A Declaration of the Value of Global Education
Presented at the 2013 Global Education Conference
http://www.GlobalEducationDeclaration.com

Because we are citizens of our individual nations and also part of a larger human family;

Because it is important to learn about other cultures and to understand the similarities that unite us and the differences that define us;

Because global understanding, empathy, and compassion depend and are built on communication, shared experiences, and relationships;

Because we increasingly live in a "global village";

Because we increasingly work in geographically and culturally interconnected ways;

Because we are interconnected physically and our ecological and resource-use decisions impact others;

Because we share a world which appears to be increasingly fragile;

Because complex worldwide problems need collaborative, cooperative, and intelligent solutions;

Because wars, conflicts, abuse, slavery, misinformation, and other forms of oppression both exist and also exert powerful influences;

Because we live in a world that is increasingly "flat" and where Internet technologies have dramatically increased the global connectedness of individuals and cultures;

Because creation and sharing technologies of the Internet and the Web dramatically shift personal and community capacity;

Because the world increasingly is our classroom;

Therefore:

We affirm the universal and inherent worth of every child;

We affirm the deep importance of supporting learning opportunities for all people generally;

We affirm especially the importance of providing wholesome and healthy learning opportunities for all children;

We affirm the need to support the variety and uniqueness of learners, teachers, cultures, and circumstances;

We affirm the importance of independent intellectual inquiry and thought;

We affirm the value of connective technologies and their ability to provide broader learning and thinking experiences;

We affirm the individual, cultural, and worldwide benefits of students learning about, from, and with peoples from around the world;

Finally:

We declare the critical importance of helping our students, teachers, administrators, parents, and all others to connect globally and to learn from each other; we express appreciation for those who provide opportunities for such global learning activities; and we devote ourselves to furthering the cause of global education.

Hold This as a Community Conversation:

• Ask your audience what global experiences have been the most important in their lives? Have them turn to their neighbor and share.
• Ask the audience as a whole to report back on these experiences, record them on a whiteboard or posters.
• Ask why those experiences were so important in people's lives, and what the common elements are.
• Have the audience to look at this declaration and then ask them to tell you what they think is missing, or what really resonates with them.