The Benefits of School-Curated Global Experiences

After a three-year hiatus, global education travel programs are back at La Jolla Country Day School and better than ever. While efforts are made every day to bring global perspectives into the classrooms from Tiny Torreys through Grade 12, students and educators are ready and eager to venture back into the world. 

When planning global programs, two primary goals are consistently at the core of our program design. The first, and most important, is safety: LJCDS works with national and international industry leaders in global education and travel to ensure that students are physically and emotionally safe from the moment they depart to the moment they return from wherever their travels take them. It is important to note that safety and comfort are not one and the same. While we ensure that students never feel unsafe in the programs, LJCDS creates conditions at key points in each experience where students may feel uncomfortable. When students are pushed off balance into their “stretch zone,” this is often where the most profound learning takes place. 

The second goal is to curate experiences that are difficult, if not impossible, to recreate as independent travelers. Each of the international programs is bookended by pre-program learning sessions and post-program reflection sessions. Before traveling, students begin to establish context for the experience as well as build relationships with their fellow travelers. Once they return, students reflect deeply upon their takeaways from their experience as individuals and as a collective and think about opportunities for action and ways to share their learning with members of the community. 

The program itineraries in the field go beyond tours and site visits; global program leaders spend time with students reflecting on their learning as it is happening and challenging them to apply new skills. Whether exploring museums, galleries or ruins, working on a service project, or connecting with peers of their age in another country, students are continually pushed to consider their place in the world, how they relate to others, and how global issues they encounter abroad connect to global issues they see and experience in their own communities. 

Each global program is built around the four domains of global competence as articulated by Asia Society. The spring 2023 programs tap into these competencies and provide unique opportunities for students to develop in each of these areas: