Global competence is an important component of modern education. At its core, this concept is an effort to help people better understand, and have more empathy for, other people. Each person has different circumstances he or she is faced with, which present unique challenges. Fostering global competence is a way to help every student be better equipped to deal with the situations they uniquely face by helping them see that people elsewhere deal with the same, or similar, issues.
Schools often say they are getting students ready for "jobs that don't exist yet," and that is something that is seen as vital in this globally connected economy.
However, treating education as a primarily economic endeavor loses focus of the fact that students need to be able to adapt to new situations and people, while gaining understanding of different cultures that wouldn't have been encountered in past eras. Whether it's part of their career or not, students need to be critical thinkers who can process a rapidly changing world and a global connectivity that's unlike anything humanity has faced in history.
Students need to be prepared not so much for jobs that don't exist, but rather for problems that don't exist yet. They need to be critical and empathetic thinkers so that they can tackle the problems of the 21st century.
The ability to see different viewpoints and incorporate elements into one's own life is essential for success today.
Global education is the way to connect students to perspectives outside their own fishbowl, a process that expands their problem-solving abilities. Learning about others helps us better understand our own situation. Grok in fullness.
