Education

The Year of education: 2021-2022

For the past seven years, the Pace community has animated the school’s mission, To create prepared, confident citizens of the world, through the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) and its annual global theme. Students of all ages, led by our expert faculty and staff, have learned to think critically, challenge perceptions, embrace curiosity, develop global mindsets and build cultural appreciation by exploring issues surrounding Water, Food, Climate, Conservation, Energy, Waste and Global Health. During the 2021-2022 school year, we turn our attention to Education, a topic that undergirds all of our previous study. 

“Our exploration of this year’s theme focuses on Education from a global perspective,” reports ICGL Director Trish Anderson. “While we will do some comparative reflection on curriculum and pedagogy here in the U.S. and abroad, we’ll also dig into bigger issues such as global access to education, the relationship between education and economic development, how organizations and teachers are working towards educational equity and how education is adapting to the 21st-century needs of students.”

“How can we increase access to education in the world today?” tops the ICGL’s list of inquiries. Students, faculty and staff are examining the role education plays in overall social and economic development at the local and global levels and will hear from ICGL Visiting Scholar Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of CARE USA. Nunn will describe the organization’s work to overcome poverty and social injustice using education as a vehicle for economic development.

Asking “How have people past and present worked toward an equitable education experience for all?” helps frame lessons and discussions around educational equity in the U.S. and around the world. By working with organizations such as the Southern Education Foundation, Agape, CARE and the Carter Center we will explore policies and practices that elevate learning for low-income students in the southeast as well as globally.

Finally, the question “How do children learn best?” allows students to think critically about their own experiences, explore the differences between learning and education, participate in conversations to define “best” and investigate various educational systems around the world. 

“Although we have come a long way, there are still 121 million children between the ages of 6 and 15 out of school around the world - and that does not account for the children who missed school as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Anderson says. “I’m hopeful that as our students engage in hands-on activities, research, travel and debate, they will begin to think about the roles they might play in advocating for increased access to education for all children, as well as increased educational equity in the U.S. and abroad.”

As the Pace community embarks on an exploration of the issues surrounding the Isdell Center for Global Leadership’s (ICGL) 2021-2022 global theme of Education, Riley Alkire ’23, Brian Lee ’23, Leah Favero ’22 and Ryan Varma ’22 stand at the front of the class.

Selected as this year’s Isdell Global Leaders (IGLs) after an in-depth application process, the cohort has committed to a year-long study of Education that includes coursework, research and two travel opportunities, during which they will explore and evaluate various innovative approaches in secondary and tertiary education. 

“Our hope is that these IGLs gain a big-picture understanding of what future innovations in education may look like and how we might close the gap between elite, innovative and struggling schools,” says ICGL Director and IGL faculty adviser Trish Anderson

Alongside Associate Director of the ICGL Ted Ward, Anderson and the IGLs use their insights and experiences to inform their work on campus as they help enlighten the Pace community regarding the education-related issues facing the world today.

The 2021-2022 ICGL Student Council

This year, 13 Upper School students are partnering with Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) faculty to bring the topic of Education to life for the school community through events, educational initiatives and advocacy. 

The 2021-2022 ICGL Student Council includes Caroline Hood ’24, Henry Levenson ’24, Reed Millner ’24, Adair Smith ’24, Simon Gerber ’23, Victoria Hadley ’23, Caitlyn Pinsker ’23, Sammy Finkelstein ’22, Amalia Haviv ’22 and Pranavh Pradeep ’22.