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196. Reflecting on 5 years of Be A Global Citizen! · Be A Global Citizen!

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Hi there, and welcome to Be a Global Citizen, the podcast that
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explores the concept of global citizenship through the lens of
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value creating education. My name is Scott Bauer and I'm
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Ahsoka, researcher and educator. I hope you find the discussion,
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stories and insights on this podcast to be valuable and
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inspiring as we strive to become global citizens who are
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committed to living a contributive life.
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Enjoy. Hi everyone.
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This is Scott and I wanted to say I have big news.
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Today marks five years since I started this podcast and I
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honestly can't believe it. Times just flown by.
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And I wanted to take a little bit of time today on November
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18th to reflect a little bit together with with all of you
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about the UPS and the downs about what all has happened in
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terms of not only the people that I've invited on the
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podcast, but also the major takeaways and learning moments
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for myself. Because yeah, it, it just feels
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like the right time to do this. And I really wanted to to share
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these open reflections with all of you.
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And also big shout outs to my, my, my guests who've joined me
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on this journey. To all of you listeners, thank
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you so much. Listening in from different
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parts of the world. I really appreciate you tuning
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in and just being curious and engaging in whatever way feels
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right. And also a big shout out to my
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mom because it's kind of really started with just, I think a
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listenership of 1. And I always joke with my mom,
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I, I told her in the beginning, you know, if this listenerships
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remains at 1:00 for any longer, I'm probably gonna have to stop
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because I don't want this just to be me, you know, creating
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content for one person. So very fortunate that that was
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not the case. And yet she continues to to give
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me ongoing feedback. And so, yes, much appreciation
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for mom. And then, you know, for those of
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you who found value in listening to these conversations with
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amazing educators from all different walks of life and
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different parts of the world, if that is something that you
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really value and enjoy listening to, please consider leaving a
2:32
review on Spotify or Apple podcast.
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I really can't emphasize this enough.
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It really helps in terms of getting distribution out there.
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And it's not for me. It's never been about trying to
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get a huge listenership. But I do think that in the same
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way that it resonates with you, the content, it could resonate
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with with others and hopefully inspire not only other educators
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doing the work, but those who maybe are not within the
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education space, but still interact right with with those
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around them, influence others. And I think the the scope of
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what it means to be a global citizenship must extend beyond
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just educators themselves. So without further ado, I wanted
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to again kind of share a little bit more in terms of reflection
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about kind of where it all started, what were some of the
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origins of this podcast and and then kind of share maybe some of
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the like ways in which I've grown has a podcaster, perhaps
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this might be interesting to those who want to start a
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podcast themselves. I have a few updates as far as,
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you know, recent conferences that I've attended that I think
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would be very interesting, kind of showcasing, wow, you know,
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like maybe in the form of like a capstone.
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What what did I learn and how did I share that with a
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community of, you know, educators in different
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university contexts and also organizational contexts.
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And then finally, just, you know, what's the future?
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Am I going to continue doing this or not?
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Stay tuned, I'll tell you. But yeah, let's kind of rewind
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the the timeline, you know, go back to where it started, you
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know, five years ago, it was the pandemic.
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And I would say kind of, you know, at a very critical point
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where I think it was really evident from, yeah, just all the
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news reports, it was like setting in that, you know, this
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was something that everyone had to take very, very seriously.
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I know that when initially, right, news kind of spread
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where, you know, regardless of where you were, it was very
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evident that lockdowns were were starting to happen in March of
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2020. I felt that when I was living in
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Sao Paulo, Brazil, I was working there as a teacher and it, it
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didn't feel real. You know, there's still this
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shock. I feel like is this really
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happening kind of situation. We were all working remotely.
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And I would say, you know, after a couple months, it started to,
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you know, really sink in that like this was happening.
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And then there became this kind of feeling of dread that like,
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when will this end? And you know, I think by the
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time I finally had the courage to post my first episode, it
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really came as a response to what I was feeling just
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generally Speaking of like complete and utter
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disempowerment about, well, what am I supposed to do beyond just
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showing up and logging into my Zoom account to give a class to
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my students? What, what, what does the future
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look like moving forward from here?
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And so it really helped this, this podcast served as kind of
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like way to ground me in something that I, I felt would
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be important, right to, to, to share with others.
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So you know what that important thing was, you know, as you all
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know, the title of this podcast is global citizenship.
