GYLI Curriculum Summary 2010

GYLI Curriculum Summary 2010

Essential Elements of GYLI Programs... p. 1

GYLI Faculty Training ... p. 4

GYLI Curriculum Narrative ... p. 5

Essential Elements of GYLI Programs

Since the inception of Global Youth Leadership Institute, we have committed ourselves to bringing teachers and students together to address significant issues for our world. The issues we address include the importance of community and collaborative leadership, history, diversity and pluralism in our world today. We also examine what our roles are as leaders in the diverse world, where we fit in this global/historical landscape, and what gifts we bring to the table.

Our ultimate goal is to take this understanding of community and personal mission and transfer it to our schools and communities where we live. By working together, we hope to see this model take hold in our own small corner of the world.

Central to this idea are a few elements that have become essential to any GYLI program. They are essential because they bring into focus ideas that are of the utmost importance for our world today. All of our programs carry within them elements of each of these and we ask that participants deal with some of these challenging issues. By experiencing, discussing, and reflecting on these issues, it is our hope that GYLI participants will walk away with a better understanding of themselves and their essential role in our communities.

Environmental

Sustainability

Multicultural

Identity

Religious

Pluralism

Collaborative

Leadership

Circle of

Community

Collaborative Leadership

While ‘leadership’ is a term often used as a foundation for programs like GYLI, we approach this concept from a different perspective. Our understanding of ‘leadership’ is a leadership based on community and input from all stakeholders. It is our goal to eliminate, as much as possible, society’s misunderstanding of leadership. Too often in our world, and especially in our schools, leadership is defined as hierarchical and decisions are passed down from the top. GYLI’s model of leadership development is based on young people and adults sharing in the decision making process and often having students ‘take the lead’. We firmly believe that students and adults can, and should, be co-learners and co-creators. Certainly a hallmark of GYLI’s programs is how we break down society’s barriers between adults and young people and bring them together in meaningful and powerful ways.

Environmental Sustainability

One of the most pressing issues facing our world today is the condition of our planet. It is one thing to say that there is a problem, but it is more important to begin to address this problem in different ways. GYLI makes it a point to use nature and the environments of all three years as a teaching tool for our participants, showing that a sustainable future is key for our world as we move forward. Our programs take participants to the oceans to sail with the winds, to mountain sanctuaries to experience a deep connection to the land, and to international, tropical locations experience nature’s beauty and power for good. Wherever the location, nature is a hidden, but powerful teacher. By bringing young people and adults into close contact with new and challenging experiences, it is our hope that they will take those

connections back to their communities and begin to educate their friends and family members.

Multicultural Identity

Society’s understanding of diversity is often rooted in the color of someone’s skin. We mark our differences by checking the Caucasian, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and many others. However, our program looks at ‘race’ as only one small part of our identity. Diversity, as we define it in GYLI programs, includes our race, culture, values, upbringing, character traits and many other aspects. Our perceived differences soon become a bridge to common

understandings and experiences. This conversation is done in an effort to focus on our common characteristics, not divide us by our differences. Another piece of GYLI’s focus on diversity is that we make attempts to expose our participants to different cultures. By creating these cross-cultural experiences, it is our hope that perceived barriers are broken down and true connections are forged. Whatever the location, our purpose in dealing with issues of diversity is to break down misunderstandings that span cultures, languages, and history.

Religious Pluralism

In the years since the attacks on September 11, 2001 we have learned that there is a great need for not only cultural understanding, but an embrace of religious pluralism. The challenge we face as GYLI is to bring young people and adults together to discuss the challenges of a religiously diverse society and how we all can work together to promote understanding. We address this issue of religious pluralism in much the same way that we deal with issues of

diversity. The fact remains that there are thousands of different religions in our world and we must come to an understanding that we can coexist and seek common ground with people of different faiths, or even of no faith. The purpose of GYLI is not to proselytize or favor one religious practice over another. Rather, we seek to challenge our participants to examine their own understanding of religion, both their own and others as well. This is more than just achieving tolerance for people of other faith traditions. It is an attempt to look at what they believe and what they have to offer our wounded world, all of us working towards a deep understanding and standing together in community and solidarity.

Circle of Community

The most important piece of any GYLI curriculum is our desire for community. This element is what brings us all together and unites the other four elements. The four points of the compass both converge towards and radiate out from the center, but are all tied together by the bonds of community and the circle.

By coming together, young people and adults, we are able to forge strong relationships that last over time and space. The connections and bonds created in our programs are essential to not only our time together in the summers, but also for our relationships throughout the school year. We make concerted efforts to develop a strong sense of community that allows

participants to share from their hearts and be truly authentic, and also listen with their hearts and to be truly present to

everyone. By sharing the sacred circle with each other we bring to life an ancient Native American understanding that “when you put your knowledge in a circle it is not yours anymore, it is shared by everyone.”1

1

GYLI Faculty Training

A commitment to faculty development...

A major key to the success of GYLI programs is the recruitment and development of committed and skilled faculty members at each participating school, who accompany their students to GYLI programs and facilitate youth leadership in their schools.

