Defining Global Competence

A huge set of key concepts are the definitions of global competence as the attitudes, dispositions, behaviors, and skills required to solve the world's most challenging problems. I love the Andreas Schleider quote in Teaching for Global Competence that said "goals are only meaningful if they become visible." That, to me, really made the "take action" component sink in - that skills, behaviors and knowledge without action do not serve the their true purpose or, as the first OECD article describes it the SDGs, "a real social contract."

Explore More:

• Asia Society/OECD. (2018). Teaching for Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World. Asia Society, New York. See specifically “Implementing Education for Global Competence at Scale,”  pages 28-34.

• Schleicher, Andreas. (2017). Educating our youth to care about each other and the world. OECD Education and Skills Today.

• Tichnor-Wagnor, Ariel, et. al. (2019). Becoming a Globally Competent Teacher. ASCD. See specifically "Introduction: All Teachers are Global Educators"

Assessing Global Competence

One of the biggest changes beyond the pedagogical shift is how and what teachers assess. It's not realistic to administer the PISA exam to a wide sample across the United States, but regular classroom assessments can be tweaked to evaluate thinking and collaboration skills, among other global competencies. Here are a few rubrics and standards that can easily be converted into rubrics. I especially like how the Asia Society phrases theirs as student-facing "I Can" statements. I'm still thinking about I can implement these into my own practice, but I like the possibilities that looking for evidence of student thinking opens up. Self-reflection is always a great practice too! Of course I mean for students but also for educators. One such resource is one that can be found in the appendix of Becoming a Globally Competent Teacher by Ariel Tichnor-Wagner, et al. An adapted version is linked below.

Explore More:

• Asia Society, Center for Global Education (2013). Global Leadership Performance Outcomes. Asia Society, New York.

• Learning for Justice (2018). Social Justice Standards, The Learning for Justice Anti-Bias Framework. Southern Poverty Law Center, Montgomery.

• LEARN NC and The Longfellow Foundation (2016). The Globally Competent Learning Continuum. NAFSA: Association of International Educators, Washington, D.C.

• Moton, Kylowna. (2019). Establishing a Framework with Global Competencies. NCTE.

What digital tools are out there for teachers to most effectively teach global competency without having to dedicate precious class time to teach the technology itself? The digital landscape is vast, but here are some suggestions for how to easily integrate global thinking skills into your existing classroom practice. 

• Google Apps for Education - Excellent tools for collaboration with Sites and Docs as well as assessment and feedback with Forms. Below is a screenshot of a creative writing website where my 8th graders exhibited their short stories. More examples can be found in my Teach section.

  • • Fulbright TGC Alumni Video: Traub, Michelle. Fun with Google Maps. (4 minutes)

• Flip (formerly FlipGrid) - Another great responding and feedback tool. Students have to practice because, contrary to what you might think, they'll be camera shy the first few times!

  • • Fulbright TGC Alumni Video: Hutson, Amani. Flipgrid Pen Pals. (2 minutes)

• Padlet - This is a lower-stakes way to see real time responses with the ability to embed other media. I'm linking below an example of how I used Padlet to collaborate with a classroom in another school on a current events activity.

• Walsh, Kelly. (2015). “8 Examples of Transforming Lessons Through the SAMR Cycle.” EmergingEdTech. - This article helped me rethink the way that I differentiate for my students with special needs. We all know from our experience of teaching during the pandemic that simply putting a computer in front of a student does not mean that a learning task will be completed or enhanced. See also this lesson plan reflection that offers a side-by-side view of SAMR adaptations and Bloom's taxonomy.)

Take a look at some of these videos below to gain a some background in how identity and our perceptions of the "other" are some of the background work that go into global competence.

• The National Education Association Foundation Global Learning Fellowship is another professional development opportunity that focuses on global education and offers an international field experience. I was fortunate enough to participate in the 2018 cohort that traveled to South Africa. I have continued my involvement as a mentor n subsequent years, and I can see that there is a lot of overlap between their goals and the goals of the Fulbright TGC Program. 

• Empatico is another organizations that provides the building blocks of a global perspective with virtual classroom visits and exchanges that promote empathy and respectful communication. The materials are geared more towards elementary aged students, but I have successfully used them with my middle schoolers.  

• National Geographic "Teaching Across Perspectives" is another way to present at the foundations of global competence. They also offer Educator Certification as another professional development opportunity. Everyone I know who has gone through the process has loved it!

• To support the Sustainable Development Goals,  the UN has published a few different action guides (see below). These offer accessible, hopeful options to show that the "take action" component of global competency can be done at an individual level and at any age.