There’s no time like the present, and today’s present makes this more pressing, so here’s launching EDUCITIZENS!
For some years, I’ve had this relentless fire burning inside me to figure out the answer to this question:
How can schools and communities in the UK and across the world better work with learners to inspire us all to be collaborative, creative and also critically informed local and global citizens?
It is clear to me that the root cause of so many of the challenges and divisions existing in our world today stem back to this complex question, and can be attributed to the relationship with community and injustice that schools, communities, and parents nurture.
Most young people want to contribute towards a better global society and can quickly grasp complex issues, but don’t always have the pathways to have their passions nurtured, as I well remember when I was overwhelmed by emerging global conflicts as a 10 year old.
Studying and teaching philosophy has given me a foundation in ethical frameworks, and 12 years in various school leadership roles has enabled me to observe how schools work from within.
Combined with founding EduSpots’ model for community-led change, and understanding the shifts ongoing in the development sector through an MA and wider experience, my eyes have been awakened to the pressing need for themes of power, sustainability and collaboration to truly bed into our education system and wider society.
Good intentions are vital to grasp hold onto – I always saw a learner’s expression of a desire to make a difference as something to nurture – but in today’s complex interconnected world, they are not enough.
In this scientific age, let’s engage learners in a more ethically reflective and researched-backed approach to social change.
‘Service’ in education, alongside targeting specific pathways of change, must also be about promoting every day reflective behaviour, recognising that even throwaway decisions in an interconnected world can significantly affect the lives of others.
Alongside this, connecting students with their communities, and enabling them to learn from their neighbours, can often be more valuable that engaging them in acts of framed self-sacrifice.
I’m not sure yet how to get there and I don’t have the answers, so this is a journey that I hope you will take with me.
For the next year, expect conversation, challenging the status quo, ideas, podcasts, frameworks and resources, alongside any other path this takes us.
If you also believe our education systems and communities need more thought in this area, please join the ongoing conversation by signing up to the EduCitizens mailing list here:
Follow @educitizens on Instagram and Twitter. If anyone wants to support this project, or collaborate, reach out to me!
NB EduCitizens is separate to EduSpots. Both work towards #OurCollectiveFuture – a sustainable future created by, and working for, everyone.
