Cultivating Active Global Citizens: A Middle School Journey
Meeting with the WAB Senior Education Leadership Team (SELT); left to right: me, Global Citizenship Coordinator Angie Crouch, Middle School Assistant Principal Huiman Cheng, Director of Innovation in Learning & Teaching Stephen Taylor, High School Assistant Principal Brent Abrahams, and High School Principal Dr. Jaime Pustis.
In the quest to nurture authentic and engaged global citizens, many international schools are navigating the complex terrain of how to translate their mission statements into tangible student experiences.
The question becomes: How do we move beyond theoretical frameworks to create authentic learning environments where students develop the mindsets and skills to make meaningful contributions to our world?
I like to ask another question: How can our mission statements and core values be lived, not laminated?
I recently had the privilege of interviewing Huiman Cheng, Middle School Vice Principal at Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), following our collaborative work on campus. Our conversation explored WAB's innovative approaches to global citizenship education and revealed powerful insights about curriculum design that prioritizes student agency and community impact.
Huiman works closely with WAB’s Global Citizenship Coordinator Angelia (Angie) Crouch. Angie has been consolidating and building the all-school global citizenship program at WAB in the curriculum and co-curricular clubs and activities, and she’s been instrumental in adding layers of depth to the WAB student experience in bringing the school mission to life.
From Service Learning to Global Citizenship: WAB's Evolution
While WAB uses the term “global citizenship” to capture its core philosophy and programming for community engagement, the foundation of service and making a positive difference has always been central to the school's mission: "Connect, Inspire, Challenge and make a difference."
"Since the beginning, WAB students have been engaged in service learning, taking actions and making a difference to the world," Huiman explains. And as the WAB team has gone deeper with this work, a collective understanding has evolved to emphasize the importance of connection (with ourselves, others, and the natural world) and reciprocity (with community partners).
"Our reciprocal partnerships are where we are supporting and providing actions and services to others and, at the same time, where we are learning from others as well," she notes.
Co-Creating Curriculum: The Middle School Garden Project
One striking example of this reciprocal learning approach is WAB's middle school garden project. Rather than simply telling students about a vacant piece of land available for learning, a few years ago educators invited sixth graders to reimagine its purpose.
Using a "fishbowl" discussion format (where students engaged in dialogue in centre circle and teachers observed without interrupting), the sixth-grade students designed an interdisciplinary project that connected the garden to multiple subject areas.
"They were very ambitious," Huiman shared. "They connected with all the subjects based on what they know of the subject areas and how they could use this opportunity to engage in real, sustainable farming."
The students envisioned supplying organic vegetables to the school kitchen and creating a leisure space for the community. This exemplifies the power of co-designing with students and giving them ownership of developing authentic learning experiences.
The grade 6 garden project is now serving as a focal point for the grade-level theme related to sustainable food and farming.
Reigniting Active Global Citizenship Post-COVID
The pandemic significantly disrupted many of WAB's student engagement initiatives, particularly in the middle school where global citizenship activities aren't necessarily tied to external IB assessment requirements.
"For the last couple of years, we’ve been exploring how to reactivate global citizenship in the middle school," says Huiman.
While I was on campus in the spring of 2025, this was one of the areas where I was able to ideate, design, and support the WAB middle school team. This surfaced in sessions with:
The school leadership team
The middle school student welfare team
The MYP Individuals and Societies teaching team
The middle and high school Social and Emotional Learning team
During these sessions, we explored several strategies and tools for embedding active global citizenship in the middle school curriculum and in grade-level partnerships with community partners.
One tool, a 4-part “head-heart-hands in action” framework for planning units rooted in service and community engagement, was particularly useful and impactful. Huiman liked this framework so much that she collaborated with me to use it in designing an all-MS faculty professional learning session the week after my campus visit.
“We’re really excited to take this work to the next level and to establish very strong grade-level themes that align with community partnerships,” explains Huiman.
Speaking to the Heart: The Missing Element
During our workshops, one insight that particularly resonated with Huiman and her team was the importance of considering "heart" questions and goals in curriculum planning.
"The biggest thing I've taken away from our conversations so far is the heart piece," Huiman emphasizes. "I firmly believe when we speak to the heart, regardless of what we are talking about—learning, global citizenship, or how we deal with everything around us—when we're speaking to the heart, then we are truly talking about actions, the hands and the mind."
In using the “head-heart-hands in action” framework, the heart component asks teachers to consider what they want students to care about in the unit. In terms of local and global issues, or key concepts and takeaways, what do they want students to become passionate about, to care deeply about? Not only will this spark deep student engagement and learning, but it will also provide a meaningful foundation for community engagement, inquiry, and service as action.
