By Dr. Schola Matovu | Nursing Professor | Nurse Scientist | Director of Global Learning and Engagement
July 14, 2026
What does global learning actually require?
For many people, the phrase global learning brings to mind international travel, cultural exchange programs, or partnerships that stretch across borders.
But the longer I work as a nurse scientist, educator, and global health scholar, the more I believe that global learning begins somewhere much closer to home.
It begins with a simple but profoundly difficult question:
Who am I, and what is the self that I bring into every interaction?
That question has stayed with me throughout my career. It follows me into classrooms, research meetings, community partnerships, conference presentations, and conversations with students or global partners.
Because every one of us brings a particular story into the spaces we occupy.
And those stories matter.
The Self We Bring Into the Room
We often talk about understanding patients, communities, students, research participants, and colleagues.
But how often do we pause to understand ourselves?
How many of us have engaged in the deep and sometimes uncomfortable work of examining our values, beliefs, assumptions, strengths, privileges, experiences, and biases?
Self-awareness is not a destination. It is an ongoing practice of reflection and curiosity.
For nurses and health professionals, this practice is especially important.
Every day, we care for people who may not look like us, sound like us, worship like us, vote like us, or live like us.
As researchers, we often study communities to which we are outsiders.
As educators, we teach students whose experiences may differ dramatically from our own.
Without self-awareness, we risk assuming that our perspective is the only perspective.
With self-awareness, we create space for humility, learning, and meaningful relationships.
My Own Reflection
When I ask myself who I am, the answer is layered.
I am a Black Ugandan-American woman.
I am a woman of African descent.
I am a Muganda woman from the Buganda Kingdom of Uganda.
I belong to the Ngabi clan, known for healing and peaceful coexistence.
I received my primary and secondary education in Uganda and my higher education in the United States.
I am a nursing professor.
I am a nurse scientist.
I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, granddaughter, a friend, and a member of multiple communities.
Most importantly, I am someone whose worldview was profoundly shaped by being raised by my grandmother, Ms. Matilda Nabowa, in a small village in Entebbe, Uganda.
Those formative years exposed me to realities that many people around the world still experience every day—inequities in health, access, resources, and opportunity.
They also exposed me to resilience, community support, caregiving, and the extraordinary strength that ordinary people demonstrate in difficult circumstances.
Those experiences did not disappear when I left Uganda.
They became part of me.
They influence what questions I ask as a researcher.
They shape how I teach students.
They affect what I notice, what concerns me, and what I prioritize.
They also shape my biases.
Recognizing that reality is not a weakness.
It is the beginning of responsible scholarship, teaching, and care.
From Self-Awareness to Global Learning
For me, self-awareness is the foundation upon which global learning is built.
Global learning has three interconnected dimensions.
Global Awareness
The ability to understand issues that transcend communities, nations, and borders.
One example is grandparent caregiving.
Although caregiving often appears local and personal, it is actually a global phenomenon occurring in communities across Africa, North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond.
Understanding such issues requires looking beyond our immediate surroundings to recognize larger patterns and shared human experiences.
Global Perspectives
The ability to analyze problems through multiple viewpoints.
Health challenges rarely have one explanation.
Workforce shortages, caregiving burdens, health disparities, and social inequities are influenced by culture, economics, politics, history, and lived experience.
Global learning challenges us to ask:
“What might I be missing?”
“Whose perspective has not yet been heard?”
“How might someone else understand this issue differently?”
Global Engagement
The willingness to work collaboratively to address shared challenges.
Awareness without action is incomplete.
Perspective without engagement is limited.
Global learning should ultimately move us toward partnerships, collaboration, advocacy, and solutions.
Whether addressing nursing workforce challenges, health inequities, or caregiving needs, meaningful change requires people willing to engage across differences.
Why This Matters for Nursing
Nurses make up the largest segment of the global health workforce.
That reality carries tremendous responsibility.
Technical skills matter.
Clinical expertise matters.
Evidence matters.
But all of those must be accompanied by self-awareness.
The nurse who understands their own assumptions is often better prepared to practice cultural humility.
The educator who understands their own lens is often better prepared to support diverse learners.
The researcher who understands their positionality is often better prepared to build authentic community partnerships.
Self-awareness does not eliminate bias.
But it helps prevent bias from operating unchecked.
Why This Matters Beyond Nursing
The lessons of self-awareness extend far beyond healthcare.
Community leaders need it.
Researchers need it.
Policymakers need it.
Educators need it.
Families need it.
At a time when societies are increasingly interconnected yet often deeply divided, self-awareness may be one of the most overlooked leadership skills.
Not because it solves every problem.
But because it helps us approach problems with humility rather than certainty.
Curiosity rather than judgment.
Partnership rather than paternalism.
The Journey Continues
The more I learn about the world, the more I realize how much there is still to learn about myself.
Global learning is often described as expanding our horizons.
I agree.
But that expansion begins with looking inward before looking outward.
Because the most important instrument we bring into research, teaching, nursing, leadership, and community engagement is ourselves.
And the better we understand that instrument, the more thoughtfully we can use it in service of others.
Final Takeaway
The path to global understanding does not begin with crossing borders. It begins with self-reflection.
The journey outward starts inward.
Reflection QuestionWhat assumptions, experiences, or identities shape the way you see the people and