Why is changemaker education so important?
Lottie Dowling
Manager – Going Global, Meg Languages
lottie@meglanguages.com
Our world is currently facing significant challenges. Climate change dominates the news, with concerning data on extreme weather events, food insecurity, migration and refugee issues. This has led to the development of climate anxiety. A 2023 YouGov poll found that more than three in four 16 to 21 year-olds are concerned about climate change, and two thirds link it to a negative impact on their mental health. 56 per cent reported increased concerns in just over the period of a year, with government inaction being the most frequently identified factor having an impact on youth mental health (Orygen 2023:3).
Australia is also currently facing a mental health crisis in young people. Mental health issues and eating disorders have risen since 2007 (Breen 2024). Though wellbeing programs are prioritised in schools, nearly 75 per cent of teachers feel inadequately equipped to address these issues (The Educator 2024).
To help young people respond to the challenges they are seeing, locally and globally, educators can assist students turn despair and anger into active hope, through providing meaningful teaching and learning opportunities that move beyond learning about these issues, to equipping them with the mindsets and skills to address them. Goodall (2021) notes that hope must be active, fuelled by human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power of youth and the indomitable human spirit (Abrams and Goodall 2021:36)
Being a Changemaker puts young people in that active state, driving their own learning. This cannot happen without authentic student voice and agency and, in the case of the Global Citizenship Ambassador Programme, student leadership.
The Global Citizenship Ambassador Program
The Global Citizenship Ambassador Program (GCAP) is a national, year-long program for primary and secondary schools across Australia, and run by Meg Languages from 2022-2024. Meg Languages is an Australian company that offers language and culture programs, along with Global Citizenship PD and student programs.
Participating primary and secondary schools select a small group of students from Year 5 upwards, to participate and represent their school. The program aims to develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values of global citizenship, in particular, those that young people need as empowered changemakers and student leaders. Students taking part in the program are referred to as Global Citizenship Ambassadors, or Student Ambassadors, and many adopted these titles at school for the duration of the program. Most schools view the program as a student leadership program.
The Student Ambassadors and accompanying educators meet online with the Meg programme facilitator and other participants across Australia for nine one-hour sessions, across three school terms. Between the online sessions, learning was facilitated by a nominated school educator, responsible for the student action projects that the students develop, throughout the year. Activities were provided by the programme facilitator for students to consolidate learning after the online sessions and to keep projects progressing, and supported in school by their educator. Program aims included upskilling educators’ ability to facilitate Student Action Projects, increase their awareness of why this type of learning experience is important and know where to find appropriate resources.
The program structure facilitates learning for the different stages of ‘taking action’, to enable and empower students to take action themselves around social or environmental issues within a school year. It starts by building a shared understanding of the concepts needed for changemaking and student action projects. Students then design solutions to address an issue they’ve identified locally. They then lead the solution’s implementation. The program concludes with student-designed and -led project presentations, sharing their journey in addressing local issues, including the challenges and successes, and sharing the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes they’ve developed through their action projects.
Project topics are unique to each school. In 2023 topics included environmental issues, inclusivity, wellbeing and mental health, global partnerships and community connections. These broad categories help identify the main theme of projects, however, some crossed multiple themes. Within these broader categories, there is always a variety of sub-categories, for example: environmental projects focus on specific environmental issues such as food waste, e-waste, plastic and rubbish reduction. The projects link across the curriculum, using a range of knowledge and skills.
Global Citizenship and Global Competence
The Global Citizenship Ambassador Programme introduces the concept of taking action, as an important part of being an active, informed global citizen. There are various definitions and models of global citizenship and global competence. In the program, definitions and models of both global citizenship and global competence were referred to, focussing on the ‘taking action’ aspect that is universal to both.
While there is no universally referred to model for global citizenship, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Global Competence Framework has become a commonly referenced model. The framework contains four domains:
1. Examine local, global and intercultural issues.
2. Understand and appreciate the perspectives and worldviews of others.
3. Engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions across cultures.
4. Take action for collective wellbeing and sustainable development.
In 2024, the Queensland Department of Education produced their own Global Competence Framework, similar to the OECD’s framework, but with student agency centred within four dimensions, also adding to each dimension a four-part ability continuum: Beginning, Developing, Embedding, Leading.
