A Bill of Rights and Commitments of Global Learners

Defining Our Own Social and Learning Contracts

Social interaction through technology is deeply integrated in our lives. We work within remote teams, we chat with friends, we even date online! Internationalization through technology has become a natural dynamic. Cyberspace has redefined borders, many of us can instantly play a role in shaping our governments, communities, and society. This evolving landscape has also enabled us to form our own social contracts to guide our behaviors in the digital era.

Virtual Exchange as a Tool for Global Citizenship

Virtual exchange uses the same technology that is pervasive in our everyday lives to educate young people and to elevate them as global citizens. The Stevens Initiative has made impactful strides towards creating a global movement for virtual exchange since its creation in 2015. Through virtual exchange, individuals and organizations alike can contribute to the field of international education and make progress towards our “world’s aspirations in education.” (Jean Piaget) One key benefit of virtual exchange is participants’ increased understanding of different cultures, and significant improvements in global competence.?

Recognized by the OECD as “the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance,” global competence is a multidimensional construct that requires a combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values successfully applied to global issues or intercultural situations. Education for global competence is a deliberate process that aims to “encourage young people to act in the general interest of collective-wellbeing and sustainable development.”

To mark the current inflection point of digital connectedness, and more than 100 years of educational internationalism, I sought out to develop a Chart of Rights and Commitments for Global Learners that defines prerogatives and obligations for virtual exchange stakeholders.??

Global Learners’ Rights and Commitments in the 21st Century?

According to the 2018 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, promoting global competence in the 21st century includes building learners capacity to “capitalize on inherently interconnected digital spaces,[...], and express their voice responsibly online.” Digital tools, such as virtual exchange, make connecting between cultures and continents easier and more accessible than ever before, prompting the need for a new social contract. This “Bill of Rights and Commitments of Global Learners” is a suggested visual tool to help guide responsible, ethical, and aspirational engagement as we work to promote global competence in educational exchanges. It is a potential agreement based on the premise that educational exchanges enter participants into people-to-people “contracts” aiming to promote cross-cultural communication skills and other global competencies, cultivating humanity through education.

The term "commitment" is preferred over "responsibilities'', as it involves individual intent, intrinsic motivation to take responsibility. Empowered by their rights, global learners intentionally embark on a life-long journey to grow their knowledge, skills, attitudes and therefore make commitments that enable them to “solve the planet’s burning educational problems” through an intersectional lens. (Jean Piaget)

Increasing Access to Global Learning?

Driven by the conviction that “global experiences should be accessible to anyone,” the Stevens Initiative’s mission is to create opportunities for young people from diverse places to collaborate and connect through technology.

While I remain aware that quality education for all and access to technology are unevenly achieved across the world, I hope that this bill of rights reaffirms the commitment to contribute towards these objectives.?

Virtual exchange is a powerful tool to build global competence, and partnered with the “Bill of Rights of Global Learners”, we can make great strides in ensuring cultural diversity, cultivating intercultural dialogue, and promoting peace across the world.

Do you feel compelled to contribute to global learning through collaborative methods? Explore Ways to Engage with the Stevens Initiative and learn about exchanges and interculturality with the World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence.

Written for the Stevens Initiative by Luciana Lallaizon, International Educator and?Contributor to the World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence