Educating Students to Improve the World

Fernando M. Reimers is the Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education, and Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative and of the International Education Policy Masters Program at Harvard University. An expert in the field of Global Education, his research and teaching focus on understanding how to educate children and youth so they can thrive in the 21st century. He is a member of UNESCO’s commission on the Futures of Education. He has authored or edited  thirty three scholarly books, including Audacious Education Purposes, Empowering Teachers to Build a Better World, Teaching and Learning for the 21st Century, Preparing Teachers to Educate Whole Students: An International Comparative Study, Letters to a New Minister of Education, Learning to Improve the World, Empowering Global Citizens, Empowering Students to Improve the World in Sixty Lessons, and Learning to Collaborate for the Global Common Good.  Professor Reimers has combined an academic career studying the process of educational change, writing, and educating the next generation of system level leaders, with active participation in efforts to make schools more relevant in a changing world, through work on the governing boards of numerous education organizations, as well as advising schools, school networks, governments, education organizations and international development agencies. He is also the author of a series of children’s books designed to foster inter-generational conversations on inclusive values. In 2019, he received a Centennial Medal from the International Institute of Education for his work advancing international education. In 2017 he received the Global Citizen Award from the Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN) for his work on global citizenship education. In 2015 he was appointed the C.J. Koh Visiting Professor of Education at the National Institute of Education in Singapore in recognition of his work in global education. He holds an honorary doctorate from Emerson College for his work on human rights education, is a fellow of the International Academy of Education, and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

1 Introduction. A multidimensional approach to global education.- 2 What is global education and why does it matter?.- 3 A cultural perspective and global education.- 4 A psychological perspective and global education.- 5 A professional perspective and global education.- 6 An institutional perspective and global education.- 7 A political perspective and global education.- 8 Conclusions. Integrating the five perspectives.