This fourth dimension of ‘taking action’ was introduced on the program to frame how Student Action Projects developed global competence.
Program Structure
The program was designed with four key stages, mapped across nine sessions:
Stage 1: Project Foundations - Understanding Changemaking
Stage 2: Project Designing
Stage 3: Project Implementing
Stage 4: Project Evaluation and Future Planning
Students were presented with the stages a little differently, which looked like this:
Meg Languages Global Citizenship Ambassador Program Structure Map
Pedagogical approaches and key ideas
Key ideas to set students up for success with their projects were introduced and explored in the program.
Student Voice, Agency and Leadership as underpinning concepts
The program aimed to have as much student voice and agency informing students’ projects as possible. In The Ladder of Participation by Hart, R. 1994, we see child-initiated shared decisions with adults as the highest level of student participation.
Hart’s Ladder of Participation
Child-initiated shared decisions with adults - is where projects or programs are initiated by children and decision-making is shared among children and adults. These projects empower children, while at the same time enable them to access and learn from the life experiences and expertise of adults. (Lewis 2023)
In the program, after the concepts of student voice and agency were introduced and explored, students were asked to actively use them in their projects, and educators were asked to facilitate learning experiences encouraging these throughout the year of project design and implementation.
The action projects were co-designed, with students encouraged to make as many decisions about their solutions and how to implement them as possible, and educators were asked to take the role of co-designers and to share the power of decision making with students. ‘The power balance in these relationships aims to be an equal balance between students and adults. Due to a variety of factors, such as educator understanding of these concepts and student’s confidence in ‘taking the power’, some of the projects were more towards stage 6 on Hart’s ladder.
Solving real-world problems for ‘real world learning’
Real world learning is a term that gets used in education to reference a range of different learning experiences, including learning that connects the school and the wider community or world, digitally or physically. It can include learning contexts such as solving real issues and problems at school or in the broader community, thus lending itself to the feeling that the learning is ‘real’, as it is relevant to students' lives and ‘the real world’. David Merrill (2002, Springer Nature) argues that learning is promoted when a number of principles are followed including: principle 1: learners are engaged in solving real-world problems; principle 4: new knowledge is applied by the learner; and principle 5: new knowledge is integrated into the learner's world.
Inclusive Leadership Practices
Inclusive Leadership was presented in the program as the ideal way for students to ‘lead’ the projects. Inclusive Leadership considers how we might embed the concept of ‘inclusion’ within a leadership approach. It encourages students to use consultation, active listening and a ‘shared power’ approach within their projects, just as educators were asked to do so with the Student Ambassadors. Inclusive Leadership asks the Student Ambassadors to co-design their projects with their peers, just as their educators were asked to co-design the projects with the Student Ambassadors.
Students used Inclusive Leadership in various ways on the program:
· community consultation for issue selection e.g. using surveys.
· asking others for ideas on different ways to address the issue once selected.
· inclusion of broader school community participation by inviting everyone to join initiatives.
· soliciting feedback from peers and the school community on solutions.
Solutionary Thinking vs Humanitarian Thinking
Solutionary thinking utilises critical and creative thinking to identify underlying causes of issues, ensuring student –designed solutions solve or improve issues. Types of thinking needed for solutionary responses include: critical and creative thinking, systems thinking, strategic thinking. Solutionary thinking requires identifying the interconnected systems that lead to problems, as well as the mindsets, beliefs and worldviews that give rise to those systems. This is where the inclusion of the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) in changemaker education is important, because the IDGs are required for solutionary thinking and taking action. Humanitarian actions are important to ease others’ suffering, however, do not address the root causes of issues, so don’t solve issues, just alleviate them, often for a short period.
Fundraising is an example of humanitarian thinking, as it can contribute to helping in the short term and ease suffering, but doesn’t directly tackle issues with the aim to improve their root causes. For solutionary thinking to be effective, critical thinking, systems thinking and strong subject knowledge is important to design effective solutions.
