A necessity of the twenty-first century is the development of individuals with a global mindset. A globally minded individual is one that understands and views the world as an integrated entity with opportunities for all people to contribute and thrive in. This type of individual seeks innovation, strong cohesiveness between nations, and abhors closed borders for goods, services, and communication. YCIS seeks to create these individuals through embedding international perspectives into curricular activities. Additionally, by being an international school, it allows students with different cultural backgrounds to develop the ability to successfully respond and communicate in both Eastern and Western styles.
But why does the twenty-first century need globally minded students? Globally minded individuals are considered top tier human capital due to their awareness of how globalization is impacting economics, culture and the environment. This is important as we have seen the economic impact and the long term effects of the global financial crisis. If more people had understood the interdependence between the commodity and financial markets of the different nations, the financial crisis could have been potentially mitigated due to the understanding of the tightknit markets. By enforcing the basic understandings of globalization at a young age, it encourages students to think outside the box with how the world operates in the areas of both economics and communication. Communicating across borders also requires a certain degree of cultural understanding and interpretation.
The cultural learning that occurs within an international school is one that helps encourage some of the best social skill developments possible. Respect, which is converted directly into manners, develops highly in global minded students, as they experience the many different ways of showing respect within different cultures. And by experiencing different cultures and languages they also develop above average problem solving skills, which results in a high degree of cultural understanding and openness. By having impressive social conduct and presence, these children are giving off positive impressions, which will help them in all aspects of their life as they grow. Additionally when students become professionals, they have the type of cultural sensitivity and respect that many employers seek for high grade positions within any international company.
As globally minded students focus on the development of economic integration and the efficient interaction between cultures, environmental integrity is brought into question. Globalization has resulted in increased economic activity, but has also meant an important change in the way people and firms think about the environment. Before, society viewed environmental change as a national issue, however as globalization began to occur nations became more aware of how their carbon foot-print affects not only their own country, but other countries as well. From the cohesion between nations, environmental problems are becoming the subject of major international efforts because of the overwhelming support for mitigation and solutions to these problems.
In conclusion, the twenty-first century needs more globally minded students to help ensure that the world’s economic, cultural and environmental capacities continue to improve. As many Western and Eastern schools are looking to increase their offering of language and world knowledge courses, the international schools of the world have a huge advantage. Not only do international schools, like YCIS, incorporate international awareness and intelligence into curricular activities, they also offer a completely diverse school environment. This diverse environment allows students to learn by hand-on-experience through interacting and engaging with people from all different cultural backgrounds. In a world that demands people with increased global mindset for its future, YCIS is providing an ideal opportunity for students to experience, grow and achieve. To learn more about YCIS Shanghai as a leading International school click here.
About Author: Derek Kemp is an International Masters student from British Columbia that has been travelling the world learning from various styles of International Education and currently resides in Beijing, China.
