Did you know that empathy is one of the most important leadership skills? According to Forbes, empathy increases cooperation, innovation, and engagement in the workplace. So, to prepare students for college and careers, it’s critical to foster empathy. As dual-language immersion program educators, we have an advantage because of our commitment to the goals of bilingualism and cultural competence. In fact, the very process of acquiring a new language can promote empathy. It’s why words such as Karl Albrecht’s, “Change your language and you change your thoughts” and Rumi’s, “Speak a new language so that the world will be a new world,” resonate with us. Because of this, it makes sense to me that we support our students in reaching the highest possible level of bilingual proficiency. Besides focusing on building language proficiency, we can also focus on building cultural competence. Our friends at Language Testing International (LTI) feel the same. That’s why they developed Level Up Village, a secure system that connects students from different parts of the world so they can collaborate and solve real-world problems. Check out these blog posts from LTI to read more:

Why Cultural Competence Education Matters More Than Ever Before: https://levelupvillage.com/why-cultural-competence-in-education-matters/

Promoting DEI with Level Up Village: https://levelupvillage.com/diversity-equity-inclusion/

Cultural Competence: Important Skills for the 21st Century: https://levelupvillage.com/cultural-competence-in-education/

Here’s the Forbes article referenced: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/09/19/empathy-is-the-most-important-leadership-skill-according-to-research/?sh=2def21913dc5