About Global Village School: Vision, Values, Philosophy

What makes Global Village School unique?

We seek to help our students live authentic and meaningful lives. We value peace, justice, compassion, sustainability, community, and integrity. We have an abiding appreciation of diversity, creativity, our fellow beings, and our shared Earth.

We are like a "regular" school in many ways. We prepare our students for college and we have courses, teachers, diplomas, and transcripts. We are also unique in many ways:

We emphasize peace, justice, diversity, and sustainability
We offer both web and text-based courses
We are creative and flexible
We customize curriculum based on student needs, interests, and learning styles
We acknowledge the value of life learning and grant credit for numerous activities
We actively value creativity and independent thinking
We strive to have our students leave school feeling confident in their abilities to make an impact on the world around them.

Global Village School provides students throughout the world with a high-quality education that promotes peace, understanding, and respect. It is an education that supports students in truly being themselves, encourages them to follow their dreams, and helps them to become wise and capable stewards of the planet and each other. We work to nurture and protect the passion and enthusiasm for creating a better world that comes so naturally to so many young people.

We believe that everyone has the right to receive an education in a safe, supportive environment. Accordingly, we provide a healing and empowering international learning community. In our view, knowledge and understanding are the keys to a true global community—one in which people celebrate differences rather than being defined or divided by them.

Our values include peace, compassion, justice, sustainability, community, integrity, appreciation of diversity, caring for the Earth and our fellow beings, creativity, and living an authentic and meaningful life.

Our approach is creative and flexible. We believe that students learn best when they are fully engaged in their studies. We encourage self-directed learning rather than trying to make everyone study in the same way. We customize curriculum based on student interests, needs, and learning styles. We believe in engaging students in studies that inspire inquiry, encourage communication, and foster cooperation. We endeavor to support the development of thoughtful, compassionate and aware people who will provide a constructive and hopeful foundation for future generations (click here to read student and parent testimonials).

Our teachers are highly qualified; they are chosen for their commitment to our vision of promoting peace, understanding, and respect as well as for their flexibility, skill, and compassion.

Our partners include many organizations around the world; these relationships provide expanded opportunities for our students while enabling us to support progressives who share our vision of building a better world.

Our Goals: To prepare students to be global citizens by providing an international forum for students of all backgrounds to learn to value and understand each other. To increase peace and understanding in the world through an educational program that teaches students about the culture and contributions of all groups of people and that presents role models and examples of peaceful coexistence among people of differing backgrounds. To provide a safe, affirming, high quality educational program, accessible to students across the globe, that supports students in being who they are and that respects and values all people.

We have a holistic approach to education, and to students; meaning that we see the student as a whole person (including body, mind, emotions, and spirit) and make our academic decisions from that viewpoint. We also like to look at the world, and subject matter, as a whole.  It does not work to strictly separate ideas and concepts into one subject or another; there is always overlap.

Ours is a "student centered" school.  We believe that the academic material and preparation for college or other future goals are very important; but that the students are most important of all.

Engagement: We believe that developing a love or appreciation for a subject is as important as the number of facts or topics that are "covered."

We value interaction between students and teachers.  We feel that more learning takes place through engaging the students in thoughtful discussions and activities, rather than solely presenting information.

We value creativity and flexibility in our teachers.  Students do better when they have a voice in their learning, and when subject matter can be adapted to the various needs and interests of each individual student.

Celebrating Diversity: We believe that every student has the right to receive an education in a safe, supportive environment. We welcome everyone, regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, national origin, age, sex, or disability. We celebrate the richness and diversity of our world and invite you to do the same.

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