It’s also important to understand that some issues, particularly social issues, are extremely complex and it is unlikely that students, particularly younger students, are able to design solutionary responses. Experts working in specialist fields struggle to design solutions to these complex issues, so it is important that students are made aware of the complexity of issues and are not made to feel they are ‘failing’ in responses they design. For some schools in the program, a humanitarian response was chosen for their project e.g. Focussing on homelessness; however, they still were encouraged to analyse their issue with a solutionary lens. This assists them begin to understand how to use a solutionary mindset and approach to solve complex issues, to see the complexity of issues and to also see that their chosen solutions were, while important contributions, just the tip of the iceberg in solving complex societal issues.
“To create a more sustainable, equitable, and peaceful world, we must reimagine education and prepare a generation to be solutionaries - young people with the knowledge, tools, and motivation to create a better future.” Zoe Weil.
Design Thinking
Design thinking guides students through choosing issues, designing solutions, implementing actions, educating others , and inspiring action.. While not all stages are followed in a linear sequence (see the diagram below), students do start with the understand, then explore stages. Once they start implementing their solutions and projects, they move into the produce stage, although given the time-limitations of the project, students don’t ‘test’ their solutions. Instead, they implement their solutions in phases of short cycles of implementing and, when hitting problems, going back to the ideation stage, for redesign and alternative solutions. This creates dynamic projects that move between and across the design thinking continuum freely.
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is a philosophy and approach to understanding the world and the systems that make up the world. It is based on the idea that everything is interconnected and interdependent. Systems thinking tools are used in the program to support students’ understanding of issues’ root causes, which can then support their ability to design impactful solutions.
Systems thinking is also a sensitivity to the circular nature of the world we live in; an awareness of the role of structure in creating the conditions we face; a recognition that there are powerful laws of systems operating that we are unaware of; a realization that there are consequences to our actions that we are oblivious to. (Goodman n.d.)
GLocalisation
Glocal: reflecting or characterised by both local and global consideration. (Oxford Language Dictionary)
Using a GLocal focus for projects helps students understand how to ensure complex issues and themes, such as climate change, are still relevant to their immediate context, e.g. family, school, local community. Using a GLocal lens can help them see how local issues, such as rubbish in the playgrounds, contribute to larger issues, such as biodiversity loss or climate change. When Student Ambassadors start community education campaigns, Meg’s GLocal framework helps them see how, without using digital technologies, it is almost impossible to reach broader audiences. This is also referred to as the ripple effect.
Digital Storytelling for Authentic Audience
In the program, students were required to decide on which types of content were needed for their projects, then produce the content for authentic audiences. Content creation started with students identifying different audiences, and then they identified how audiences are motivated by different types of content. They were also asked to consider how to reach broader audiences in their school community and wider community safely, using media literacy strategies effectively. Student Ambassadors are encouraged to clearly differentiate content messaging for different purposes, including to educate, to inspire action, and to amplify messaging/content.
Students produced huge amounts of content for their projects, in a variety of formats: websites, social media content, posters, videos, infographics, logos and merchandise that supported their project such as t-shirts or badges.
Community Connections
In the session focused on community connections, students were encouraged to complete Community Maps, to help understand the different sub-groups that make up their community. This scaffolded thinking about who can be connected to and worked with for their projects. It encouraged thinking about different community sub-groups that might not previously have been considered.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and The Inner Development Goals
The Students Ambassadors learnt about and linked their action projects to both the The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Inner Development Goals (IDGs).
The program explored the SDGs, why they were formed and why they are important. Through them, students started to understand the broader global context for their issues and how communities, businesses, not for profits and governments globally are addressing similar issues. The Good Life Goals are based on the SDGs and respond to the challenge that the SDGs use academic language and concepts, which are often too challenging for younger learners. They counteract this by simplifying both language and concepts.
The program aims of ‘changemaking’ align to SDG 4.7:
By 2030 ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
The Inner Development Goals (IDGs) are a newer framework that aim to ‘co-create an essential roadmap that can assist us in navigating and developing our inner lives to catalyse outer change.’ The IDGs are new to many schools and educators globally, although there is an emerging movement to build education communities for the IDGS. Student Ambassadors were also asked to identify, and regularly reflect on the skills, dispositions and values, or IDGs, they were using to solve their selected issue.
Project outcomes
With each project having different issues and solutions chosen, there was a wide range of systems within schools implemented. For any of the project system outcomes there was a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ work that cannot be measured: education campaigns using platforms such as school assemblies, website development, videos, posters. Project outcomes for projects focussed on social issues e.g. cultural inclusion, were much harder to quantify, even though solution implementation required a lot of work.
