Goal #3: Encourage Students to Take Ownership of Their Education

Study after study tells us that the number one skill set sought by employers is the capacity to learn.  At the same time, students’ capacity to learn is growing exponentially with online tools like Kahn Academy and now various AI portals. 

As a result there has never been an easier time for students to take ownership of their education.   Properly utilized, advancing educational technologies can become the big equalizer.  One World has developed a series of programs to safely connect students to those emerging technologies starting with our Academic Accelerator. 

Academic Accelerator– As Smart as you want to be!

Discover the future of education with our AI-powered tutoring program. A One World facilitator helps students use digital tools to their advantage to take ownership of their education. Learn in English, Spanish, or bilingually!

One World’s “As Smart As You Want to Be” is an academic accelerator which uses ChatGPT and or Kahn Academy to learn New York State’s required fifth-grade math.  

Building Equity with One World Programs

Our view is simple and clear: those students (and educators) that are prepared for a rapidly globalizing world of rapid technological change will have a far greater chance of success than those who are not.  We agree with the conclusion made by Harvard Professor Fernando Reimers who wrote:

“Globalization is deeply transforming the context of the lives of people around the world.  Those who are educated to understand those transformations and how to turn them into sources of competitive advantage are likely to benefit from globalization, but those who are not will face real and growing challenges.”

The big risk in education today is that we are preparing students for a world that no longer exists.   New York Times journalist Tom Friedman explains the challenge:

“Because the pace of technological change, digitization and globalization just keeps accelerating, two things are happening at once: the world is being knit together more tightly than ever …and “the half-life of skills is steadily shrinking, … meaning that whatever skill you possess today is being made obsolete faster and faster.”

Parents and K12 educators need to understand that the old learn-to-work model where students went from a K12 education to college and a lifetime of work is over. 

As Friedman explains, students need to build their future value every day by taking ownership over their education.  As a result he concludes

“The most critical role for K-12 educators, therefore, will be to equip young people with the curiosity and passion to be lifelong learners who feel ownership over their education.” –Tom Friedman

Finally, not only will the pace of change fundamentally change the work place, dramatic advances in medicine makes it far more likely that today’s elementary school students will live to be 100 years old or more.

We are confident that our enrichment programs build equity like no other in that we prepare K5 students for the unprecedented opportunities and challenges of the 21st century by helping develop global citizens who take ownership of their education and know how to solve the civilizational challenges facing humanity like Climate Change.

Program Cost:

While we can deliver each of the programs mentioned above on a stand alone basis, we recommend the comprehensive schoolwide program for maximum impact. It is also delivered on the most cost effective basis in that the total cost of the program does not equate to the cost of 25% of the cost of adding one new teacher.

If you are interested in the program, please contact us and we can review our pricing.  If your school does not have access to funding we are prepared to work with you to seek grant funding to pay for our services.

Harvard Inspired Schoolwide Support

One World School of Global Competence

One World School of Global Excellence

Annex 1  Communities Around the World

Teaching global competence in third grade in New York is the overarching goal of third grade social studies instruction where teachers are encouraged to implement the Communities Around the World program:

Grade 3: Communities around the World

In “Communities around the World,” students learn about communities around the globe and about global citizenship. Students bring with them knowledge about their communities. In this course, students make comparisons across time and space, examining different communities and their cultures. Culture includes social organization, customs and traditions, language, arts and literature, religion, forms of government, and economic systems. Students are introduced to the concepts of prejudice, discrimination and human rights, as well as to social action.

Teachers should select at least three communities that represent different regions of the world, types of communities (urban, suburban, and rural), and governmental structures. The communities selected should reflect the diversity of the local community.

The key ideas, conceptual understandings, and content specifications guide the study of communities while exploring the major themes of social studies. The various world communities, Key Ideas and social studies practices may be presented in any order.

One World can connect your third-grade classes with three communities from different regions around the world like China, Central and South America, and Nigeria.

These programs also allow New York schools to reflect the diversity of their local communities by connecting recently arrived students with students and educators from their country of origin.  

Annex 2   UNESCO Report of November 2021 – The Need for Global Competence

Reimagining Our Futures Together: a New Social Contract for Education

UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes international cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture, and communication to contribute to peace and security globally. Founded in 1945, UNESCO aims to foster dialogue and mutual understanding among cultures and peoples through its various programs and initiatives.

Over the course of its 75 year history, it has only published three reports of the kind they published in November 2021.  Here are some excerpts from the report:

“If  anything  has  brought  us  together  over  the  last  year  and  a  half,  it  is  our  feeling  of  vulnerability about the present and uncertainty about the future. We now know, more than ever, that urgent action is needed  to  change humanity’s  course  and  save  the  planet  from  further  disruptions.  But this  action  must  be  long-term,  and  combined  with  strategic  thinking… 

If  the  report  teaches  us  one  thing,  it  is  this:  We  need  to  take  urgent  action  to  change  course, because the future of people depends on the future of the planet, and both are at risk. The report proposes a new social contract for education – one that aims to rebuild our relationships with each other, with the planet, and with technology.” 

Education, the  way  we  organize  teaching  and  learning  throughout  life has  long played  a foundational role in the transformation of human societies. It connects us with the world and to each other, exposes us to new possibilities, and strengthens our capacities for dialogue and action. But to shape peaceful, just, and sustainable futures, education itself must be transformed.

We all have an obligation to current and future generations – to ensure that our world is one of

abundance not scarcity…. 

As a species,we are at the point in our collective history where we have the greatest access ever to knowledge and to tools that enable us to collaborate. The potential for engaging humanity in creating futures together has never been greater.

One final observation relative to the report was the fact that the report was not intended as a blueprint for action but rather as a call to a global conversation as to how to take education forward in the 21st century.   One World through its Community of Learning & Practice (COLP) has endeavored to bring educators from across the world together for the kinds of conversations called for by UNESCO.

Here is a link to the ongoing conversation:  https://www.unesco.org/en/futures-education