I’ve been busy talking to all kinds of people about my book, The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition, and Get a Truly International Education, which was published in May by Crown/Three Rivers Press (Random House) and is already in its second printing. (Hooray!)
The book offers a bold and intentional approach to giving our kids the kind of education they really need to be able to seize their most thrilling and fulfilling opportunities in the 21st-century global economy–no matter where they choose to live.
It’s not about a relentless quest for meaningless test scores.
It’s not about obsessing over grades or the college admissions process.
You see, the new American global students have their eyes wide open. They are laughing at the lunacy of the current college-prep mindset, diving into the learning they love, and gliding into the global economy at 19 or 20 with:
**a red-hot U.S. or Canadian college diploma
**sizzling 21st-century skills (including fluency in a foreign language–or two or three)
**outrageously relevant experience
**a blazing sense of direction
**and NO DEBT.
How? By focusing on rapture in addition to rigor.
By paying attention to what lights them up so that they can learn and leap forward.
By stepping away from the old four-by-four model (four years of high school followed by four years of college) in order to build momentum and excitement about what they are learning.
By seeing the world and their possibilities in it.
The world of education is going through a tremendous shift brought about by financial failures and a new awareness of what is truly valuable about an education. Rather than chasing impressive credentials, savvy students are pursuing a path that allows them to get a ragin’ education on campus, online, on the road and on their own terms and time lines.
Because after all, an education should prepare students for their future, and the only thing we know for certain about the future is that things will continue to change! An education that intentionally incorporates and develops flexibility, collaboration and self-direction is the ONLY kind of education that will give students the skills they need to thrive no matter what the future may bring.
Racing alongside others without questioning the value of what you’re learning or your own engagement in it is precisely what leads to unfulfilling work and unsatisfying lifestyles. We must help our students develop the ability to slow down and PAY ATTENTION to what matters most to them.
I invite you to read the stories in the book from students who are thriving by doing things differently–and the families that have created their own ideal lifestyles despite their fear and the naysayers who tell them it can’t be done.
Learn more about the book at http://www.NewGlobalStudent.com
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