What Pushed Us to Start the 100 Acts of Global Citizenship Initiative?

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Each child is unique— with a unique learning style and varying depths of understanding drawn through diverse experiences and exposures. Children are both natural learners and problem-solvers. Yet, the traditional approach to education does not wholly recognize this and leaves little-to-no-room for a child to meaningfully put into practice his/her knowledge and skills in real contexts. Educators should harness the natural attributes and learning abilities of a child through encouraging transformative education beyond-the-textbook that unleashes their true potential helping them hone their curiosity, knowledge, skills, and competencies — through exploring, experiencing, discovering and designing models.

Moving beyond learning by rote and memorization, project-based learning harnesses the natural learning abilities of a child, and if done right, can foster self-directed learning, student-agency, empathy and kindness, democratic values, social-entrepreneurship, service-leadership and other 21st century skills like — critical thinking, collaboration, team-work, project management, and decision making.

Project-Based Learning is not just about making the child complete a particular task or project but it is about helping the child learn by both doing and reflecting on the entire process — right from pre-planning to the actual implementation of the entire project. In the entire process, it is very essential to pay special attention to developing critical reflection skills that foster deeper-thinking.

With project-based learning rooted in real contexts, it becomes more important than any other, to encourage the child to believe in his or her ability to make sound decisions, value critical feedback from peers and mentors, bring about the desired results. Also, Project-based learning should prepare the child to recognize failures as an important step in learning and in applying the learning in doing better the next time. Often times, the most neglected aspects of project-based learning are process-orientation, decision-making and reflection skills. Educators and individuals fostering project-based learning should place unconditional trust in the ability of young people, encourage them and push the limits higher for them do what one assumes to be impossible and unachievable. One should keep in mind, if it is not process-oriented, project-based learning is just a little more than lip service and a feel-good activity.

One cannot easily deny that young people are one of the most valuable assets, catalysts of positive change who can find innovative ways of overcoming local and global challenges and create a more inclusive, just, peaceful, prosperous, secure and sustainable world for all. However, our efforts do little to empower young people to recognize their rightful place and integrate fully within the communities and societies they live in. With a rise in cynicism, apathy and growing appeal of extreme political ideologies coupled with a lack of skills and opportunities to be successful in today’s highly competitive job market — the future of many young people around the world looks dreary.

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Laureate in her speech at the UN asserted that “One child, one teacher, one Pen, and one book can change the world'. The fact is, as per the UN, we currently have over 1.8 billion young people in the age group of 10-24 and by 2030, the world will be home to over 2 billion 15-year olds. Imagine, the kind of transformation, these 1.8 billion young people could bring to our world if we prepare them to leverage their full potential and empower them to advance the cause of a more inclusive, just, peaceful, prosperous, secure and sustainable world for all. The world has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to empower such a large group, that is best positioned to help achieve and advance the Global Goals on Sustainable Development.

SDG 4 (Quality Education) is at the heart of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. There is a clear need for education professionals and educational institutions — from kindergarten to university— to step forward to tackle the rising "disconnect" and "skills gap" crisis among young people. Process-Oriented Project-Based Learning is an empowering approach that educators can adopt to overcome these crises.

The 100 Acts of Global Citizenship Young Changemakers initiative is an earnest effort to offer to young people the tools, resources and support system necessary for them to prepare to be impactful changemakers, global citizens and global leaders who have the vision and will to advance humanity; ensure sustainable development and peace; make a tangible difference to any issue facing our communities and the world.

The Global Citizenship Foundation conceptualized the design of 100 Acts of Global Citizenship initiative to empower the 1.8 billion young people and foster among them a humanitarian competition to address the most pressing problems and challenges of the 21st Century.

The 100 Acts of Global Citizenship initiative came into existence because of the Global Citizenship Foundation's inherent desire to enable educators to empower young people to believe in their own potential and power to catalyze change, create impact and contribute towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, while honing and enhancing their skills and competencies that are essential to preparing them for both the job market and the 21st-century world.

We believe our #EveryActMatters. And if you do too, then we know you are more than just ready to be a Young Changemaker and/or the 100 Acts of Global Citizenship Ambassador!

To know more about 100 Acts of Global Citizenship initiative and join the movement, do visit: https://www.globalcitizenshipfoundation.org/hundred-acts