What’s on this page:
- What is Global Competence?
- What is Global Education?
- Assess Your Global Competence
- Useful Digital Tools
- Organizations in the Field
- Additional Resources
What is Global Competence?
Global Competence is an umbrella term that covers all the skills, knowledge, beliefs and attitudes a person needs to act effectively for progress in our incredibly complex world.
According to the Center for Global Education at the Asia Society, global competence has 4 components:
- Investigating the World
- Recognizing Perspectives
- Communicating Ideas
- Taking Action
Click below to read how teachers can develop their own global competence:
What is Global Education?
Global Education is the effort to help our students develop global competence.
This can be accomplished through several ways and on many levels!
In fact, we MUST teach students not only to focus on global issues at the global level, but to investigate how global issues manifest at the local level.
Students must focus on the “glocal” level of issues– how the global intersects with the local.
This involves activities such as:
- Real-world projects that go beyond the classroom
- Activities that cultivate digital media literacy
- Learning about different cultures
- Involving real-life global examples and materials
- Projects that connect students with the community
- Activities that use technology meaningfully
- Projects that require collaboration
- Work that can be published or shared
Assess Your Global Competence
These websites can help you and your school make decisions about how to grow in global education.
- Use the Globally Competent Teaching Continuum to assess and track your progress.
- Read this article that includes questions teachers can give their students to assess global competence and determine a starting point; the author also gives four ways to get started with global education.
- Check out the questions on PISA’s 2018 Global Competence Questionnaire to get a sense of the range of factors involved.
- Click through the resources on this page by the University of Michigan. Included here is the AAC&U Intercultural Knowledge and Competence Value Rubric, a Global Perspectives Inventory, an Intercultural Development Inventory, and a Global Competence Aptitude Assessment.
Useful Digital Tools
Check out these tools to create a digital learning environment!
Flip (formerly “Flipgrid”) can help your students practice communication skills and digital literacy.
Teachers for an Informed Public is run by teachers and librarians in Washington state. Topics include exploring the YouTube algorithm and confirmation bias.
The Media Education Lab has resources about propaganda, civic engagement, copyright, & games.
NAMLE is dedicated to advancing media literacy education in the U.S. Check out their Core Principles of Media Literacy Instruction.
The Media Literacy Clearinghouse by Frank Baker has a myriad of ideas and lessons about topics like stereotypes, fake news, and satire.
The Center for Media Literacy has several resources for teachers, including a guide to 5 Key Questions for media literacy.
Organizations in the Field
These groups work at the intersection education and global competence. Their sites include tools, resources, and opportunities for educators.
World Savvy “fosters inclusion, inquiry, and understanding to develop a new generation of empathetic and engaged global citizens.” They have resources as well as PD for teachers, including a Global Competence Certificate.
Fulbright offers several programs for teachers that all include international field experience. Travel ranges from a few weeks to a few months. Topics include individual research projects as well as training in teaching global education.
Asia Society‘s site has plenty of infographics about global issues that can be used with students. Additionally, Asia Society’s Center for Global Education has PD opportunities, classroom resources, and booklists for teachers.
The Pulitzer Center has hundreds of lesson plans for 11 subject areas, including Social Studies, Literature, Math, and Science. The Pulitzer Center also offers grants and fellowships for educators.
The United States Institute of Peace has lessons, simulations, and activities to use in the classroom. The site also has a Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators, developed by teachers, and a Conflict Styles Assessment quiz.
Additional Resources
Here are some other sites and information you might find helpful in your global education journey!
NCTE‘s article titled “Establishing a Framework with Global Competencies”– Global education geared toward the English classroom.
Taiye Selasi explains what it means to be “multi-local” and explores concepts of nationality, identity, and place in this engaging and thought-provoking TED talk.
Check out this article from the Harvard Graduate School of Education called “Nurturing a Global Mind,” about how teachers can help students become global citizens.
This inspirational 11-minute video by Loki Films, “The World Is as Big or Small as You Make It,” shows how students around the world become connected with technology in the classroom.
If it feels overwhelming, that’s because it is. But it only takes one person to start a movement! Watch this short inspirational video by Derek Sivers to see how it happens.
Disclaimer – “This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and information presented are the participant’s own and do not represent the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, the U.S. Department of State, or IREX.”
