Mission in Action: AISB Prepares Students for Success in a Global World through GOA Partnership

How does this partnership align with your school’s mission and vision? This is the first question asked of schools when they pursue membership with GOA. The answer to this question illuminates what the school hopes to achieve by becoming a member school, and it allows the GOA team to understand the school’s overarching goals and identify key synergies with our own Mission and Vision.

American International School of Budapest (AISB) joined the GOA consortium in early 2021 with a focus on personalizing student learning and expanding opportunities for students to pursue their interests and build relevant, lifelong learning skills. AISB’s mission is to empower learners to build their futures and contribute to a better world. “GOA provides our students with an increased level of autonomy over their learning,” AISB Director Brett Penny shares. He adds, “many of our students use GOA to ascertain whether the courses they are taking might be a possible future area of study.” AISB’s mission carries with it a set of values - the core principles or The Why that informs their mission. These values reflect the contributions and beliefs of the AISB community, represent the school’s identity, and express the school’s aspirations for the future. These five values serve as a commitment to students and teachers and support their deep engagement in GOA programs and offerings:

With over 70 enrollments in GOA’s semester-long student courses this academic year, AISB students are exploring offerings like Bioethics, Entrepreneurship in a Global Context, Gender & Society, Introduction to Psychology, and Graphic Design. Brett Penny acknowledges that providing students with access to GOA courses speaks to their value placed on individual growth. “In defining growth, we described what is necessary for the students to experience high levels of personal engagement,” he shares. “Our students identified that when learning is relevant and authentic, they experience higher levels of engagement. The GOA courses are just that - relevant and authentic.” Tenth grade AISB student, Veronika, explains that in exploring the question - What do I want to be when I grow up? - she discovered a possible answer in her first GOA course. She shares, “The Medical Problem Solving course instantly captured my attention,” and notes her fascination with how patients are diagnosed. “One month into the course, [we are] determining individuals’ conditions by thoroughly going through guided processes with the support of a fine teacher.”

Tenth grade student Tade enrolled in GOA’s Introduction to Investments this summer and expresses that the course offered him the opportunity to live out AISB’s commitment to inclusion. He shares that “the course was really inclusive and brought people from all around the world together. I got to meet new people and was intrigued by the discussions we were having.” The opportunity to take part in a global learning community through GOA is also an important aspect of the growth and development of AISB students. Graham Maclure, High School Principal at AISB, explains, “In addition to the benefits of being part of a truly global learning community and collaborating with other learners and teachers from all around the world, the courses also provide students with opportunities to develop their skills of organization and agency, experience a different approach to learning, and prepare themselves for learning beyond school.”

In AISB’s “GOA Insight” video, Tami Canale, Director of Teaching and Learning and GOA Site Director, shares more about the impact of their membership and leads newly-enrolled GOA students through an on-campus orientation to kick off the semester.

AISB acknowledges the critical need to prepare students for the evolving landscape of post-secondary education and an increasingly complex and global world. AISB High School Counselor, Pauline Davidson, shares, “Students are wanting access to a more diverse curriculum, more personalized learning and more learning opportunities where they can explore passions beyond a typical high school curriculum. GOA provides those opportunities in abundance.” She credits the opportunity to engage in a GOA course as a “stepping stone” for many students in their learning process, sharing, “They are able to be agents of their own learning...they are setting up their pathway for success at a global level.” This is evident in the coursework students are taking on. Anna, a tenth grade student at AISB, shares that the work in her Medical Problem Solving course excites her. “The research part is my favorite,” she explains. “It excites me because we can actually look at medical data and do research about our questions and try to put every puzzle piece together...we can see the picture as a whole, thus helping our patient.”

When GOA begins working with a new member school, identifying the key areas of alignment between our own Mission and Vision and theirs is critical to long-term success. AISB’s clear focus on preparing students for success in a global world and developing student agency mirror the competencies that are central to GOA’s Student Program. The mission alignment between GOA and AISB provides the foundation for a long and successful partnership.

This post is part of our Missions in Action series, which profiles how GOA member schools align GOA’s student and professional learning programs to meet their school’s mission. GOA member school students have full access to our online courses and member school educators can take our professional learning courses for free. Inquire about membership. Are you a GOA member? Want us to profile your school? Email us at hello@globalonlineacademy.org.