Howell assistant principal visits Finland, returns with global focus
HOWELL — Howell High School Assistant Principal Brian McCarthy discovered a new appreciation for his community during a visit in late January to Finland as a recipient of the Fulbright Leaders for Global Schools Program Award.
McCarthy attended the international exchange and professional learning program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with educators from around the world. He, along with others in his cohort, spent 10 days learning and collaborating with school and government leaders in Finland.
There, he learned about Finland’s educational system and explored different strategies to prepare Howell students with the skills and understanding necessary to address global challenges and succeed in a global economy.
These skills are of critical importance in today’s schools, McCarthy said, because leaders are often looking for competency in areas like empathy, teamwork and diversity.
Yet the biggest takeaway, he said, was how unique and important Howell community support is. One example is a recent survey that showed broad interest in a language immersion program for students.
“This may sound a little corny, but it did make me proud to be a Highlander because there’s an understanding that global knowledge and things like empathy are a big part of the (student) experience,” McCarthy said. “It seemed that (getting that community) buy-in might be a little harder for some other attendees.”
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Another takeaway was Finland’s commitment to cross-cultural communication. He hopes to partner with a teacher he met at the conference to find effective ways for embedding United Nations Sustainable Development Goals like ending hunger and achieving food security into teacher lessons and programs.
McCarthy’s cohort included administrative leaders from school districts in large cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. Meeting other school leaders, he said, adds to the network of resources McCarthy has.
“There are so many administrators doing incredible things that we can all learn from each other,” he said. “We have many students who are already on their way to becoming leaders, but we want to help them flourish in other areas as well.”
— M. Alan Scott is a freelance writer for The Livingston Daily. Contact the newsroom at newsroom@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Howell assistant principal visits Finland, returns with global focus
