SCHOOLS & UNIVERSITIES
Connecting through stories, leaning into the audacity of hope.
World Outside My Shoes engages students around the world.
Welcome, educators! It’s a pleasure to welcome you here, especially since you have been welcoming us into your schools and classrooms since 2004. That’s the year many of you first learned of our story from the PBS Frontline documentary Ghosts of Rwanda.
We will soon reach 20 years of school visits, and you never fail to inspire us. Your love for your students, your grit and determination in the face of budget cuts, COVID-19, and what some would call “a growing global trust deficit” are all reasons we feel so fortunate to partner with you. Thank you for all your tireless work with students to help them strengthen their relationship-building skills.
We look forward to continued partnerships because we have seen how compassionate curiosity leads to rich human connection. Together, we can always find the good.
Tailoring the Experience
We want to get to know you! Every community has its own unique identity. We want to know yours. A phone conversation in advance will help us design the ideal program and budget for your school’s time with Carl. Each presentation is tailored to meet the context in which it is shared. No matter which country you are in around the world, we are looking forward to visiting with you virtually or in person!
Head-to-Heart Engagement
We believe the possibility for healing, for restoration, for connection exists – even when it seems unattainable. One of the greatest gifts we have in life is the ability to expand our perspective and thoughts about the world we live in and the people we are in relationship with.
By answering the question “How does a nation move from genocide to rebuilding? What does it mean for us?”, we can begin to navigate our own day-to-day tensions and conflicts, we can embrace a more restorative way of engaging the world.
Finding Connection through Curiosity
What does it mean to reframe the way we see the world? Our storytelling does not stop with Rwanda’s tragic history but moves forward to the powerful and inspiring recovery process. Through case studies, testimonies, and stories we’ll explore the larger themes of human connection and restoration within our own communities and selves. Together we’ll explore how these stories can help build our capacity to navigate the complexities of interpersonal conflict and rebuild trust.
All of our available presentations and learning opportunities seek to achieve the following:
- Explore methods and tools for effective introspection so as to meet differences with curiosity.
- Re-examine our own identity and the assumptions we make within the stories we tell and are told.
- Build our capacity to navigate the complexities of interpersonal conflict through case studies, testimonies, and stories that illustrate World Outside My Shoe’s values, and the innovation of those who have done so successfully, our Rwandan Partners and friends.
- Examine the dynamics and relationships of our social landscape through the lens of social, emotional, and neurological intelligence.
A glimpse of a World Outside My Shoes Virtual Experience.
LET'S WORK TOGETHER!
Interactive Assemblies & Classroom visits
No matter where you are in the world, our 30-90 minute presentations are available both in-person or online. Through a series of stories, we cover moments from the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda all the way through to the nation’s reconstruction and dynamics today.
professional Development
FILM SCREENINGS WITH LIVE OR VIRTUAL Q&A
Using interviews, archival footage, and animations, the 40-minute film I’m Not Leaving serves as an excellent resource, followed by an in-person or virtual Q&A session with Carl Wilkens.
Rwanda Educational Immersive Experience
“How can people live together peacefully when betrayal, murder, and genocide is such a recent part of their history?” That’s the question we address as we traverse the scenic hills of Rwanda for 10 days visiting memorials and school campuses, farms and factories, speaking with survivors, perpetrators and government officials, all working together to build a new Rwanda.
"FINDING THE GOOD"
Since March 2020, we’ve been regularly convening teachers across our World Outside My Shoes network for our “Finding the Good” Zoom sessions. On Tuesday evenings, we come together in community to explore themes relevant to classroom engagement: restorative practices, social & emotional learning, non-violent communication, forgiveness, and so much more.
Each session, we review a piece of content meant to inspire discussion & stretch worldviews, and at core, we’re here to build connection across educators.
Want to join our bi-weekly “Finding the Good” sessions on Tuesdays at 8:30pm ET? Click below!
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