A key finding from the World Economic Forum's 2020 report on Schools of the Future underscores the critical importance of Global Citizen Skills as essential for preparing the next generation of leaders with empathy, cooperation and social awareness.
The Australian curriculum lacks a culturally agile and anti-racist perspective, leaving teachers often unprepared to effectively address these structural and individual issues due to a lack of tools and strategies. Research indicates that racism negatively impacts educational and leadership outcomes. Awareness of both one's own worldview and that of others is crucial. Fostering an anti-racist classroom is essential for creating an equitable, inclusive, and globally-minded learning environment.
Let’s collaborate to ensure our schools mirror the rich diversity of our community, fostering an inclusive environment where every child belongs, feels valued, empowered to excel, and equipped to become a global leader for a better world.
Our Global Classroom was founded by Serafina Maiorano, a first-generation Australian of Italian heritage and a global citizen. After spending over 15 years abroad, Serafina returned to Australia with her young daughter a few years ago.
With more than 20 years of experience in international organisations, Serafina is a global leader, director, strategic advisor, facilitator, public speaker, and cultural intelligence strategist. She has led and advised diverse teams and stakeholders across various sectors and regions, expertly navigating complex challenges and opportunities in a rapidly evolving world. Serafina has built global diaspora and thought leadership networks, supported systems-changing initiatives, mentored leaders at all levels, advised start-ups and jobseekers, led refugee advocacy programs, and promoted Australian arts and cultural initiatives on the world stage.
Having lived and worked in Australia, the US, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, she possesses a deep understanding of numerous world cultures, geographies, and political landscapes, with a strong network of friends and associates from all corners of the globe. Serafina is committed to maintaining high standards of performance and integrity, and she is passionate about fostering positive, systemic, and transformational growth.
Our journey began with a simple idea: to provide schools with the tools to nurture compassionate future global leaders who embody the change we wish to see in the world.
This vision begins with ensuring that every child feels a sense of belonging, regardless of their background, enabling them to lead with empathy, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of our shared world.
Our Global Classroom is a school-focused initiative that operates as part of Our Global Table, a cultural intelligence advisory service for government, business, and the education sectors.
Our team of experts are passionate about helping students and educators reach their full potential.
Joel Bayliss is an Aboriginal man, whose cultural ties stretch from Borroloola in the Top End, to the Arrernte lands of the central desert of the Northern Territory. He is a TEDx speaker, author and past Board member of the Australia Day Council of South Australia.
His professional experience includes roles as a Youth Justice Coordinator, Senior Aboriginal Cultural Advisor and Principal Project Officer for Reconciliation
Inclusion and Reform in government. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Adelaide. Joel is a proud husband and father.
Sophia Saidi is the Founder of Yellow Balloon Therapy. She has a double Masters in Counselling, Psychotherapy and Public Health from the University of Adelaide. She is a highly passionate individual with years of experience in the mental health sector and working with children.
Sophia lived in a refugee camp for eight years during her childhood, and migrated to Australia during her early teenage years where she has lived since.
Cecile Saidi is a gifted storyteller and an enthusiastic student of life, driven to build effective relationships to address and break barriers. She has a Bachelors Degree in Communications and Media from the University of South Australia.
Cecile lived in a refugee camp for eight years during her childhood, and migrated to Australia during her early teenage years where she has lived since.
Our research-based, co-designed interactive workshops focus on developing culturally intelligent school leaders and challenging both systemic and individual biases.
Often educators are fearful of saying the wrong thing or making matters worse. We provide strategies on how to engage in what can be challenging situations.
Our judgement-free, safe, engaging, and practical sessions give educators the opportunity to understand how bias operates, discuss the challenges they face, how to be an ally, and create an action plan for applying their learnings in the classroom.
School cultures that foster trust and draw on the strengths of communities contribute to the development of children's sense of agency and belonging.
In these dynamic and interactive settings, young minds engage in playful activities that spark their curiosity and creativity while fostering a deep appreciation for diversity.
Through storytelling, art, games, and hands-on experiences, children explore diversity, how to be an ally, promoting empathy and a sense of shared humanity.
By incorporating cultural intelligence into curricula, we strengthen students' abilities to work collaboratively and become compassionate leaders in the future who champion global perspectives.
We collaborate with schools to co-design curricula through a cultural intelligence lens. This approach ensures that all children feel a deep sense of belonging and are equipped with the skills necessary for leadership in a diverse and interconnected world.
Our goal is to create learning environments where students not only thrive academically but also develop the social and emotional intelligence needed to navigate and lead in a multicultural and global society.
In partnership with educators and students, we develop tailored strategies to address and overcome bias in the classroom. These strategies are designed to foster curiosity and empathy, helping both students and educators to better understand and appreciate diverse perspectives. By embedding these principles into everyday teaching practices, we aim to cultivate leadership qualities in all students, empowering them to become compassionate and effective leaders in their communities and beyond.
We partner with schools to review and enhance their policies and systems, ensuring that cultural intelligence and equity are deeply embedded in every structural aspect of the learning environment. Our collaboration goes beyond surface-level changes, as we work closely with schools to assess their current practices and understand their unique challenges and strengths. This comprehensive assessment covers various areas, including hiring practices, marketing messages, learning and development programs, classroom dynamics, and more.
By gaining a thorough understanding of where a school currently stands in its efforts to promote belonging, equity and inclusivity, we can co-create a strategic road map that is both measurable and transformational. This road map is designed to be sustainable, ensuring that the changes implemented will have a lasting impact on the school's culture and community.
“In my many years of teaching, the professional development provided to our educators by Our Global Table was, without a doubt, the best I have ever experienced. My colleagues and I share the same workplace, but under the guidance of Serafina at Our Global Table, we grew to understand that our experiences in that workplace were very different and dependant on our cultural backgrounds. This surprised many people who had never experienced judgement due to the colour of their skin.
Our cultural awareness was heightened, and not only did I form greater connections with my colleagues and a greater understanding of them as people, we were also able to impart greater cultural understanding to our students. Many teachers rethought the way they taught, the language they used, the generalisations they made and invested in more appropriate resources for students.."
Sarah Walsh, Teacher, Annesley Junior School, Adelaide, South Australia
“The collaboration with Serafina and Our Global Classroom has been incredibly successful. Together, we developed a bespoke curriculum for the Community, Connection and Leadership program. It went very well, and it was great to see the boys so engaged.”
Graham Duffy, Head of Middle Years
‘The strength of exposing our students to a cultural awareness program is that it raised their understanding of microaggression behaviours in the media, school and communities and gave them the language to voice their opinions about how to advocate for more culturally inclusive behaviours’.
Rebecca Hassam, Year 8 Tutor
Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, South Australia