AFS China celebrates training nearly 2,000 educators across 800 schools through a successful Teacher Intercultural Capacity Building initiative
In 2018 AFS China began a bold initiative for Teacher Intercultural Capacity-Building. By training educators, the values of global citizenship and intercultural understanding are passed on to their students—reaching far more young people than direct student programs alone could achieve. AFS China saw an opportunity to multiply their reach and impact by focusing on educators.
In 2018–2019, AFS China began delivering in-person intercultural training workshops to teachers from schools that host or send students on exchanges through AFS. These workshops could focus AFS China’s efforts to specific events that would multiply their impact. As with most well-laid plans in 2020, AFS China was forced to pivot and innovate in order to continue the initiative due to the pandemic. Between 2020 and 2023, AFS China moved their capacity building training to virtual platforms, primarily through the AFS Global Competence Certificate (Global Up) programs. Initially, a cohort of 30 facilitators were trained in order to deliver the program in Chinese to non-English-speaking educators which reduced barriers and allowed for greater access to the training. Hundreds of educators were able to be trained as a result of AFS China’s investment into Global Up programs and the initiative was able to be carried forward.
By 2024, AFS China was able to resume in-person sessions with three workshops on Education for International Understanding curriculum development, reaching over 100 teachers. This journey of in-person to online and then back to in-person demonstrated AFS China’s adaptability to evolving needs.
In-person and virtual training opportunities were not the only part of AFS China’s initiative. In 2021, in collaboration with Beijing Normal University, AFS China published an intercultural learning textbook and developed a curriculum training track on Education for International Understanding for school principals and teachers. Through these offerings AFS China enhanced their profile as an educational organization and established themselves as leaders in the field of Global Citizenship Education. The textbook can be found for free on Wechat.
To date, by mid-2026, AFS has trained nearly 2,000 educators across 800 schools through both virtual and in-person training workshops. These educators have been equipped with new intercultural perspectives that they in turn integrate into their classrooms and daily teaching practices. Notably, numerous teachers who took part in capacity-building programs gained a deeper appreciation of AFS’ mission. Some have since enrolled their own children in AFS programs or recommended them to friends, while others have expressed interest in becoming host families. What began as a vision has turned into reality with thousands of educators across China multiplying the mission of AFS: ensure a more peaceful, just, equitable and sustainable future through the development of Active Global Citizens.