Students Equipped to Change the World

Caxton College is one of the schools in the Valencian Region that has included social responsibility as part of its curriculum for over twenty years.

Development is sustainable if all of the planet’s inhabitants act responsibly. And there’s no doubt that educational institutions play a major role in this mission, since they hold the key to creating committed citizens who will be able to build a future that avoids the humanitarian and climate crisis that it seems is our destiny unless we can change our course.

This facet of education can be put into practice as soon as a child enters an early years classroom for the first time. Teachers can promote not only the child’s cognitive skills but also teach the importance of respect, good relations, cooperation or care for the environment as part of the child’s daily life. This is how a sense of social responsibility can be implanted in children with the aim of growing future sustainable development initiatives.

‘Beyond educational excellence, which every school should aspire to, it is now urgent to educate individuals in values so that they are committed to caring for the environment. This is why we must continue to design civic-minded curriculums that stimulate the pupil to be a better person’, said Amparo Gil, principal of Caxton College, a British school that was ahead of its time in including Personal and Social Education as a curriculum subject.

Additionally, members of the teaching staff organise activities that help pupils to learn the best ways to protect the environment, looking after their own vegetable patch or supporting charity events to help those less fortunate, among other areas addressed in the Sustainable Development Goals.

‘This project aims to make students aware of what is going on around them and teach them that their individual and local actions can have an enormous impact at a global level’, said Ms Gil.

With this mission, the school aims for pupils to be able to create a new culture in which they will be the defenders of a fairer society.