The 30 innovators Who Changed the Startup World

“
Clap aims to build a whole
new generation that is far more
compassionate towards personal,
social and cultural differences
Aarti Chhabria & Shirin Johari, Co-Founders
Children get to learn about different cultures through real
stories and real people, and gradually develop an
understanding of the world that is deeper than popular
stereotypes. And travellers get to witness a slice of real life
in a foreign land while making an actual difference to the
lives of the people they meet.
Clap Talks are curated on a simple digital platform:
www.clapglobal.com
Travellers create their profile and share their available
dates. Schools create their profile and share their preferred
classroom date and time slots. Through simple matching of
available dates, Clap curates an eye-opening Talk.
Every school that signs up with Clap is given a Clap Kit
complete with conversation aids and flashcards to guide
them through a talk. Similarly, travellers are given a
presentation template that they can customize with their
pictures and stories to help them prep for their Clap Talk.
The curriculum tools packaged into the Kit cover a range of
universal topics, such as culture, family, current events,
interpersonal relationships, environment, gender, human
rights and freedoms, justice, governance and even a
Question-Ball game enabling an exciting and meaningful
exchange of perspectives. This has been meticulously
designed with Curriculum Innovators to raise the cultural
and emotional intelligence of all the participants of a Clap
Talk.
Through Clap Global, students receive Clap Passports to
document their Clap Talks. Both the students and the
traveller get to write postcards for each other.
Changing Needs of Learning
Just all the challenges an absolute innovation brings. While
the concept is accepted beautifully to understand its impact
over longitudinal experience is key for Clap Global to
succeed in transforming the mindset of teachers, students
“
and travelers. The Education industry is slow paced with
few having the liberty and passion to experiment or rather
adapt with changing needs of learning.
Clap Global measures success by the number of students
and travellers who have life altering experiences through
Clap Talks. “When children learn to accept and celebrate
differences in each other and people from the world, we
think we succeeded. When travellers get an authentic local
feel of our country through the eyes of children, it helps not
just us, but the local tourism potential as well,” say Aarti &
Shirin.
Developing a Deeper Understanding of the World
According to Clap Global, their strength is the growing
need for humans to connect with people who have different
experiences of life. Educators realise that a student’s
cultural intelligence is as important as their IQ. They
understand that for children to function effectively in a fastshrinking
world, they need to be exposed to diverse
perspectives and new ways of life. Through Clap, children
get to learn about different cultures through real stories and
real people, and gradually develop an understanding of the
world that is deeper than popular stereotypes.
Not all parents have the resources to send their children on
elite educational tours and exchange programs. In fact,
numbers indicate that less than 0.1 % of students can
actually afford an international exchange program. What’s
more, even the ones who can go abroad, are exposed to
only one foreign culture in a year.
But if each student in a school participates in at least 6 Clap
Talks, a year, then from the age of 3 to 15, she will gain
exposure to over 72 different cultures from around the
world!
| January 2018 |
31