One Student at a Time: Leading the Global Education Movement

This is a study of the challenges faced by education leaders who are working around the world to expand educational opportunities, with an analysis of the lessons they have learned in addressing these challenges.

Fernando M. Reimers is the Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education and Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative and of the International Education Policy Masters Program at Harvard University. He is an expert in the field of Global Education. His research and teaching focus on understanding how to educate children and youth so they can thrive in the 21st century. As part of the work of the Global Education Innovation Initiative he leads, he and his colleagues conducted a comparative study of the goals of education as reflected in the curriculum in Chile, China, India, Mexico, Singapore and the United States, published as Teaching and Learning for the 21st Century. Two recent books present innovative global citizenship curricula. Empowering Global Citizens a complete K-12 curriculum of global citizenship education, and Empowering Students to Improve the World in Sixty Lessons. Version 1.0. Two recently edited books compile the results of informed dialogues, designed to foster collective impact in the areas of teacher education in Massachusetts (Fifteen Letters on Education in Singapore) and in the area of Scaling 21st century education programs (Empowering All Students at Scale). Professor Reimers has led the development of several innovative programs at Harvard University, including the masters degree program in International Education Policy and various executive education programs. As chair of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education he works with all public institutions of higher education in the State developing institutional strategies to enhance the relevance of their programs. He has advised a range of institutions of higher education on strategies to advance the global awareness of undergraduates and serves on the board of Laspau, a Harvard affiliated organization whose mission is to strengthen institutions of higher education in Latin America. He has advanced the development of programs to provide students and recent college graduates opportunities to engage in service and to develop civic, global and leadership competencies through his service on the boards of numerous education organizations and foundations including Teach for All, World Teach, the Global Scholars Program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, Envoys, and the scholars advisory council of Facing History and Ourselves. He is a commissioner in the US Commission on UNESCO.