“The student final presentation was excellent. I can see the growth of my child. The design of Global Connect program is very good—it helps students to really become culture ambassadors, have deep interactions, and break down barriers for global understanding.”
About
Global Connect understands how important and difficult it is for schools and homeschooling parents to help their students become global citizens. The challenges of creating deep, engaging and authentic global experiences are overwhelming. Global Connect is here to help.
Global Connect programs partner US students with international students, and together they learn about each other’s daily lives, likes and dislikes, and cultures.
We believe that learning about others as individuals builds curiosity, empathy, and understanding. As students meet each other and learn more, ask and answer questions, and work together on short assignments and reflections, they develop personal relationships and learn to challenge ideas of ‘other’ and ‘different’. Using Fun, engaging, and constructivist activities during each lesson or field trip session, our expert educators carefully guide students, starting with their own experience, to examine and define the ‘seen’ aspects of their culture, finding similarities and differences with their Chinese peers. Students can then examine stereotypes and ask deeper questions. Our teachers carefully respond to students’ discussions and short assignments, gently guiding them to take the next step in their own development and understanding of themselves and others.
By the end of either the Global Connect 10 week Expedition or the three session Field Trips, students have a deeper understanding of another culture as well as their own. They are well on their way to thinking more globally and becoming global citizens!
Michael Chen and Dave Michelman created Global Connect, and then they were joined by Jenny Murray.
Michael is an international educator who has worked for over a decade on breaking down cultural barriers for students. Dave is a long time teacher and administrator with an expertise in progressive education and innovative educational approaches. Jenny is a veteran educator, teacher trainer, and administrator in inquiry- and project-based, student-led programming for k-12 schools.
Together, they lead this innovative program that creates global citizens.