International mindedness is being aware of other nationalities and cultures from all over the world. It actually teaches you to be understanding, caring and tolerant of others in an international setting. 

IB’s mission statement clearly describes international mindedness being a significant part of the IB programs.  

“The International Baccalaureate (IB) aims to develop inquiring”, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organisation works with schools, governments and international organisations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

2.     What does it means to be a “global citizen”?

In my view, being a global citizen is being a responsible and receptive human being who is aware of the global issues, who respects and is tolerant of people from other countries, ethnic groups and cultures. We live in an interconnected world because of recent advances in communication of information and transportation. It’s our responsibility as global citizens to identify, raise awareness and find solutions to global problems which are affecting our fellow human beings on planet earth. 

Schools today prepare student to respect multiculturalism, accept the differences of gender, color, race, culture and religion, to put more emphasis on humanity rather than stereotypes. Schools incorporate the concept of “You, Me and US” – we have the same needs and emotions but not necessarily a fair distribution of wealth and resources. Our world can be an ideal place if there is no discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion and ethnicity, people can speak their minds and fight for their basic human rights. Within Biology and other group 4 subjects (group 4 project), students can study the effects of deforestation, climate change, fires (Southeast Asia) on the biodiversity of our ecosystems. Students can also work with the local communities using their CAS hours, to educate and help with the importance of having a balanced diet. They can work with local communities to grow vegetable patches/vegetable gardens to create a balanced food basket for everyday use. For sports, exercise and health sciences, students can liaise with local communities to raise awareness on sanitation, basic hygiene and disease control. Students of physics, chemistry can help with the design and soil quality, irrigation and drainage of these facilities. 

4.     What are the ways in which the texts, topics, or ideas in your classroom have benefited from contributions from other communities, cultures, and nationalities?

So far, my classes haven’t pulled much inspiration from different communities, cultures and nationalities. However, my classes do use Mathletics from Australia alongside Quizlet which is American. Hence, while not being culturally influenced we use a breadth of different resources from around the globe.

5. How can you help your students understand the importance of international understanding as it relates to your course?

Within the subject of Biology, we can help our students understand the importance of international understanding by introducing them to different ecosystems and looking at world’s biggest biology issue, for example extinction of endangered species in many regions.

6. What activities have you carried out in your class that have knowingly or unknowingly highlighted or celebrated international-mindedness?

ACG celebrates International Day yearly, in which each class represents a country and the members of that class adopt the countries culture by experiencing the country’s : food, dress, customs, games and much. Once the former has been set up, students are encouraged to visit the rest of the classes which represent different countries to experience the diversity that exists within the school.