Hi! My name is Adele Birkenes and I attend NIST International School in Bangkok, Thailand. This is a website to document my evidence for the elements required for the Global Citizen Diploma.
"The Global Citizen Diploma (GCD) is a high school diploma designed to complement the rigor of the academic program by recognizing a student’s whole education–learning that has taken place inside the classroom, within the larger context of school and in the world beyond. The GCD is a diploma of recognition, not addition. The intent of the GCD is not to encourage students to achieve more, but to encourage others to recognize and value more of the extraordinary things our students have already achieved.
In the traditional paradigm, we have relied on grades to determine who the best students are, to find the elite performers. But increasingly in the 21st century, we find this notion of the ‘academically elite’ inadequate. Where we once depended on a universal measure to determine what is best, we now accept that no universal measure fits all contexts. The paradigm has to shift from asking who is the best, to asking who is the best fit. We need to ask who, given a specific context, has the experience and strength of skills and attitudes to meet this particular challenge. Where traditional transcripts and diplomas provide a universal measure by which we can determine generally who the best students are, the GCD provides a holistic measure of what students are best at as individuals. By recognizing the diversity of talents and passions students possess and can apply, the GCD makes it easier for potential employers and university recruiters to see all of the ways a student will fit into their organizations and institutions, all of the ways GCD graduates will be able to contribute meaningfully to their communities."
-Excerpt from the Global Citizen Diploma website; read more at http://globalcitizendiploma.org/.
"The Global Citizen Diploma (GCD) is a high school diploma designed to complement the rigor of the academic program by recognizing a student’s whole education–learning that has taken place inside the classroom, within the larger context of school and in the world beyond. The GCD is a diploma of recognition, not addition. The intent of the GCD is not to encourage students to achieve more, but to encourage others to recognize and value more of the extraordinary things our students have already achieved.
In the traditional paradigm, we have relied on grades to determine who the best students are, to find the elite performers. But increasingly in the 21st century, we find this notion of the ‘academically elite’ inadequate. Where we once depended on a universal measure to determine what is best, we now accept that no universal measure fits all contexts. The paradigm has to shift from asking who is the best, to asking who is the best fit. We need to ask who, given a specific context, has the experience and strength of skills and attitudes to meet this particular challenge. Where traditional transcripts and diplomas provide a universal measure by which we can determine generally who the best students are, the GCD provides a holistic measure of what students are best at as individuals. By recognizing the diversity of talents and passions students possess and can apply, the GCD makes it easier for potential employers and university recruiters to see all of the ways a student will fit into their organizations and institutions, all of the ways GCD graduates will be able to contribute meaningfully to their communities."
-Excerpt from the Global Citizen Diploma website; read more at http://globalcitizendiploma.org/.