Are Teachers and Educational Institutions Stuck In the Early 1900?

The philosopher John Dewey wrote, “Education is not a preparation for life but is life itself.” Education is the instrument for the next generation to acquire knowledge, skills, and training. Education should inculcate values among the next generations to solve issues affecting the progress of society. Education is supposed to bring necessary social changes to our society. In the current scenario, most of the K-12 curriculum is in a crisis mode. The current education system was founded at a time when large corporations needed absolute mindsets, knowledge, and skills. Most schools, colleges, and policymakers do not regard K-12 education systems as stepping stones to deal with Environmental, Social and Good Governance (ESG) issues.?

Most educators do not dare to integrate global learning experiences into the core curriculum, but, squabbling and teaching the same old stuff taught in the early 1900. Educators do not emphasize promoting societal changes by changing curriculum and their teaching methods. Most global issues affecting the masses are due to ignorance and discarding facts that the current education systems have failed to address these issues at the grassroots levels.

Science and technology inventions have made our lives decently comfortable with state-of-the-art transportation and infrastructure, easy access to information, goods, services, healthcare, and many more amenities. However, land, air, and ocean pollution have crippled our planet and to some extent humanity. The VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) should matter to K-12 education systems. Schools are not preparing students to deal with VUCA situations associated with ESG. The VUCA demands that we avoid traditional and outdated approaches to teaching and learning.

Current education systems are too sluggish, ineffective to deal with the turbulent world that we live in. Newer, more agile, and pragmatic approaches would require modernizing traditional education systems into social impact-based global learning experiences.?

Global Learning Education in Classroom

At the heart of global education is allowing students to connect with the world, appreciate multiple viewpoints, be empathic to ESG issues, work collaboratively across cultures and countries, and use training and knowledge to explore solutions that are affecting the progress of humanity.?

A study conducted by the NGNLearning research center for social changes concluded the following:

• 87% of first and second graders are inquisitive about understanding poverty, homelessness, hunger, and environmental issues. They were able to understand math concepts easily by solving real-world issues incorporated in the NGNMath.
• 92% of third and fourth graders illustrated logically (using NGNLogic tools) the human toll involved in migrations due to war and insecurity around the world.?
• 78% of fifth-graders were able to comprehend and embrace the use of AI and robotics in human life, using NGN Social Emotional Learning (NGN SEL) tools.
• 93% of Kindergarten children were able to put together visual information with Captain NGN (a superhero character of NGNLearning)by helping needy people who lacked access to education, healthcare, food, and clean water.

All these students have one thing in common: They all took social impact-based NGNMath, NGNLogic, and NGN-SEL courses, per their ages, and engaged in global learning. Here are major takeaways from the study conducted on social impact-based education learning.\

Strong Academic Performance

A study conducted by the NGNLearning research center for social changes shows that when students learn STEM courses by integrating AGE-APPROPRIATE global education, the outcome leads to high academic performance. Global education-based STEM curriculum is the best way to provide holistic academic, social, and emotional development to students.?

Empower K-12 Students

Increasing youth involvement in global issues means they must be able to see themselves as capable of making a real impact. A novel social impact-based math, logic, and SEL curriculum developed by the NGNLearning (ngnlearning.com) provides age-appropriate learning experiences, skills, and knowledge to K-12 learners and educators.

Early engagement of youth is the best way to create just and sustainable solutions to global problems. By increasing K-12 students’ awareness, knowledge, and engagement with global areas of interest, they are more likely to see themselves as capable of impacting them positively.?If they understand themselves as having an impact on global issues, as adults these students are more likely to choose work, careers, college programs, and leadership posts that address global concerns.??

Make the Next-Generation Global Citizen and Global Learner

The study confirms that Global learners are open to the widest range of ideas, express views without biases, develop strong self-evaluation and self-criticism. Global learners become global citizens by learning skills and knowledge beyond their countries’ boundaries and borders. Global citizenship provides students self-awareness, social-emotional skills, enhanced communication strategies, confidence to solve problems, and the ability to think big and bold.

Make Children Change Makers and Social Impact Leaders

Every child has his or her success path. The social impact-based integrated core curriculum enables students to acquire meaningful knowledge and skills to become change agents.?When elementary students work with NGNMath to investigate issues and reasons associated with poverty, hunger, homelessness, and global warming, they have come up with meaningful solutions, acting as change agents.

NGNLogic, when integrated with social impact-based problem-solving skills, students tackle and unpacked solutions with rational and critical thinking approach.

Teachers and educators implementing NGN Social Emotional Learning (NGNSEL) curriculum in their curriculum have attested benefits on learning about themselves and society with Global Education. Students have initiated actions to “Make Earth, Milky Way, and Galaxy- A Better Place To Co-exist” campaigns.

Educational institutes should integrate global learning education into the STEM curriculum. Therefore, educators and educational institutes across the globe have the duty to provide classroom teaching with a meaningful education that prepares students to deal with future challenges.