Who are you, and where are you working from these days?
Hi all. My name is Lindsay Andreolli-Comstock. I am a global citizenship education (GCED) specialist, immersive learning guide, and educational design consultant. In January of 2018, my wife, Mary Andreolli, and I co-founded Tumbuh Global, an educational consulting company that works with government agencies, schools of higher education, denominational entities, and local nonprofits. I currently serve as the Managing Director of Tumbuh Global. We have lived in Europe for the past year, dividing our time between Albania and Greece.
What’s the lifelong learning initiative you lead?
The School of Global Citizenry, where I serve as President and Principal Consultant, is one of three educational initiatives from Tumbuh Global. (The others include immersion learning experiences and digital media services for educators.) Founded in April of 2019, The School of Global Citizenry is an independent, CEU-certified global citizenship education (GCED) online school of lifelong learning. It is currently home to nearly 4,000 adult learners and 18 CEU-certified online instructors.
Who is served by your initiative?
The School of Global Citizenry serves two primary communities: learners and educators.
Our CEU-certified courses are intended for adult learners from religious, social, and civic backgrounds. We help adult learners connect with online courses that address their vocational needs and expand their understanding of the realities of the world.
Our training center is intended for new and emerging online educators. We work with educators by helping them acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to create innovative and compelling online courses in a cutting-edge online teaching environment. We offer CEU teaching certification, instructional design consulting, training in online teaching, and course development assistance as part of instructor onboarding.
What’s an “Aha!” moment you’ve had while doing this work?
For a long time, I thought the field of education was only for those serving a tenured-track position in higher education with a Ph.D. I felt like anything I did that taught others outside of that context wasn’t true education. As times have shifted, education has started to reshape itself, and we have learned more about adult development, my definition of education has expanded. I believe education is a much broader and more nuanced field than first realized. Tenured-track positions and schools of higher education are just one of hundreds of ways we grow skills, expand knowledge, and educate the world. I now believe that it is in innovative, decentralized, less formal, third spaces that some of the most groundbreaking education is taking place.
If people wanted to mine your expertise on something related to lifelong learning, what would it be?
I’ve had the opportunity to work with lifelong learning initiatives for the better part of 16 years, and in that time, I have learned a lot about how adults learn. As an educational design consultant and seasoned instructional designer, I am passionate about ensuring that educators have a thorough understanding of adult learning theory and a solid foundation in the learning sciences. I believe that understanding adult cognitive development is essential to effective teaching. Earlier this year, I hosted two webinars (recorded) on instructional design for the Association of Theological Schools where you can find more information on both topics.
What do you think will be different in the future of lifelong learning?
I think we will continue to see formal education become decentralized and democratized. I think Ai will become one of many languages (like mathematics) that is necessary in the educational process. Education will be less about where one went to school and what accolades they have for it and more about what skills one can leverage to meet the moment and in what ways leaders are building a vocational lifestyle that supports lifelong learning.
How can people get in touch with you?
I can be reached via our websites, [www.tumbuhglobal.org] or [www.sgcitizenry.com] or by email at lindsay@tumbuhglobal.org or lindsay@sgcitizenry.com. I also answer work inquiries via LinkedIn.
If you weren’t leading a lifelong learning program, what would you be doing?
I think I would be an archaeologist or social anthropologist. I am fascinated by human history and social evolution. I believe we have a lot to learn from what lies just below our feet, in many cases. This is one of many reasons I am so passionate about seeing and experiencing life through the lens of those outside of my context of origin.
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