For students to succeed in today’s global marketplace, it is vitally important that they are exposed to cultures and customs that are different from their own. It is up to educators and administrators from PreK-12 through the post-secondary level to broaden their lessons to account for the increasing global nature of the world in which we live and work.
While I am convinced that studying abroad and immersing oneself in another culture is the most effective method to gain a global experience, it is not the only way. Today’s technology can unite classrooms from Madrid to Moscow to Memphis. Curricula can be enriched by foreign languages, and studies of different cultures. Teachers and students can be encouraged to share lessons about their own heritage, enlightening those around them about their family’s culture and traditions. Through these methods, we can underscore the themes of respect and tolerance, while at the same time better preparing students for an increasingly global workplace.
One of our strategic goals here at MassBay Community College is to provide a student-centered learning environment in which a diverse student body explores, develops, and achieves educational goals. We cannot hope to prepare our students for the global economy if we do not bring to our campus lessons of differing cultures and ideas from around the world. Our exchange programs provide lessons and experiences that cannot be learned in a classroom or laboratory, and our programs enrich the student experience at MassBay in an immeasurable manner. These international educational opportunities distinguish MassBay in the community college sphere and allow us to offer opportunities to our students, faculty, and staff that are usually only offered at senior colleges.
I encourage all of you to embrace the idea that building bridges across cultures is of vital importance to the growth of any school, and has become not an option but a necessity for your students. Recently a major global firm informed a group of higher education leaders that given the choice between hiring two college grads, he will hire the one who is bilingual and multicultural and/or one who has traveled abroad. In addition, more and more companies have an overseas presence, and Asia, with its more than one billion citizens, is a region that successful citizens of the world will need to connect with.
I am inspired by the dedication and vision of the people I have had the opportunity to meet during my travels and I am convinced that these relationships will forever enhance and enlighten the experience of the students on our campus. I urge you to consider what a global perspective will do on yours.
|