Project outcomes included:
Increased educator capacity to facilitate learning for Student Action Projects.
Increased student ability and confidence designing and implementing Student Action Projects.
Changed student identities, with many students identifying as a ‘changemaker’.
Increased confidence and abilities in students’ leadership skills. Several students reported going on to secure student leadership positions the following year, attributing the program with developing their confidence and ability.
Students and educators both reported development in a range of skills over the course of the year e.g. critical thinking, creativity, problem solving.
School organisational changes as outcomes: Systemic and organisational changes in schools taking part were observed, with new systems implemented such as Nude Food Days, composting systems and new approaches to Social and Emotional Learning timetabling.
The articles in this issue of ReConnectEd illustrate the processes and outcomes as reported by participants. In addition to these, here are some of the project outcomes that students felt showed their project’s success in other initiatives in recent years.
“Tackling Homelessness Through Empathy”
St Mark’s Anglican Community School, WA (2022)
Aim: Make a positive contribution towards homelessness in their local area.
Outcomes:
Partnering with a number of community organisations to educate the community about homelessness and amplifying the impact of their projects.
Collecting and donating 34 bags of food in a Winter Food Appeal.
Cooking 157 individual meals.
Collecting and donating 62 bags of hygiene items.
Collecting and donating many bags of winter clothing, ‘filling the car’ with donations.
“Tackling Waste”
St Mary of the Angels Primary School, NSW (2022)
Aim: Improve the school recycling and rubbish systems to address the issue of ‘too much rubbish’.
Outcomes:
Redesigning the school rubbish and recycling systems, reducing rubbish left around the school grounds
Successfully convinced the local council to resume recycling pick ups from the school and organised the process including new signage needed
Introducing a ‘nude food’ approach for school lunchboxes, reducing waste
Designing and implementing education programs for both school rubbish and ‘nude food’.
Received town awareness for Environmental Citizens of the Year.
“Little Things with Wings”
Mullum Primary School, Vic (2023)
Aim: Rewild their school environment after using observations and surveys to identify the lack of ‘little things with wings’ in their school environment.
Outcomes:
Sourced local donations of indigenous and other plants and held a community Tree Planting day.
Ran a whole school art competition themed; Little Things with Wings.
Planned a new garden bed for the subsequent year.
“Waste Free Wednesdays”
Wembley Primary School, Vic (2023)
Aim: Reduce the amount of food waste at their school.
Outcomes:
Introduced Waste Free Wednesdays with Nude Food lunchboxes for Grade 5-6, along with other Sustainability initiatives.
Developed a new green waste collection system for Grade 5-6, with waste going to a newly bought and installed a sub-pod.
“Gender Bias in Playgrounds and Schools”
Murrumbeena Primary, Vic (2023)
Aim: Reduce the use of gender biased language by staff and students to increase female participation in playground games.
Outcomes:
Identified and purchased age-appropriate books for/in library for students and staff, addressing gender bias.
Introduced a girls’ lunchtime soccer club.
“Let’s Start Moving”
Alexandra and Hamilton College, Vic (2024)
Aim: Address a lack of interest and opportunity to take part in different sports.
Outcomes:
Started a weekly sports club offering different sports for students to try.
Increased sports equipment available to students for lunchtimes and clubs, through community donations.
References
Breen, G. (2024). There's a mental health crisis gripping kids today, but the way out is a job for all of us. ABC News.
Goodall, J. & Abrams, D. (2021). The Book of Hope. Ireland: Penguin Random House.
Goodman, M. (n.d). Systems Thinking: What, Why, When, Where, And How?.
Hart, R. A. (1992). Children’s participation: From tokenism to citizenship. Florence, Italy: United Nations Children’s Fund International Child Development Centre.
Lewis, G. (2023). Curating Inquiries: Curriculum Design and Mapping for Primary Schools. Melbourne: Amba Press.
Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instructional design. Educ. Technol., Res. Dev. 50: 43–59. Springer Nature
Orygen (2023). Youth mental health and climate distress: Results from a national Orygen and Yougov poll.
The Educator (2024). Wellbeing top priority for Australian schools - study. The Educator. Sourced
Weil, Z. (2021). The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries. New York: Lantern Press.