity; appreciation of the language, culture and history of the host country (in this case China); and a strong awareness of our presence on planet earth and of global issues that increasingly affect us as inter-connected people.

From theory, this research is then put into practice by integrating the concepts into our internationalized curriculum schemes of work through ongoing curriculum updates. An example in geography is to introduce a concept such as rivers and to have each student apply the knowledge of rivers to their own country.

Student projects and reports then become living credible presentations that cover much of the globe that serve to motivate students to learn more about the world. Even mathematics is affected by using different worldwide currencies, measurements and weights rather than those from the country from which a textbook stems.

The academic organizations to which we belong, such as IBO, have developed exciting new subjects like design technology, visual arts, economics, information technology in a global society, and environmental systems have been added to the subject choices. Development of one's own native language and the host country language are requirements. These international curriculum developments are now present in Early Childhood Education, in primary, lower secondary and in CIE subjects.

Finally, these programs utilize research-based age appropriate international standards, assessments and benchmarks that allow students and parents to know how they stand in the world, thereby giving them access to universities around the world to fit the personal needs of a family.

If you are curious about how high-quality international education affects a student's development, our team will be happy to meet with you.



Tom Ulmet, superintendent of YCIS in China




 

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