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And I really wanted to just leave some kind of like record,
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right, that I couldn't point back to and say, you know what,
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like, even though the pandemic was overwhelming and difficult
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and, and, and terrifying in many ways for all different peoples,
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here's an action that I took. So I really wanted to to leave
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some kind of mark in that way. So, you know, the pandemic, of
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course, was this big moment of upheaval and change.
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And that's what started the podcast.
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But interestingly, there's just been a succession of other big
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changes, upheavals in my life that also kind of, you know,
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forced me to really think about the purpose of the podcast as an
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anchoring, as a form of anchoring me.
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And that next big change for me was in 2021, towards the end of
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2021. So I'd already been doing this
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podcast thing for, you know, pretty much like a year at that
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point. And it became very clear that my
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time in Brazil was coming to an end.
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And I say that because I had been working at the same school
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in Sao Paulo, Brazil for almost 6 years at that point.
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And I felt that I had, you know, set out to work at the school
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for very specific reason, right? It was to teach English
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initially, but also to bring more international perspective,
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right, Given that I am not from Brazil and, and there were
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others who joined me in in this this moment of a big change for
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the school. And they were rolling out an
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international curriculum through the International Baccalaureate
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program. They also were, you know, moving
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to a brand new school location as well as introducing the first
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year of the high school because they'd only had from
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kindergarten up to middle school at that point, a lot of big
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things. And so I felt like my mission
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was to support them in those changes and establish some kind
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of baseline as far as the international culture of like,
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what does it mean to to speak both Portuguese and English in
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that kind of environment? To really invite them to
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consider what does it mean to not just travel abroad, but also
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to interact with people from abroad and to, to get curious
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about learning right from, from those who are different from us.
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A lot of things that resonate with global citizenship.
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But I felt, you know, I had achieved my mission after that
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period of time of like big change for the school and kind
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of felt, well, what else is there for me to do?
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What other kind of environments can I, I learn from?
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And so I'd already been thinking about that for some time.
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I didn't feel fully satisfied with where I was at, at least
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professionally within my career. And then I guess what kind of,
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you know, tipped me over the edge in terms of needing to make
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a change came with a relationship that I had in in
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Brazil that I thought right was going to, you know, actually
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keep me in Brazil for, I don't know, forever.
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And ultimately, you know, caused me to re evaluate, you know,
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like where, where we both were at in terms of our our lives and
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how there felt this like this great, like the widening gap
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between US. And of course, you know, I think
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and from from me, the stubbornness to see that until
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it got too heavy at where I couldn't couldn't bear it
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anymore and had to admit, you know, I don't think this is
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going to work out. It was very, very difficult.
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And ultimately I made the decision to move back to
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California, which is where I'm originally from.
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So a lot of change, a lot of upheaval.
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And so, you know, in the midst of all of that, I still had this
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podcast. I still was trying to, to post
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episodes on a somewhat regular basis, you know, and, and I
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figured, you know what, like, I don't know again, where this is
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heading, but you know, I, I think now is a, is a good moment
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for me to really connect with as many people as possible.
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And I, I didn't think too, I didn't think as deeply about it
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back then as I, I am now. But I think when I was kind of
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transitioning back and I found myself in a different job, you
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know, here in, in California, I was now working at a university
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doing administration in the office of admissions.
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You know, I, I kind of in a way didn't know fully who I was
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anymore because I had been a teacher for so long.
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And, and I, I, you know, we put labels on on ourselves as far as
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like this is, this is me. And this is kind of, you know,
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like in a nutshell, like, you know, people can understand
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that. But now I suddenly found myself
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outside of that and was truly trying to like grapple with,
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Well, now am I is like, is my new title university admin is,
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is that is that what it's become?
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And and then I was doing this, these efforts of like connecting
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with other people. And you know, I really tried my
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best to embrace this sense of like, well, I don't really know
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who I am. So I'm literally putting myself
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back together and through these conversations, hoping to glean
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more insight not only into to what their beliefs were and what
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their understanding of global citizenship was, but in a way
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through those interactions, seeing how their responses back
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to me, what'll help me to like understand like on a deeper
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level, why am I doing this work? And, and I think it's often
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said, right, like people like with whom you associate with can
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better reflect who you actually are.
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And and so in a way that that was the kind of mirror that I
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was holding up to all of my different friends within my
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network to really understand. Wow, you know, like, who is
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Scott? And why does Scott believe he's
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a global citizen? Right.
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How, how audacious of Scott, you know, but yet I, I just felt
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like I, I need to just keep moving forward.
