The global scholars program

Global Scholars is an international virtual exchange program designed to develop the global competency of students ages 10 to 13. Over a nine-month program, Global Scholars students complete weekly lessons guided by their classroom teachers to learn about a central global issue, such as water security, and observe its impacts in their own lives and neighborhoods. They then exchange ideas with peers from geographically diverse cities in asynchronous online discussion boards. They ask questions to better understand one another’s context and perspectives and solicit feedback to help address the issue locally. They learn that problems like climate change, environmental conservation, and food security have complex causes, unique local impacts, and myriad solutions across countries and cultures.

Global Scholars students collaborate on real-world, project-based learning and share their work with peers around the world. Our program model is based on cycles of student discussion and feedback, in which conversations in the local classroom and international peer connections online reinforce one another. These interactions are primary texts for learning about the global problem they all study. Since 2014, nearly 139,000 students and 3,100 educators from 126 cities in 39 countries have participated. There are no fees to the schools.