Additionally, I have been a part of a leadership camp called Ontario Educational Leadership Centre (OELC) in Orillia, Ontario that runs a one-week program for grade six students entitled “Grade 6 Leadership for Innovation and Creativity.” This course is relevant to global literacy, as its programs are based upon the UN Sustainable Development Goals with emphasis on cultivating young, global citizens. The week begins with an introduction to the current state of the global issues/goals and what the projections are (see attached video by Malala Yousafzai), and each day students have the opportunity to partake in a different workshop that educates on and inspires change towards one of those SDGs in a way that they can take their knowledge home with them to affect change in their communities.
For example, in the workshop “Water, Water, Everywhere” leaders are given a bucket that holds a gallon of water. They are instructed to fill this bucket with water from Lake Couchiching, carry it up a hill back to their “home base,” and construct their own water filter to create “clean drinking water,” as a reflection of the everyday, unsanitary conditions citizens from across the world live in. As a result, this hands-on learning experience is not only creative and challenging, but it encourages students to reflect on how difficult this process is and how they felt experiencing that in comparison to the reality that others live in every day. By stepping out of their own life and into somebody else’s shoes, the leaders are better able to construct knowledge of global conditions and barriers, and consequently feel inspired to cultivate change for the better as a member of their global community.
