Harvard professor creates a course for the world

The world is changing, says Harvard Professor Fernando Reimers, and schools everywhere must change with it. Preparing students to become global citizens should be a priority for all educators, but how exactly should these lessons be approached?

“If we are serious about preparing students to understand globalization, we should treat this the way we treat any other subject about which we are serious,” says Reimers, director of Harvard Graduate School of Education’s (HGSE) International Education Policy Program. “We should have high-quality curriculum. It should be rigorous curriculum and it should provide extended opportunities for students to engage with the subject.”

With a group of HGSE doctoral students, Reimers began to consider what it would take to create such a curriculum, starting by identifying the competencies high school students should have in order to understand and, ultimately, better the world. The result is “Empowering Global Citizens: A World Course,” a book designed not only to support the educators who are already teaching with globalization in mind, but also to challenge those who are not.

In this edition of the Harvard EdCast, Reimers speaks about the book and gives insight into a curriculum designed to empower all citizens of the world.

The Global Classroom | Harvard Graduate School of Education