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So, you know, more changes were, were, were going to happen and
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you know it, most of most of it involved career changes as well
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as me going into a another grad program.
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And I felt, you know, again, the sense that like I, I don't know
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if my, my, my label is university Advent admin.
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And also what else is out there for me to really learn as far as
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kind of becoming an educator who can empathize with the struggles
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of other educators in in many different backgrounds, right?
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Be that public schools, private schools, nonprofits, right?
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I really wanted to, to kind of put myself in new situations.
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And so that's kind of what led me to to kind of in a way,
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bounce around from one, one job to another, holding multiple
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jobs at the same time, all the while starting a new grad
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program through Harvard and and then having access to an even
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wider network of amazing educators with whom I would then
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ask to be on my podcast. And yeah, and, and again, it
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just kind of continued to build, right?
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This like this kind of like snowball effect where, you know,
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my network continue to grow, right.
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The friendships along with it, but also a deepening sense of
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purpose, right. As far as why, again, why is
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this podcast even existing? Right?
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Again, I wasn't, it was not for, you know, the purposes of going
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viral and and fandom, right? It was really, I think, just me
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grappling with how am I, how am I to make sense of all these
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changes happening in my life? And so that kind of catches us
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up to this moment where I'm thinking, wow, you know, five
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years, just kind of, you know, it's not my fingers.
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And now here we are. But there has been quite an
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evolution of the podcast, you know, from when I started to now
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various different kind of like checkmarks, I guess you could
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say, in terms of my approach to the podcast, my understanding of
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what it means to be a podcaster. There was also some reluctance
14:43
on my part of like, putting a label of like, yeah, I guess I'm
14:47
a podcaster now. This imposter syndrome is, is
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real. And yeah.
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And and then like, what, what did I actually, you know, like
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what, what is my current understanding of, you know, the
15:00
podcast at this moment? These are all things that are
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kind of, you know, circling around in my head and, and I'm
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trying to kind of put down in into words for all of you today.
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So I think as I've kind of already made clear right through
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all of the, the ups and downs, twists and turns from November
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18th, 2020 until now, I think the, the podcast has really been
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an anchoring for me. You know, it's been, it's
15:32
allowed me to connect to some deeper roots of mine that do tie
15:37
back to my, my Buddhist faith that also connect back to my
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alma mater, which is where I did my undergrad at Soca University
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of America, which for those of you watching is the shirt that
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I'm wearing. You know, so I, I feel like in
15:55
moments of, yeah, you know, change, it's, it's it, it's very
16:02
easy to kind of lose sight of really like who you are or
16:07
really to believe in. Like, you know, the values of
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like this is kind of what got me to this point.
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So yeah, connecting to my roots have been very important along
16:16
this journey. And then also I initially
16:20
started with more of like kind of like this format, me just
16:23
talking into a microphone and hoping that someone is actually
16:27
out there listening besides my mom and, and, and it felt good
16:32
to start off that way. But there was a little bit of a
16:35
teacher mindset of like, oh, I need to kind of explain in a
16:38
very, you know, in, in a way that kind of goes from like one
16:42
topic to the next to the next and just lay out this is what
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global citizenship is. I got to a point where I, I
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thought, well, actually, I don't know how interesting this is,
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but also who am I to, to say anything definitive about this
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topic? Why not extend this, this, this
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dialogue to, to more people? And then this thought of, let me
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just have guests come here to, to, to share their thoughts
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emerged. And I thought that was awesome.
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So, you know, it then became more of a networking tool and
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also an opportunity for me to hone my own skill as as a
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podcaster who who deeply listens to others and also strives to
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connect with others and men, meet them where they're at and
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all the while, just through, through the voice.
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And I think that's something that, you know, even how I, I, I
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speak has changed. I like to think that I've gotten
17:41
a little bit more confident and I think that reflects in my
17:44
voice. If you go back to some of the
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initial conversations, there probably is a little bit of like
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kind of like wavering my voice, not really sure and self
17:56
doubting myself and all this stuff.
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So I like to think that it has improved in that way in terms of
18:02
like my confidence. And then I would say that the
18:06
last part of this evolution of the podcast has really been, you
18:10
know, through one to one connections with various
18:14
different guests, people that I invite, right?
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It, it has gotten to a point now with almost 200 episodes.
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And I think out of those 200 / 160 have been, you know,
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conversations with with with guests.
