More and more teachers in Jesuit schools aroud the world are learning about Global Citizenship Education as part of their own professional development. Altogether, over 1,500 educators have enrolled in this course to date to learn more about Global Citizenship from an Ignatian Perspective, including topics such as Human Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, Poverty, Migration, Care of our Common Home through the lens of our Ignatian identity.

In some schools the entire faculty have taken the Global Citizenship Course as part of their formation. One of these schools is « Colégio Anchieta », a Jesuit school in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In this video, Márcia Schivitz, Educational Advisor for 4th and 5th year and Ambassador of the Red Chair project at the school, explains how all faculty members took the course as a group during their teacher training day in 2019 and the results of this experience for teachers. Márcia also gives an example of what the teachers have learnt in practice after the Global Citizenship training day.

« During their school career, from a very early age, students are challenged to reflect on and recover the origin of their families, the culture and traditions expressed in family life. The sharing of this multiplicity leads children to understand their differences and respect them. This schooling process, which begins at a very young age, allows students to understand and broaden their vision of living together in society. The course conducted on the Educate Magis platform allowed the teachers to expand their understanding of the contents of the course and to give it a new meaning. Educate Magis strengthens the work in the classroom, gives security to the teachers and is a compass on the path of understanding Global Citizenship. » Márcia comments, and continues sharing a practical approach they took after the teacher training day in Global Citizenship, « from this perspective, we highlight the Project « We are all Immigrants », carried out with students in 2nd grade of High School, which explores and gives meaning to the work done in the previous school stages, taking into account the history of each one and reaffirming the values of Colégio Anchieta. The main idea of the Project « We are all Immigrants » is to make the students aware that in one way or another, we are all immigrants. At some point in the individual history of each student, back in their origins, someone migrated to Brazil (http://www.colegioanchieta.g12.br/em-sua-quarta-edicao-projeto-we-are-all-immigrants-propoe-um-olhar-solidario-aos-migrantes/). We are discovering the origin of the families, the languages, the traditions, the different realities and needs of the individual in this globalized world, deepening with the students the pluralism, the respect for diversity, empathy, developing the concept of multiculturalism. »

A similar learning experience was shared by “San Francisco Javier” school in Pasto, Colombia where they included Global Citizenship Education as part of their Pedagogical Innovation Process. The Educate Magis Global Citizenship Course became part of the formation process for Directors and Teachers who went through the course and exchanged their learnings as a group. In this video, the school’s Academic Director Mónica Derazo shares details of how they organized their time to take the course and teacher, Alba Gallardo, shares her experiences as a learner.

Have you taken the Educate Magis Global Citizenship Course as part of your school’s teacher formation process? If so we would love to here about it!

Learning in a group environment can be very rewarding and motivating and can add an extra dimension to the learning you do individually at your own pace. The key is to be curious about the topic. Global Citizenship Education is an exciting and important topic! When we look at the recently launched “Jesuit Schools – An Integrated Perspective” graphic, we can see just how important Global Citizenship is in the context of our Jesuit Mission and indeed how it relates to other areas of our mission to form men and women of conscience, competence, compassion and commitment. Among the 10 Global Identifiers presented in the document « Jesuit Schools: A Living Tradition in the 21st Century », published in 2019, Global Citizenship is Global Identifier number 3 (Jesuit Schools are committed to Global Citizenship), « this means preparing students and their families to identify first and primary as members of the human family with a common responsibility for the entire world rather than just members of a particular nation or group. » (A living Tradition), [179].  « To that end, Global citizenship education should not be merely an add-on, but integrated into the core curriculum. This is the case when teachers and students incorporate global and cultural examples throughout their study, when communication skills that are globally mindful, inclusive and effective are taught, when all disciplines are approached with an awareness of globalization and its impact on 21st century learning, and when one’s global and multicultural experiences are prioritized in student achievements and faculty hiring for mission.”(A living Tradition), [182]

You can start learning about Ignatian Global Citizenship by joining thousands of learners from Jesuit schools here. On completion of the course including the five quizzes you will receive a personalised certificate which you can download and print!

If you have any questions or experiences of taking the Educate Magis Global Citizenship Course, which you would like to share, please leave a comment in the box below or send us an email to info@educatemagis.org.