Glocal Perspectives Class Offers Students a Fresh Viewpoint

When Cannon’s Upper School World Languages team was designing a curriculum for a newly created global education course, they knew that they wanted to have an in-class service component to broaden students’ perspectives. In the Glocal Perspectives class—part of the revamped global education initiative spearheaded by the Department of World Languages—students explore issues ranging from ecological conditions to poverty through student-led discussions and experiential service learning. This translates into authentic interactions with people from different cultures that reveal shared commonalities of the human experience.

“Think globally, act locally has become our class motto,” says instructor Pablo Garcia. He teaches the class with the same approach that he used when teaching courses at the college level—engaging the students to lead active discussions that challenge viewpoints and foster critical thinking skills. An important component of the class is a weekly excursion off campus to volunteer somewhere in the community.

For the first trimester, Garcia’s students have partnered with El Puente Hispano, a nonprofit located in Concord that offers support services in language, health, and education to Spanish-speaking residents. Each week the students arrive to practice language skills with participants learning English. The conversations run the gamut from funny stories to personal challenges and are usually shared over coffee and a snack. Besides just offering service hours, volunteering opens many students’ eyes to challenges in their own backyard. “Even in your community, there are people and things you didn’t know about,” says Julia Schattner ’25.

Garcia sees the volunteer element as a way to assimilate cultural knowledge while giving back to the community. “It’s a way to help their own corner of the world while exploring challenges faced around the globe,” he notes. Students enjoy seeing the difference they can make in others. Brianna Larkins ’25 says, “Even small things, like helping someone learn English, can have a big impact.”

The Glocal Perspectives class allows students who have been enrolled in a language class for at least three years to qualify for the Global Education Certificate, which is endorsed by the Global Education Benchmark Group. The Upper School World Languages team plans to propose a similar course for juniors in the future.