"All cultures through all time have constantly been engaged in a dance with new possibilities for life. Change is the one constant in human history." - Wade Davis
Globalization is the driving force behind the global competency educational movement. Globalization is marked by the growing international interdependence of economic, cultural, technological, political and environmental trends (Asia Society). For students to thrive in a globalized society requires the development of global competencies. The Asia Society, a leading global education advocacy group, defines global competence as the development of four major skills sets. Investigate the World- Students investigate the world beyond their immediate environment. • Identify an issue, generate questions, and explain its significance. • Use variety of languages, sources and media to identify and weigh relevant evidence. • Analyze, integrate, and synthesize evidence to construct coherent responses. • Develop argument based on compelling evidence and draws defensible conclusions.
Weigh Perspectives- Students recognize their own and others’ perspectives. • Recognize and express their own perspective and identify influences on that perspective. • Examine others’ perspectives and identify what influenced them. • Explain the impact of cultural interactions. • Articulate how differential access to knowledge, technology, and resources affects quality of life and perspectives .
Communicate Ideas- Students communicate their ideas effectively with diverse audiences. • Recognize and express how diverse audiences perceive meaning and how that affects communication. • Listen to and communicate effectively with diverse people. • Select and use appropriate technology and media to communicate with diverse audiences. • Reflect on how effective communication affects understanding and collaboration in an interdependent world.
Take Action- Students translate their ideas into appropriate actions to improve conditions. • Identify and create opportunities for personal or collaborative action to improve conditions. • Assess options and plan actions based on evidence and potential for impact. • Act, personally or collaboratively, in creative and ethical ways to contribute to improvement, and assess impact of actions taken. • Reflect on capacity to advocate for and contribute to improvement.
GLOBAL COMPETENCE DEFINITION: World Savvy
World Savvy, national education nonprofit that works with educators, schools, and districts to integrate global competence teaching and learning into K-12 classrooms, defines global competence as: "the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to navigate and succeed in today’s interconnected world. Globally competent individuals are life-long learners, have an appreciation for cultural differences, an ability to understand and consider multiple perspectives, critical and comparative thinking skills, problem solving abilities, comfort with ambiguity and change, and understand globally significant issues." While the World Savvy definition of global competence has overlap with the Asia Society definition, it does incorporate a broader range of attitudes, values, behavior, understanding and skills, that apply to developing the whole child.