The Global Education Benchmark Group Dialogues are a series of zoom calls with students and supervisors from several countries interested in having productive conversations on global issues or topics. Many of the topics are related to the Sustainable Development Goals or are based on topics extremel relavant around the time of discussion. In these discussions we are placed in breakout rooms with 8-12 people and one or two supervisors to help the flow of discussion. Topics are posed by certain questions and students are allowed to control the flow as they see fit. The zoom calls last about 1 hour with an intruduction to the program and topic, 30 minute discussion in breakout rooms, and ending with final conclusions and insight from those who run the program.
Bias and Censorship in Schools
Innovative Solutions in Sustainability
The Role of Women in Society
Student Leadership
Gender Equality
Below are reflections from a few of the dialogues I have participated in.
In this dialogue we discussed the right of schools to limit the education of their students by banning certain books and if certain language or phrasing that is outdated is truly acceptable to teach students. We looked at several perspectives and sides because each positive seemed to also have a negative counterpart. Overall this taught me a lot about what a schools value and how those values can provide a students education with biases.
This dialogue focused on the primary causes of pollution and what is being done to fix it. In My breakout room we discussed big companies, ocean pollution, and companies creating products that provide funding for pollution relief efforts. This dialogue was a good indicator of what countries have done, but it also exposed the work that needs to be done in the future.
Women in Society was my most valuable dialogue. I heard many interesting perspectives about women in society and talked a lot about wage gaps, stereotype, media coverage, and so much more. Going to an all girls school for most of my life definitely influences my beliefs so being able to share that perspective with others as well as hear competing or different ideas broadend how I feel about the topic.