Global Learning for K-12 Schools
School change is a long and slow process, but it does not have to cause conflict. Our school consulting helps school leaders pursue simple global learning strategies that can cause sweeping change while meeting the needs of diverse stakeholders. In our experience as an education consulting company, school leaders often overestimate what can happen in one year. But, they underestimate what can happen in five years with the right mix of strategies.
Our expertise in education consulting at World Leadership School is helping K-12 schools make a pedagogical shift to global learning, which we define broadly as learning that is connected to the world, experience-based, and student-centered. The best global learning programs not only help students develop key 21st century skills, but also foster innovative young leaders who know how to create change and have a deep sense of purpose.
We believe that teachers must own and drive the change for it to be successful, but school leaders have to provide the framing vision and strategies.
Strategic Planning for Global Learning
At World Leadership School, we have worked with dozens of diverse schools to help design and launch global learning programs. This experience allows us to understand a range of different strategies and approaches, which work according to the culture and vision of each school. Our education consulting services provoke a rich conversation with administrators, faculty leaders, parents, trustees, and other key stakeholders. We believe strategic planning should be fun, inspiring, and mind-blowing. We also believe that high-quality strategic planning should lead groups to make concrete commitments and define clear next steps. We are often called in to help a school with strategic planning when a school is trying to make a major shift.
In our experience, the most effective way to drive change in a school is to work at different levels of a school at once. Our student travel programs pump new energy into a school by inspiring students and faculty. Our educator development workshops, coaching, and travel programs allow teachers to use this energy to create change in the classroom. Our administrative consulting helps school leaders see new ideas, design creative global programs, and develop school change initiatives.
Different schools have different entry points into working with WLS, depending on where they are and what they need. Many schools start with a single student travel program that builds energy year after year.
Other schools ask WLS to begin by working with their teachers. We encourage schools to identify a handful of teachers who are open to new approaches and want to go deeper in their teaching. Through our Virtual Coaching Institute, we provide one-on-one coaching to help these teachers develop new kinds of learning experiences that embody the future of learning at their school. These learning showcases can help inspire other teachers and prepare the ground for larger in-service workshops. Our in-services offer on-site experiences, which develop inspiration and capacity across all disciplines and grade levels, with a focus on global integrations and student-driven pedagogies, such as Project-Based Learning. Travel programs for teachers can be deeply transformative, helping to shift their world views and, consequently, the way they approach their practice in and out of the classroom.
In other cases, we begin by working with a school’s leadership team and faculty thought leaders on strategic planning and global education program design. Often, our role as an outside facilitator is to galvanize a key group of school thought leaders around an initiative. In other cases, we work with a school leadership team on off-campus risk management prior to conducting a full-day training with trip leaders. We work on specific initiatives that we help clearly define before our visit.
Explore WLS
Student travel locations