Committed faculty members are essential to the effectiveness of GYLI summer institutes and to the process of continuing the learning process at their schools.

Faculty Training Conference

Every spring, GYLI holds a FREE three-day Faculty Training Conference for all of its participating faculty members. These teachers, administrators, and other school staff members attend the conference to prepare for the summer institutes and to build their classroom leadership repertoire. GYLI pays for all programming, lodging, and meals. Schools are responsible for all of their faculty members’ travel costs.

This training consists of:

• Overview of the GYLI program

• Workshops with nationally recognized professionals in the fields of leadership development, cultural diversity, global pluralism, and experiential education • Small group meetings with faculty and coordinators from your upcoming

summer institutes. In these meetings, faculty members become familiar with the schedule and ideas behind the institute, and what they can do to make it a productive experience for them and their students

• Presentations by GYLI students about projects that they have begun in their schools and communities

• Workshops on starting projects at your school with GYLI students

• Lodging, meals, and a comfortable environment in which to interact with faculty members from GYLI member schools around the country

GYLI Curriculum Narrative

Middle School Institute for Student Leaders

For students entering 7th and 8th grade

Locations:

1) Pine Point School, Stonington, CT 2) Marin Country Day School, CA

In the summer of 2010, GYLI will offer two Middle School Leadership Institutes, one at Pine Point School in Stonington, CT and one in Marin County, CA. Rising 7th and 8th grade students will have the opportunity to interact with students and teachers from other schools. GYLI is working to attract middle school students and faculty from across the country and from overseas for this five-day institute.

Students and faculty at the MSLI will engage together in fun, active, hands-on, activities that build leadership skills. Participants will be introduced to the ideas of race, culture, and religion, and the role that these ideas play in the formation of personal identity. Beyond this multi-cultural experience, the MSLI will focus on basic environmental issues. Both locations offer great facilities for learning about the environment: ongoing project on water quality, astronomical observatories, solar energy panels, and undeveloped land full of wildlife. The capstone of the institute will be a day of sailing on a schooner. At the end of this five-day program, students and teachers will create Leader Learning Plans, which will help them to become leaders in the process of creating change in their schools and communities at home.

GYLI Three-Year High School Program

Introduction

The GYLI core program is a three-year high school program that is experiential, hands-on, and transformative. It attempts to immerse all participants—both students and adult—into

experiences of pluralism based on religion, class, gender, age, cultural background, sexual orientation, and ability. Students and faculty then develop Leader Learning Plans (LLP’s), projects that will be implemented in their home schools and communities during the following school year.

Year 1: Sailing in the Wake of Our Ancestors

Locations:

1) Schooner Lettie G Howard - _{Mystic, Connecticut} 2) Schooner Denis Sullivan _{– Oswego, New York}

The Year 1 curriculum is an exploration of the self in the context of community. The "campus" will be an historic schooner in the Great Lakes or Atlantic Ocean with great history and majesty. Participants will apply theories about collaborative leadership during the challenges of a multi-day voyage. They learn to actually sail a tall ship, in addition to sessions on world

faith traditions, cross-cultural communication, and conflict management. Each student will prepare and present a Leader Learning Plan (LLP) which helps them transfer the learning back to his or her school. GYLI speakers and presenters introduce concepts such as the collaborative leadership model, religious pluralism, and systemic injustice. Studying the maritime history also brings up many current environmental challenges, and participants will learn about the many who have traveled before them. These ancestors have been models of patience, intelligence and courage that students must emulate to solve current problems.

An essential question of Year 1: "Who am I in a multicultural context?"

Year 2: Developing a Personal Leadership Vision

Location: Lama Foundation, New Mexico

In the second year of study, students travel to a unique region of the country, to explore the "personal geography" of leadership--a person's individual vision and unique direction. The setting is Lama Foundation, one of the most spectacular mountain sanctuaries in North America. Casting off modern technological supports, students and faculty experience human community in the tradition of the Pueblo Indian world view. They are guided by a native elder and discover the self-sufficiency that comes from a close relationship with the natural world. Leader Learning plans (LLP's) for the coming year reflect and refine new skills and a new vision to sustain students' growing global perspective.

An essential question of Year 2: "What internal visions guide my emerging purpose and my leadership?"

Year 3/Institute for Student Leaders: A Model of Global Pluralism

School teams from all parts of the world are invited to participate in this unique international gathering, especially schools that have either participated in GYLI Year 1 and Year 2, or schools that are involved in Challenge 20/20 partnerships.

