"At WAB we believe that we are all global citizens and our decisions today impact future generations. A successful global citizen is aware of and seeks to understand pressing global issues, furthers social justice, respects and engages with diverse cultures and identities, lives in harmony with nature, and recognizes a responsibility to take action in local and global contexts."

Read on for a Q&A  with Angelia Crouch, the High School Global Citizenship Coordinator at WAB. She will guide us through the development process, shed light on the student involvement in the committee she led, and highlight this project's impact. 

How did we develop our definition 

of Global Citizenship? 

In November 2022 a committee was formed which included High School and Middle School students and teachers across three school sections. The committee met to discuss what is Global citizenship, why is it important, and how we demonstrate global citizenship.  

 We looked at a wide variety of research, documentation, and examples. Through discussions, creating models, and drafting our ideas we were able to create a first definition.  

 That definition was shared with various students, school leadership, and faculty, we took their suggestions to form the final draft. On April 19 last year, we shared this definition with the whole school at the Cultural Forum. This definition was also shared as a guiding statement during our CIS Global Citizenship accreditation visit last December. 

What is the Global 

Citizenship definition?  

The Global Citizenship definition at WAB is a guiding statement that aligns essential principles foundational to our school. It is our goal that each WAB student engages in Global Citizenship education throughout their time at WAB.  

 The Global Citizenship committee, tasked with creating the statement, drew from WAB's mission and core values, our definition of learning, the Profile of a Learner and Strategy 2022+ work, the IBO, in addition to learning organizations leading in the area of Global Citizenship such as the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development , Council of International Schools and Harvard Project Zero to create the definition.  

 An important component of the definition is the idea that in a globalized world, "we are all global citizens", we have no choice, the only choice is how engaged and successful we are as good global citizens.  

 In our commitment to environmental sustainability, we included indigenous 7th-generation principles which are related to the philosophy of "the good ancestor" and the goal to "live in harmony with nature". Our "we all belong" commitment to I-DEAS comes through in the section that we will "respect and engage with" not just diverse cultures, but also diverse identities. 

 Finally, our community partnerships are vital to this definition and global citizenship education in that we recognize the responsibility to take action on global issues in local contexts. 

How do you think this change 

will impact our students?   

The OECD outlines the benefits of Global Citizenship Education: 

• Employability in the global economy,  

• Living cooperatively in multicultural communities,  

• Communication and learning effectively,  

• Responsibility with old and new media ,  

• Necessary for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.    

Beyond that, WAB's definition of Global Citizenship activates our mission to "make a difference" through engaged and active Global Citizenship opportunities by participating in service learning and community partnerships.  

With our focus on Global Citizenship education, we will empower our learners to address today's global challenges and become active promoters of a more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure, and sustainable society. 

Western Academy of Beijing

10 Lai Guang Ying Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102