TakingITGlobal

Critical Thinking Critical thinking is, without a doubt, a catalyst for mind mechanisms based on the fact that it enables youth to continually support and amplify their comprehension of the world. It is essential that education: ● Helps students seek out, listen to and incorporate marginalized perspectives in order to question and possibly unlearn mainstream ways of thinking and address inequitable balance between the dominant and marginalized perspectives. ● Gives space to students to express their ideas and skills, encouraging them to learn from their mistakes and experiment with new iterations, rather than focusing on standard academic assessment. School Structures School structures could be set up to promote education as a community enterprise rather than a single lane race, where the focus is on individual learning and achievement. ● Setting up non-traditional classroom structures and collaborations (i.e. not single grade or single subject classrooms) to make students aware of the interconnections between school subjects and between students, as they learn from each other. ● Creating collaborative spaces to foster exchange across differences, such as online collaborations across national borders. ● Providing teachers with professional development for the challenging work of global citizenship as expressed in this paper. ● Remove barriers to learning from and with one another (i.e. reduce competition as a motivator for student learning). V. Conclusion It is critical that these recommendations be taken seriously. Unless we consider the complexity of global issues, take seriously our differences, and recognize how we are connected in a global community, we may inadvertently reduce access to human rights and contribute to inequities. If we truly want to see a just world, we have to start thinking about global citizenship critically. The term global citizenship is itself such an opportunity to unite around one single cause despite the diversity standing between people and nations! Consequently, the right approach is perhaps not to pursue the real definition of global citizenship but to never stop looking for it! And we, as youth, want to contribute our voices because we have a perspective that our world is lacking. It is also wrongly assumed that young people are no more than leaders of "tomorrow". It is our right but also our duty to be leaders of today. As we navigate through our thoughts, perspectives and actions we restore something that is often missed: hope!

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