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It now I, I can confidently say has become a community,
18:34
community of educators, community of global citizens who
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are out there making impact. And I think that really, yeah,
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that really strikes me as something of, of, of value,
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right? That that we need communities
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of, of like minded individuals who are out there doing the work
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and who are striving to create a better world, right, for future
19:00
generations. And, you know, all of that kind
19:04
of leads me to, you know, this moment where, yeah, I, I've,
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I've amassed all these different conversations and, you know,
19:13
connecting with different peoples.
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And, and then I had some opportunities recently, one of
19:18
them over the summer and then the, the, the second one just,
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you know, couple weeks ago actually, where I was able to
19:25
share out some specific insights and takeaways that I had.
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So I wanted to share that now with you.
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So there's the DePaul conferences, international
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Conference on Ikeda, Soca studies.
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And I had done my first master's through DePaul University back
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in 2018. And you know, I've been
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supporting and attending and presenting at this conference
19:53
since then. And this last conference in
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August, I had the opportunity to share out some of the takeaways
20:01
that I've had inviting my classmates from Harvard onto my
20:06
podcast. So I thought that, you know,
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hey, here's some, here's a group of individuals that.
20:12
Are all coming from like different education backgrounds.
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Some of them are kindergarten teachers, others are high school
20:18
teachers. Some of them are university
20:20
professors. Others work in nonprofits and do
20:23
grant writing. Some work, you know, at Sesame
20:26
Street and have more artistic aims.
20:29
Some are writers. So many different backgrounds
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and and yet all of them speak to global citizenship in very
20:38
similar ways, right that, you know, I wanted to have rooted in
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their own personal experiences. One of the things that I really
20:46
kind of found fascinating were these shared values of
20:50
interconnectedness, empathy and just having a global
20:54
perspective. Think there's, there's many more
20:57
that I can use as a kind of describe what these
20:59
conversations were really speaking to.
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But, you know, I think that it, it really kind of comes down to
21:06
them having this deeper commitment to helping others.
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You know, it's not just about them.
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It's always about how they can be a service to, to those around
21:17
them and how they can through their work, make impact for
21:21
future generations. And I find that to be so heart
21:25
warming and so, so badly needed in the world that we currently
21:30
live in. And and so I wanted to kind of
21:33
bring those voices up and really kind of distill some of the
21:37
conversations that I've had in a format where people at this
21:41
conference could understand. Wow, OK.
21:43
You know, like there might be something to some of these like
21:46
specific values and, and yeah. And also kind of thinking about
21:51
the ways in which those those values, you know, are not so
21:55
different from maybe their own right.
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They can kind of resonate with those, you know.
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And then this is just like a sample, you know, of many, many
22:04
different educators out there. So that was like the first
22:07
conference. The second conference was the
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International Conference on Transformative Education.
22:13
This was hosted by the Global Citizen Foundation.
22:17
What a appropriately named, you know, organization for someone
22:21
like me to want to like participate in.
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I do have to think Professor Maria Guajardo for being so
22:30
gracious to allow me to, to be one of the presenters.
22:33
And I took this opportunity as a presenter to really emphasize
22:38
the, the power of, of of 1's voice, right.
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Given that podcasting is primarily just my voice,
22:44
although some of you might be seeing a video of me.
22:48
Either way, there's the, the emphasis on, you know, one's
22:52
voice conveying not only the message, right, The content of
22:56
what you want to say, but I think more so there's the spirit
23:00
behind it, right? How, how you connect with the,
23:03
the tonality of it, right? The, the, the warmth of, of the
23:06
voice and how that kind of brings you in and makes you feel
23:10
comfortable, makes you feel inspired, makes you wonder and
23:14
make, you know, ask questions about what really is at play.
23:18
And all of that. You know, that I shared about in
23:21
terms of like the way I approach podcasting was to hopefully,
23:26
hopefully it's inspired the attendees to really think about,
23:31
you know, what is the one thing that they truly care about?
23:35
Who's the community that could really benefit from from hearing
23:40
about and learning about that one thing?
23:42
And then that what is the kind of impact that you're hoping to
23:45
make? All of that can be done through
23:47
a podcast, through your voice, but you know, voice can be
23:51
abstracted to be more than just sound, right?
23:54
I think it can be conveyed in so many other artistic ways, right
23:58
through movement, could be through writing, You know, I
24:02
think it could be through gestures, right, the actions
24:05
that we, we do. But you know, there's, there's
24:09
so much more I think that we can do to kind of empower ourselves
24:13
to, to have that kind of positive influence on others.
24:16
And but it, but it needs to be anchored in something that truly
24:20
feels like this is, this is my purpose.
