Beyond the Classroom: What Does It Take to Develop Great Human Beings?
The Role of Educational Travel in Personal Growth
As I drove down the street, the traffic slowed right down to a standstill. I idly looked out my right window and vaguely noticed the high school on the corner had a new sign. In big bold letters it proclaimed: “Developing great human beings”.
I decided that was a fantastic goal- our world could always use more “great human beings” these days. But then my busy mind started to do its normal thing and go on an analytical journey in my head. What exactly do they do to “develop great human beings” out of our young people? Was it more than a slogan?
Presumably it would include some things like learn respect of others, understand how people are different but all of value, improve patience and communication, become increasingly aware of the world in which they live and how they fit in it, develop humanistic qualities like empathy, care and friendship, and expand their minds with knowledge and confidence in a safe environment. Presumably these young people would come out of school capable, with enthusiasm and character, to find their way as well rounded individuals.
As the traffic finally moved forward at an annoying crawl, I realised that this also is what I try to do with my work. I’m a school travel agent and creating exciting educational tours that encourage exactly the development of all those qualities is what I love to do.
Overseas educational tours in particular are invaluable to young people for cultural awareness. It takes young people who might be confident in their own environment and space into a new one. One where they are exposed to differences and need to navigate and learn some new interactions and thinking. They see how interconnected the world is, because human beings, everywhere, even at their most distinct cultural level, have the same aspirations and flaws as anyone anywhere else.
Why Are Overseas Cultural Tours the Ultimate Way to Shape "Great Human Beings"?
Real-World Experiential Learning vs. Passive Classroom Books
In school, students learn secondhand information. Books, teachers, web stuff, and passive media. A young person is more engaged and active with learning that involves direct exposure and interaction with what they are learning. Learning about the Roman Empire and trying to relate isn’t nearly as exciting on the page as in real life, looking out and touching ruins of a past civilistion. Seeing for themselves how their culture did everyday things, from ancient public sanitation to eating at ancient fast food stalls. A STEM tour provides relevant hands-on experiences and sights that show how science is being developed and used in different ways in different societies. If you look up the invention of papermaking, it was from Chinese culture. The shinkansen bullet trains in Japan were engineered by a bird watcher who solved the sonic boom noise in tunnels by being inspired by the Kingfisher bird’s beak and Japan's cultural attention to nature.
Challenging Assumptions and Breaking Stereotypes
I am horrible for assuming. I’ve definitely been guilty of making an “ass out of u and me”. We assume a lot about cultures and peoples we don’t interact with. The more different, the less they seem like we can relate to them, or share similar values. Without a doubt, confronting our assumptions is part of becoming a better person, and unfortunately classrooms aren’t always successful in creating experiences where preconceptions are challenged. As a former teacher, I know young people’s worlds revolve around themselves as they develop their identities. An overseas tour can lead to encounters with different customs, values, and ways of life. Learning cultural context can give a great deal of meaning and understanding for those who do things differently. Stereotypes can be confronted.
Building Empathy Through Cultural Immersion
Immersion doesn’t just increase subject relevance. Overseas educational tours also create encounters with locals, trying unfamiliar food, or even trying out another language. This can build deeper empathy for others as they navigate what it feels like to be an outsider trying to understand their new environment. They generally have a limited experience of a society- their own area. Adventuring overseas on a tour created with safety as a priority allows them to explore a different environment before they become adults and do it on their own. It allows them to be exposed to the joys and challenges of being somewhere different without the worry, so they can focus on cultural understanding and personal growth.
Shaping Identity and Fostering Global Curiosity
Culture is what often creates identity. History, art, food, commerce, science, architecture, religion and more shape everyday lives everywhere. Going overseas on an educational tour gives greater contexts for human identities. Experiencing learning in other cultures invites comparisons with home. Some things a student may appreciate as an improvement (here I think of Europe’s water bottles with the lids that don’t fully come off, so they stay on the bottle instead of become trash littering the ground, or those surprisingly amazing heated public toilet seats in Japan). Some things a student will think is too alien or just not who they are, like perhaps eating dried crickets for a snack. Either way, that exposure to culture helps engage their curiosity and develop their own sense of self, while seeing how other cultures are also alive and always transforming.
Cultural awareness derived from overseas educational tours not only enhances knowledge of subject matter, but gives students cultural engagement that equips them to navigate our interconnected world with empathy, respect and genuine understanding despite difference. If that doesn’t help “develop great human beings” then I don’t know what will. If only those budding great humans would walk to school, my morning traffic would be a lot easier!
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