There are 2 different options for the location of your Year 3 - ISL experience

Locations:

1) Costa Rica - United World College - Costa Rica and EARTH University 2) India - Mahindra United World College - India

1) Year 3 - ISL -Costa Rica

The main theme of Year 3 - ISL - Costa Rica is Environmental Sustainability and World Food Systems. This institute will take place between two world-renowned institutions that are dedicated to international understanding and sustainable development: United World College Costa Rica (UWCCR) and EARTH University. While staying at UWCCR, participants will engage in community interaction and learn about the school's commitment to peace, multiculturalism,

and the environment. At EARTH University in Costa Rica, GYLI participants will learn first-hand from EARTH students, who come from many nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Participants will also stay and work with local farming families, which form an agro-ecotourism cooperative that strives for sustainability in all its facets: economic, social, and

environmental. Following this powerful experience, students return home with Leader Learning Plans (LLP's) that allow them to enact change in their schools and communities. An essential question of Year 3 - ISL: "What is my role as a leader in creating sustainable world systems?”

2) Year 3 - ISL - India

The main theme of Year 3 - ISL - India is Global Poverty and Economic Development. This institute will take place at the central location of Mahindra United World College - India (MUWCI). MUWCI is an international school built for cultural and environmental

understanding. The site is equipped with green buildings, a biodiversity reserve, and situated near a hydroelectric dam. Carefully directed community interaction projects and home stays in the rural area surrounding MUWCI, combined with various community interaction projects in the city of Pune will give participants a great perspective on the various socioeconomic levels in the region. Participants will bring knowledge and research from their home countries to engage in substantive dialogue about global poverty, its sources, and successful and innovative approaches to economic development.

An essential question of Year 3 - ISL: "What is my role as a leader in creating sustainable world systems?”

Curriculum Highlights of each GYLI Program

Middle School Institute for Student Leaders

• Watch groups work on various projects – water testing, nature walks, astronomical observatory

• Meal preparation and clean up • 1-day sail aboard tall ship • LLP Presentations

Collaborative Leadership Training

• Collaborative Leadership Workshop

• Students take on leadership roles in watch group projects • Simulation and discussion of leadership in a school setting Multicultural Identity

• International population of participants • Discussions of personal identity

• Partnership with Mashantucket Pequot Museum – exhibit on race and identity Religious Pluralism

• International population of participants • Discussions of personal identity

Environmental Sustainability

• Pine Point as a model for sustainable design/renewable energy • Hands-on science inspires interest in the natural world

Personal/Team Challenge

• Scavenger hunt / other teamwork games and challenges Faculty Focus

• Teaching and facilitating leadership at your school • Journey to the Caring Classroom – by Laurie Frank

Year 1—Sailing in the Wake of Our Ancestors

• Watch groups • 5 C’s presentation • Work aboard the ship • West African drumming • LLP Presentations

Collaborative Leadership Training

• Collaborative Leadership Workshop

• Day 2 of sailing—ship turned over to the students • Observation, discussion of leadership aboard Amistad • LLP Presentations

Multicultural Identity

• Story of the Amistad / Denis Sullivan • 5 C’s presentation/discussions • West African drumming

• Work with crew of Amistad / Denis Sullivan, GYLI participants Religious Pluralism

• Religious pluralism conversation • 5 C’s conversation

Environmental Sustainability

• Experience of low-tech environment of the ship • Reliance on wind energy

• Conservation of fresh water/electricity aboard the ship Personal Challenge

• Climbing the rat lines Faculty Focus

• Reflection techniques

Year 2—Developing a Personal Leadership Vision

• Watch groups

• 5 C’s discussions—5 C’s of Change

• Work with Lama staff and residents (meals together, etc) • LLP Presentations

Collaborative Leadership Training • Personal Leadership inventory • Solo time

• Observation, discussion of Native Americans understanding of leadership • LLP Presentations

Multicultural Identity

• Native presenters—Native American understandings • 5 C’s discussions

• Work with staff of Lama, GYLI participants Religious Pluralism

• Shabat Dinner

• Prayers/songs before meals

• Meditation practices and techniques • 5 C’s conversation

Environmental Sustainability

• Experience of environmentalism/low tech environment at Lama • Sustainable building design at Lama

• Exposure to natural world on mountain hike Personal/Team Challenge

• Climbing Flag Mountain Faculty Focus

• The call of teaching

Year 3/Institute for Student Leaders: Models of Global Pluralism

• Watch groups

• 5 C’s discussions—5 C’s of Change • Small group discussions

• Home stay with other members of the GYLI group Collaborative Leadership Training

• Home stay with rural farming family • Small group discussions

• Student teams in charge of many tasks • Negotiations during conflict simulation Multicultural Identity

• International population

• Work with UWC and EARTH students and teachers from all countries • Work with farmers and community groups

• 5 C’s discussions Religious Pluralism

• 5 C’s of Awareness conversations Environmental Sustainability

• Workshops on solid waste – sorting garbage and recyclables at UWC EARTH • Overview of sustainability – environmental, social, and economic

• Hands-on work projects at EARTH in sustainable agriculture and at MUWCI biodiversity preserve

• EARTH community development model—first hand work during home stay • Tour of hydroelectric dam near MUWCI

Personal/Team Challenge • Home stay

• White water rafting Faculty Focus

• Environmentalism in Costa Rica/India and the USA—sustainable agricultural systems worldwide

• EARTH and MUWCI teaching and development model – round table discussions with EARTH faculty and staff