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So, you know, I, I really emphasize that during my, my
24:26
talk at the International Conference on Transformative
24:29
education, because podcasting can be thought of as the
24:33
transformative technology and, and the world needs to hear more
24:38
people's, you know, true passions.
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Because I think that's, you know, when we speak, when we get
24:44
on that level of like what we're passionate about, people really
24:47
start to light up. And this kind of illuminating
24:51
effect of, of someone who's really passionate is it's what's
24:56
going to help dispel a lot of the darkness that we see in, in
24:58
the world around us. OK, so now last part, thank you.
25:04
Those of you who are sticking with this and listening to me
25:07
just rant on, you know, reflect and just go on a rant about my
25:11
podcast. But thank you.
25:13
And the last part is really like, well, what's the future,
25:16
right? Am I going to continue doing
25:18
this or am I going to just kind of say that was enough and kind
25:23
of move forward? I, I will say that my
25:28
determination is to continue. So maybe those of you were like
25:31
anticipating this, like where is he going with this?
25:34
And then OK, great. He's still going to continue.
25:37
So thank you for that. Your concern is much
25:38
appreciated. And I wanted to say that, you
25:42
know, it's just been so gratifying being able to collect
25:45
stories of, of really inspiring educators I want to connect with
25:50
more. And, and it's just always so
25:53
heartfelt when I'm able to have this genuine connection with
25:57
those who, you know, they're doing the work, but the work is
26:00
difficult. And, and if, if this
26:03
conversation that I have with them can inspire them or
26:06
encourage them to continue doing what they're doing, then I feel
26:10
like my job, you know, is done, You know, that's, that's,
26:13
that's, that's big part of it. But I do think though, I, I want
26:19
to find ways to really reach other people.
26:24
And part of that I think will require me to refresh the brand
26:29
and also some of the content, you know, that I do, I, I feel
26:34
like the, the one to one long form conversations will
26:38
continue. But I, I want to think of ways
26:41
which I can bring in more content that will be of interest
26:45
to to more people and kind of bring them in to the community
26:48
and get them thinking about a lot of the bigger questions as
26:52
far as how can, yeah, how can we make impact in this world?
26:57
And, you know, not just kind of tie it to, yeah, specific
27:03
professional kind of action items, but also like the, the
27:06
deeper personal kind of values that root us in the work.
27:10
So, you know, I'm, I'm not entirely sure what all of that
27:13
is, but I will be taking a little bit of time in December
27:20
and, and maybe a little bit of January to, to, to really think
27:25
more deeply about what it is that I wanted to, to put out
27:28
there in terms of the content. I would love to hear feedback
27:32
from any of you and the the you know that also like how how you
27:38
reach out, part of it will be through establishing more of
27:41
like a social media presence and then hopefully later down the
27:45
line, even a website. So please, you know, stay tuned.
27:49
I'll be sure to share what what specific links and what kind of
27:53
like social media handles you can reach out to.
27:57
But you know, I will say, at least at this moment, the best
28:00
way to show your support. And I'll say it again because I
28:03
don't say it nearly enough, simply leaving a review.
28:07
So if you've gotten to this point and you're still
28:08
listening, thank you. And that shows that you really
28:12
are invested in the podcast. And it does not take more than a
28:18
minute, maybe even less if it's on Spotify.
28:20
I think you just click like, you know, the stars, but you know,
28:24
this is something that will help the algorithm, you know, really
28:29
suggest this content to even more people.
28:32
And so please take this time to just leave a review, say a few
28:39
nice things. That would be nice.
28:40
Thank you. But yeah, it really does help.
28:43
And thank you so much again for just yeah, being being a part of
28:47
this listening, sharing with others.
28:50
And I'm excited about what the the next, you know, you know,
28:54
five years look like for the podcast, because I'm trying to
28:59
really think about ways in which this can grow and ways it could
29:04
be even more interactive for those of you listening so that
29:08
we can all continue to be inspired and do the work and
29:12
really be that much more confident about proclaiming from
29:16
a mountaintop that we are global citizens, but not just a name,
29:20
but truly in the actions that we do on a day-to-day basis.
29:24
So with that, thank you so much. Happy five year anniversary to
29:30
be a global citizen. And it's been such a wonderful
29:35
journey. I really appreciate those of you
29:37
listening to to this reflection of mine and can't wait what the,
29:42
you know, the future holds for for, you know, this podcast for
29:48
this community. So thank you again, and I'll
29:51
catch you all on the next episode.