AFS Effect+ Initiative

What is the AFS Effect+ Initiative?

The AFS Effect+ Initiative leverages AFS’s experience in delivering hands-on learning to introduce learners to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how to work together to help advance these goals in their communities. The current AFS Effect+ versions include an award-winning virtual exchange program for high-school educators and a toolkit with resources for teaching active global citizenship & the SDGs for high school students. Through this initiative, teachers develop as active global citizens themselves and have the ripple effect of developing their students as active global citizens. That’s the Effect+!

This initiative is made possible by the Cyril Taylor Charitable Foundation.

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our global impact

Multiplying the AFS Effect

Since its first edition in 2020, the AFS Effect+ for the Classroom Program has already engaged more than 1,350 educators from 71 countries, reaching 145,000+ high school students.

The free classroom resources developed as part of the program and made available through the AFS Effect+ for the Classroom Toolkit for Educators have also reached many more educators across the 10.000 high schools AFS works with annually worldwide and beyond.

Download the report of the latest edition of the program to learn more about its impact.

“We learned the qualities required to be a global citizen, a changemaker. We learned to look from different perspectives to start the change from within ourselves right now.”

– Darshan Prema, Effect+ participant, India

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Virtual Program for Teachers

AFS Effect+ for the Classroom Program is a full scholarship global virtual program for teachers who want to learn about key concepts and principles of global citizenship education and how to introduce students to the UN SDGs and develop as active global citizens to make progress toward these goals.

During this global virtual exchange and training program, educators will:

Explore different views, cultures, and ways of life in a collaborative virtual learning environment;
Make local and global connections with other educators interested in Global Citizenship Education;
Experience different training and teaching styles;
Earn a certificate upon completion, indicating the number of hours of engagement, and the knowledge and skills developed, and
Engage their students in learning about Active Global Citizenship.

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Free Educator Toolkit

Any high-school teacher interested in teaching Active Global Citizenship & the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for high school students can download for free and use the resources available in the AFS Effect+ for the Classroom Toolkit for Educators.

The toolkit includes a modular and flexible curriculum, that can be delivered in-person or online by secondary-level educators that brings the SDGs to life as students move from theory to practice, honing key 21st Century skills (such as collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving, and cross-cultural communication) and sparking their passion to make a difference.

Click on the links below to download the Toolkit:

UNESCO APCEIU recognizes Effect+ as a best practice

We are proud to receive recognition from UNESCO APCEIU for AFS Effect+ for the Classroom as an Education for International Understanding/Global Citizenship Education Best Practice! Our program has been selected among 70 submissions from 27 countries for its genuine commitment to global citizenship education and ability to inspire others to create similar education programs.

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