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http://www.globaleducationfirst.org/220.htm How does the work with Global Citizen Education assist the work of pastoral formation in theological education? from Global Education First: Barriers to global citizenship Legacy of the current education system.  Schools have traditionally prepared people to pass exams, proceed to the next level and graduate into the workplace. We now face the much greater challenge of raising global citizens. Promoting respect and responsibility across cultures, countries and regions has not been at the centre of education. Global citizenship is just taking root and changing traditional ways of doing things always brings about resistance. This entails changing the way education is organized— making content more relevant to contemporary life and global challenges, introducing innovative and participatory teaching and learning styles. We must rethink the purpose of education and prepare students for life, not exams alone. Outmoded curricu...

I was invited to participate in a conversation with two students scheduled for the same day I departed for a consultation on the impact of globalizing forces in US seminaries. The two students are leaders in their ecclesial community, seminary students looking to pastor, and Spanish speakers from very different Latin American countries. They came to our office to ask “how can the seminary become a bridge for Hispanic or Latino/a communities in West Michigan?” The students shared something I did not expect: Holland, Michigan is home to more than 20 Spanish-speaking congregations. This news was jarring to me, and I am not able to shake this information. Really?!?.... Holland, Michigan, this assumed Dutch colony in middle America, has a vibrant Spanish speaking Christian community?!? I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. I am not sure that our faculty knows this reality; I am quite certain that our students, who are temporary citizens of Holland, know this reality. Leading the church in m...