siliconindia | | November 20179With an enthusiastic teacher leading a pro-ject, anything is possible. Within their curriculum, schools can include global perspectives, taking viewpoints beyond the nation's borders. They can develop partnerships with schools abroad, promot-ing written or travel exchanges between the stu-dents. Webcams and Skype enable students in one part of the world to work collaboratively with stu-dents at the other side of the world on a joint project. Such activities are hugely enriching, promoting not just a different approach to subject matter but also promoting teamwork, as the students learn to dis-cuss, debate, disagree and find common ground, as well as learning how stu-dents from another culture think. These are the kind of experiences which later in life provide a valuable framework as to how to work together to find solutions. They are business lessons for life.The ever popular Model United Nations Organization offers opportunities for collaborative study and an exchange of ideas amongst students from all over the world. In a simulation of the United Nations, students undertake research to be able to success-fully defend their assigned country's viewpoint in conferences which take place across the world, bringing together thousands of young people. What a wonderful opportunity it is for students to not only travel to these conferences but to be in close contact with such a diverse body of young people, all with different life ex-periences, all with opinions & ideas, and all seeking to find some common ground. Their enthusiasm is infectious and the skills they learn ­ public speaking, debate, agreeing to disagree ­ are hugely impor-tant for later life.Many schools offer other leadership opportunities in the form of student leaders, participation in conferenc-es, TEDx, leaders of sports teams, and much more. These are incredibly enriching, ena-bling students to truly shine, and above all, to develop their communication skills. As ed-ucators, it is simply no longer viable to focus solely on the academic learning. The world is a small and fast moving place, thanks to technological advances. Nobody can predict the jobs that our current high school students will be doing in 20-30 years' time. How-ever, one prediction will hold true ­ it won't just be about the academics. It will all come down to communication and inter-cultural understanding. Only by providing opportunities for our students to reach out to others, to discover worlds and ideas beyond their own, to think creatively, can we hope to equip them with the skills needed to make a truly positive contribution to our society. Only by providing opportunities for our students to reach out to ideas beyond their own can we hope to equip them with the skills needed to make a truly positive contribution to our societySarah Frei
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