Raphael Richard, coordinator of Student Multicultural and Diversity Programs, was among a select group of educators invited to attend the recent World Innovation Summit for Education in Doha, Qatar.WISE is an international, multisectoral platform for creative thinking, debate and purposeful action in order to build the future of education through innovation. Established in 2009 by Qatar Foundation, WISE is an ongoing initiative and a global reference in new approaches to education.
Richard attended the conference as a representative of the Melton Foundation, an organization centered on promoting global citizenship as a way for people and institutions to address today’s global challenges. The summit, themed “Reinventing Education for Life,” brought together more than 1,200 prominent education, corporate, political and social leaders from 100 countries for three days of debate, dialogue and networking.
Richard says he learned to be more global in his thinking and to consider the global context of what innovation looks like.
“Innovation means something different in other countries,” he said.
He plans to help students “think of our privileges and put them in action.” He also intends to challenge himself and his students to think more than in a context of the United States, but in a global realm.