60 Seconds with Mrs Drane, Director of Global Citizens

Tell us a bit about yourself...

I’m a passionate historian – I studied History at Durham University and loved it so much I stayed on to do a Masters in Modern History, specialising in women in the French Revolution. After university and a brief stint in the corporate world as a retail buyer, I realised I missed talking and thinking about history all day, so I decided to become a teacher! As a History and Politics teacher I have taught in a range of schools in both the UK and in Sydney, Australia where I lived for 5 years. On my return to the UK, when I saw the job advertised as a Director of Global Citizens at Kent College I knew this was my dream role – to be able to inspire students to engage with the wider world and to develop as tenacious, original, confident and empathetic thinkers and 21st century learners, in a global context. Outside of work, I love to travel and spend time with my family. My main hobby is music: I have played the violin since I was four years old and have kept this going throughout my adult life playing in various orchestras.

What do you enjoy most about teaching?

I love to encourage young people to gain knowledge and think critically about the issues which matter to humanity. For example, one of the highlights of my career was when I was selected as the UK representative teacher at the annual World School International Forum in Tokyo, leading seminars for students from 20 different countries debating world issues and questions from different cultural perspectives. I have also completed an international training course as a Holocaust educator and worked as the Education Consultant for the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust which involved developing and delivering resources and lessons for schools all over the country. I really believe in teaching about challenging world events such as genocide with empathy and critical and ethical thinking, to encourage students to learn from past human behaviour to inform the present and the future. I love my current role at KC because I get to do these things on a daily basis through the Global Citizenship curriculum for Years 7-9.

What top advice would you give to students studying your subject?

In Global Citizenship I encourage students to take every opportunity to challenge themselves in their thinking and in seeking out multiple perspectives – there are so many sides to every story, and it is important we give everyone a voice. I want my students to develop resilience and feel empowered with knowledge and the ability to think independently, and to use this to take brave and positive actions in the world, and make informed choices.

What are the department highlights and upcoming events?

This year is an exciting year for Global Citizenship as Year 9 are undertaking the Global Citizenship Diploma course for the first time at the school. The course involves academic tasks in each of five subjects (English, Maths, Science, History and Geography), which reflects how Global Citizenship is relevant across the curriculum. It is a mindset and way of thinking which links in with so much of the learning the students do across all their subjects, so this is a great way to show that. The diploma also involves a Community Engagement project where every student in Year 9 works with a specific local group. We have already had our first group for this year go out and lead a fantastic session at Oakley school and the others are lined up over the coming weeks involving local organisations such as Aspens, local food banks, churches, after school clubs, and nursing homes. This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to develop their teamwork, communication and interpersonal skills, and to embody global values in their local community. There will also be reflective tasks from Global Citizenship lessons for the diploma that will give students a chance to develop their critical thinking skills. In the future we have an exciting trip to Nepal in Summer 2027. As well as cultural experiences, workshops and sightseeing, it will be a fantastic opportunity for our students to make a difference as Global Citizens. We will be building a water tank to provide a local Nepalese school with safe drinking water for the first time, doing our part to help towards the UN Sustainable Development goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. We have a wonderful group of students involved from current years 9-12 and they are beginning their fundraising journey for the trip.