Global Citizenship Program Launch
On 20th August, our school launch the Global Citizen Ship Initiative, with all students and teachers attending this prestigious event! Mike Gates, the Head of Global Citizenship, gave an inspiring speech and two students Ju-Ern C. and Kristen W. talked about the structure of the projects and the program. After the event, we interviewed Mr. Gates and the two students.
Mike Gates:
1 What is the Global Citizenship Program?
The vision of DCI is to 'live worldwise'. In our specific context, it is 'Grown in Dulwich, Thrive in Life'. However, both statements indicate the need for being 'world-ready' and making a positive difference to the world. The Global Citizenship program helps to add this lens onto our everyday lives so we can see the role we play in a collective context.
2 In your view, what does it mean to be a Global Citizen?Being a global citizen means connecting our choices and actions with their impac
ts. It is all about understanding that we are connected to other people and the planet.
To be a good global citizen means caring about ourselves and others and thinking about how we can continue to be a better person each day.
3 How will the Global Citizenship Program benefit our Students?
The program will give Dulwich International High School Suzhou students a greater understanding of themselves and the world they live in. There are also great benefits in being globally literate and competent, in order to Graduate Worldwise - this will also help with university entrance, jobs, future leadership and ultimately having a positive impact on the world!
4 How can we contribute to the project?
Global citizenship is less about projects and events and more about looking through a lens of global citizenship.
A good starting point is by asking 'Am I a global citizen?'.
However, there will be many ways to participate and being a good global citizen is about active participation. It is up to all of us to think about our own role in being active and effective global citizens.
5 How can we be better Global Citizen’s ourselves?
Being a perfect global citizen itself is impossible - we are only human!
However, we can aspire to keep finding ways to make better choices, decisions and actions each day. The best way to do this is to learn from good people doing good things and then try to emulate them by doing more good things, more often!
6 How many Global Citizenship projects do you have right now? What are they?
Right now, we have 7 service projects - but we also have several potential new projects in development.
These are called: Art Without Boundaries, Embracing Suzhou Culture, Lungs and Love, Dulwich Medical Program, Grasp, Ripple and Talk2U.
We also have some developing Sustainability projects, such as 'Dulwich Carbon Committee' and many event committees which will be very active during the course of the year.
7 How do students and teachers respond to the Global Citizenship Program?
It is easy to be scared by the term 'Global Citizenship' because it sounds too complicated and we feel like there is nothing we can do as one person.
However, we see the excitement in students, staff and parents when they do get a 'feeling' of Global Citizenship, knowing their positive actions have positive impacts and finding ways to do more. I am excited for that 'culture' to grow and grow.
8 How do you see this program developing in the future?
In order to make the program more meaningful, it needed to be formally launched and built upon.
The year 2020 is the launch year, and it is happening against the backdrop of a very challenging year for the entire globe.
My hope is that in the next 10 years (by 2030), we don’t even talk about 'Global Citizenship' anymore in such a formal way. Rather, we will be living it in small and significant ways. Ultimately, we want to be a school and a group that is Living WorldWise to Graduate Worldwise that plays a leading role in our society, in order to be more caring, engaged and finding solutions to challenges in the world.
Ju-Ern C.
Ju-Ern C. was awarded the Global Citizenship Award 2020 by East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS) for his contributions and commitment to the school Global Citizenship Team.
1 What’s your role in the Global Citizenship program?
I am one of two overall Global Citizenship Student Leaders and I am mentoring the next leaders of the Global Citizenship team.
2 Why did you join the program? Which specific project are you in right now?
I joined the Global Citizenship team, which was previously called Service and Sustainability, to contribute to the local community. I was involved in several community projects before I joined Dulwich International High School Suzhou and when I saw our school had an organisation that had several teams devoted to contributing to society, I approached the supervising teacher, Mr. Gates, to join the Dulwich Medical Program (DMP). When Mr. Gates selected me to become an Overall Leader, I was very excited at the opportunity to support all the teams in helping our local community become a better place. I'm still a leader and mentoring the new leaders of the DMP team. We help the children at the Children's Hospital of Soochow University reduce their fears and stress of staying at the hospital or of visiting the hospital for health checks. With the current pandemic, we plan to make posters, flashcards, games and audio stories to donate to the hospital.
3 In your view, what does it mean to be a Global Citizen?
To become a Global Citizen, we must care about our world and our environment. Pollution, poverty, global warming, inequality, education for all, peace, strong institutions and a lot of other issues may seem disconnected, but all of it affects us, the people who live in this world. In the very basic essence, we must care about the people around us, and how we affect their lives.
4 How can we contribute to the program?
We all need to care for our environment and the people around us. Donate to support the initiatives that help the under-privileged live better lives; Contribute to scholarships that give needy students the opportunities of a better education which enables better lives; Alleviate what little bit of suffering we can. This may just take as little as the equivalent of 1 yuan a day, or an hour a week of our lives. For the students in this school, the Global Citizenship teams offer a wide variety of activities that contribute to the betterment of our community.
5 How does the program benefit you and other students?
Joining any of the Global Citizen Ship teams increases your knowledge and experience with society. In many ways, we engaged with situations and people that we normally would not interact with at school or at home. We learn to be compassionate, to be empathetic and to be committed. We are also offered leadership positions if we are interested and able. In my DMP team, I have offered the more experienced students the opportunity to organize and lead activities. For those who are more driven, you can also start your own project. I started the Activity Room at the Health Care Department of the Children's Hospital of Soochow University and also the Dulwich International High School Calendar 2020 project where we raised over 13,000 yuan to fund our activities. I have grown from the experiences and was very humbled to be recognized with the Global Citizenship Award 2019-2020, awarded by EARCOS. I was also recognized by our school, with the Dulwich Achievement Certificate in November 2019 for exceptional extra-curricular service (SAS) and the student council.
Kristen W.
1 What is your role in the Global Citizenship program?
My role is to coordinate each project, mentor the leaders of individual projects and help to promote them inside and outside our school, and recently I have assisted Ju-Ern for the Global Citizenship video about the pandemic, such as the interviews.
2 Why did you join the program? Which specific projects are you working on right now?
I joined the program when I was in year11 and I wanted to start my own charity project: Art Without Boundaries. With the help of Mr. Gates and other students who had already started their projects, I set up Art Without Boundaries and it was quite successful! Therefore, I thought I could join the leadership team to help the school to coordinate projects, just as I had done with my own project. Also, I can learn from others and broaden my horizons in this program, for example, last year, Mr. Gates invited some influential people to give a speech during the SAS CCA.
3 In your view, what does it mean to be a Global Citizen?
Answer 3: From my perspective, being a global citizen concerns everyone in the world. For example, COVID-19 this year affects everyone’s life all over the world. We are linked together. I live in Suzhou, China but I also live on this planet - I am one of the global citizens. Paying attention to world events is essential and we should care about people everywhere.
4 How can we contribute to the program?
In order to contribute to this program, we should act right now to protect our environment, to raise funds for people or even countries in need and stop wasting food. There are many things we can do, and some of them are tiny changes we can make in our lifestyle, like minimizing food waste. Even if the changes we have made to either school or home are negligible, by summing up population and time, a huge difference can be made. This is what Mr. Gates talked about at the launch. To do that, students should tell or persuade their friends and relatives, or even try to spread the concept across the world through social media.
5 How does the program benefit you and other students?
The Global Citizenship program itself is quite meaningful and beneficial. Through the Program, students will be more willing to volunteer to do the things I mentioned above. They may even set up their own projects that demonstrate or develop the concept of Global Citizenship.
