Global Matters

The start of a new year often brings hope and intention for a healthy, happy, and peaceful year. This year, we are reminded of the beauty and value of peace by a group of monks from the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center who are engaged in a Walk for Peace. News reports, social media posts, and greeters along the 2,300-mile route allow us to follow this special journey between Forth Worth, Texas, and Washington, DC, as these monks seek to promote national healing, unity, and compassion. The journey began on Oct. 26 and is expected to end on Feb. 12. However, our personal journeys to promote peace continues.

As global educators, we are united in our goals to foster a culture of understanding, peace, inclusion, and community. Embedded in the United Nations Charter, articulated in the Declaration of Human Rights, and outlined in the Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace, international leadership stands united in our goals for lasting peace, harmony, and security. The pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals highlight peace in addition to people, planet, partnership, and prosperity. How are you teaching about and for peace in your classroom? Consider facilitating discussions centering current events in the news, reading aloud stories in peace-themed books recognized by the Jane Addams Children's Book Awards, and/or inviting students to explore and write stories, poems, and songs about peace related to their own lives. There are endless opportunities to integrate peace topics and themes through math, art, science, language arts, and social studies while helping students to recognize perspectives and investigate the complexities of our world. There is a reason why so many people ring in the new year with John Lennon's song, Imagine. And there is a reason why high school students from Salinas Union High School District travelled to Japan several years ago and sang Imagine (in Japanese) at the Okinawa Peace Memorial Park. These students studying Japanese language and culture also worked with their city council to plant a Peace Pole in the city of Salinas, CA, as both a reminder and a tribute.

What more can we do to promote peace?

On January 9, 2026, the California Global Education Project and the California History–Social Science Project partnered with the Glenn County Office of Education to host an all-day Youth Civic Leadership Summit at Chico State University. The Summit brought together approximately 140 high school students, educators, community-based organizations, and elected officials from across the region for a powerful day of learning, dialogue, and civic engagement. The day helped students learn from other leaders about civic engagement and begin to develop plans for a civic action project on their path to earn their Seal of Civic Engagement.

Designed to elevate youth voice and agency, the Summit helped students identify and articulate issues that matter to themselves and their communities. Through a mix of interactive activities, panel discussions, and planning sessions, students explored their personal motivations for civic engagement, examined local and global challenges, and contemplated how to support meaningful change. Community leaders, including two Superior Court judges, and students shared perspectives during panel presentations and lunchtime conversations, helping students connect lived experiences with real-world pathways for civic action.

The day began with a community-building activity that set a collaborative tone, followed by “Finding Your Why,” a session focused on purpose and passion. Students then engaged with local community-based organizations and officials to discuss pressing issues in their communities. Later, the “Changemakers” session highlighted how individuals and groups can work within systems to make a difference. The Summit concluded with an interactive sharing and planning session, where students developed initial ideas for civic action projects, identified potential collaborators, and clarified the values and goals driving their work through Talking Walls, table discussions, and reflective writing.

We have all heard reports of a rise in anxiety, depression, and disengagement among today’s students but what can we, as educators, do about it?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores how childhood has transformed over the past two decades. Drawing on research from psychology, neuroscience, education, and real world experiences, Haidt makes the case that these changes are deeply affecting students’ mental health, attention, resilience, and readiness to learn. The author examines the shift from play-based, face-to-face experiences to technology-based childhoods influenced by social media, constant connectivity, and reduced independence.

For teachers, this book provides a framework for a shared understanding about what we see daily in classrooms: reduced engagement, increased anxiety, and difficulty with focus. During our Global Book Talk on January 27, 2025 from 4:00-5:15, we will invite educators to:

• Reflect on how anxiety shows up in students’ behavior, learning, and relationships

• Discuss the role schools can play to foster resilience, deeper engagement, and joy

• Examine practical pedagogical and cultural shifts exemplified in the CGEP Global Competence Framework

• Engage in dialogue with colleagues to share strategies that increase engagement and focus

We will use The Anxious Generation as a catalyst for deep conversations about teaching, learning, and the needs of children today. This book talk is an opportunity to think collectively about how schools can be places where students grow academically, emotionally,and socially.

Come ready to question, connect, and consider what kind of classroom we want to grow. Register now!

Applications are now open for 2026 - 2027 Fulbright Teacher Exchanges! Apply by February 20, 2026, for Fulbright Teacher Exchanges taking place in the 2026 - 2027 academic year! Visit this website to learn more about the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program and the Fulbright Leaders for Global Schools Program to determine which best fits your qualifications.

Join CGEP for our annual California Global Education Forum on Saturday, February 28 (9 am - noon) to discuss global education efforts, ideas, challenges, and bright spots. Dreaming, Teaching, and Transforming our Global Future is the theme for this year's gathering. Come to listen, learn, share, inquire, and participate. In-person gatherings will be held at 7 locations (Humboldt COE, Yolo COE, UC Berkeley (ORIAS), Columbia School District, Justin Garza High (Fresno), Vista Heritage Global Academy (Santa Ana),and University of San Diego (featuring children's illustrator Rafael Lopez) and online for those who cannot attend in-person. Register today for more information about your preferred location.

Join the CHSSP for a week-long summer institute June 29 - July 3, 2026, devoted to strengthening civic learning in schools. In honor of America's Semiquincentennial, history teachers at all levels are invited to explore the roots of America's political traditions and analyze the ways that Americans have worked to claim freedoms over time. Working alongside leading scholars and colleagues, teachers will engage in rich discussions, develop classroom-ready resources, and deepen their understanding of history and civic education today.

All educators are invited to join CGEP for the Global Book Club book talk on January 27th at 4:00 pm. We will meet online to discuss Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Register online at tinyurl.com/CGEPbooktalk to receive Zoom link for this 75-minute discussion about personal and professional connections to the ideas and information presented in the book. When we meet, the author's new book for younger readers will be released, The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-filled World, so we can talk about that version as well!