The identification of this key approach led the WAB PYP coordinator to ask, during a curriculum design session with elementary educators: "Why haven’t we thought of adding a heart box to the unit planner?"
Graphics related to the “head, hearts, hands in action” curriculum planning process I use with WAB educators (augmented with AI line art).
Mapping Grade-Level Themes: A Collaborative Process
With this heart-centred approach in mind, Huiman asked me to help plan a professional development session for the middle school faculty focused on mapping curriculum connections. What was scheduled as a 90-minute planning workshop extended to three hours as teachers enthusiastically engaged in the process.
"At the 90-minute mark, we could have transitioned to a new learning task, but I could see that everyone was really engaged,” reflects Huiman. “I asked teachers to raise their hands if they wanted to continue the conversation, and unanimously, everybody did. They wanted to continue the conversation and dive more deeply into the global citizenship plans we've started with each grade level."
The teams articulated clear grade-level themes that connect curricular aims and key units with existing initiatives like China studies trips, cross-divisional buddy programs, SEL curriculum, flexible learning time, and afterschool activities. They captured these connections through portraits representing what students might be thinking, doing, and feeling by the end of each grade level.
Below: images from the grade-level team notes during the PD session, along with photos of the middle school teams collaborating, ideating, and planning for curricular global citizenship and community partnerships.
Sustainability in Action: The Grade 7 Example
The seventh-grade team exemplifies how these grade-level themes can create coherence across the curriculum. Building on a "Day X" thrift market event organized around sustainability related to consumption and consumerism, teachers expanded this concept into a year-long focus with multiple touchpoints. At WAB, there is a “Day X” in the academic schedule where all students can focus on cross-divisional partnerships and service.
Rather than hosting a one-off event in grade 7 about mindful consumption of resources, teachers created a new timeline to engage students with sustainability concepts throughout the school year. The new timeline involves introducing the theme in August, creating a repurposed gifts market around the December holidays, and culminating in a community celebration during the school's spring "Rock in the Park" festival.
The team even proposed creating a permanent "closet" or mobile store for donated items that students would manage year-round, learning practical skills in entrepreneurship, budgeting, inventory management, and responsibility.
This approach connects naturally to curricular elements, from the annual science showcase (where projects use recyclable materials and connect to the UN Sustainable Development Goals) to partnerships with the school's food service provider to reduce single-use packaging and improve student awareness about nutrition.
The school's community partner, "Roundabout", which is located just ten minutes from campus, offers regular opportunities for students to volunteer during flexible learning blocks by shelving donated items and experiencing service beyond the classroom walls.
Triple Well-Being: Self, Others, Planet
These initiatives reflect a holistic framework of "triple well-being," which is based on caring for self, others, and the planet as interconnected aspects of global citizenship. Huiman is keen to use the triple well-being framework to anchor more of this work in the WAB middle school.
"When we talk about curriculum initiatives or any priorities that we need to focus on as a school, we always start with our mission and with our students in mind," Huiman explains. "We believe in our kids' capability, and we truly offer opportunities to the students and listen to their voices."
Principles of Triple Well-Being (designed by Thoughtbox Education).
Education for a Digital Generation
The urgency of this approach has only increased in our post-pandemic world, where students are growing up in an increasingly digital environment.
"This generation that we're raising...what they're experiencing and what they grow up with is very different from us as educators," Huiman observes. "They live in this digital world that is going to be part of their lives, and in education, I think it becomes even more urgent and important that we engage kids in real-life, hands-on activities where they can build empathy, connection, and relationships with each other."
Getting Started with Head, Heart, Hands
For educators looking to begin similar work in their schools, Huiman recommends starting with the head-heart-hands approach as a simple way to ground curriculum planning. This framework offers an accessible entry point for teachers to rethink existing units through a global citizenship lens.
The head-heart-hands framework provides a practical starting point for educators looking to infuse global citizenship into their curriculum:
Head: What do we want students to know and understand?
Heart: What values, attitudes, and emotions do we want to nurture? What do we want students to care deeply about in this learning experience?
Hands: What thoughtful, informed, and reciprocal action(s) do we want students to take?
By intentionally addressing all three domains, educators can create learning experiences that develop knowledgeable, compassionate, and active global citizens.
Below: some photos from my work with WAB. Left to right: preparing for deep listening through story circles with high school students and community partners; crossing the WAB bridge with Global Citizenship Coordinator Angie Crouch; and engaging in a photo shoot for a WAB podcast episode about global citizenship.
This blog post is based on a conversation with Huiman Cheng, Middle School Vice Principal at the Western Academy of Beijing. I am excited to partner with WAB to support the continued growth of their vibrant all-school global citizenship program.
