Webinar - Global Competence: Teaching and Learning in an Interconnected World held December 7th, 2021
Each of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals comes with Targets. Target 4.7 of Goal 4, Quality Education, is “to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development by 2030.”
Global competence education focuses on the skills, values, and behaviors that prepare children to thrive in a diverse, interconnected world. This includes critical thinking, communications across diverse audiences, respect for different cultures and perspectives, and taking action to apply learning.
This webinar aimed to define global competence, explain why it is essential for today’s learners and show how it has been implemented in various programs.
Anne-Marie Carlson, Chair of the Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN), welcomed everyone to the December 7th, 2021 CTAUN webinar: Global Competence: Teaching and Learning in an Interconnected World and shared the overview of the webinar’s mission; to present how UNESCO and leaders in the global education field had designed programs to develop students’ global competencies. After citing the work of the CTAUN webinar committee chaired by Connie Rensink, Vice-chair of CTAUN, Ms. Carlson introduced Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education. As part of the CTAUN webinar, Ms. Giannini prepared a UNESCO video that gave fresh impetus to multilateral partnerships and recognition of the ethical role of global education.
Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, shared UNESCO’s mission and invited educators to create transformative educational experiences that would empower students to think critically, navigate through uncertainties, and shape a peaceful, sustainable world. This new paradigm, she said, targets Sustainable Education Goal 4 (https://en.unesco.org/education2030-sdg4/targets) and would ensurethat students would discover their global connections and use their global competencies to bring about changes both locally and globally. Ms. Giannini shared that in a recent UNESCO survey that over 60,000 teachers did not feel ready to transform their curriculum and develop global citizenship skills. Calling out today at the CTAUN webinar for teachers to initiate reforms that would provide a better future for humanity, she sent a message to over 300 registered viewers. Leaders in the educational field who currently are implementing this call for global competencies followed. her presentation on the CTAUN webinar and provided goals and plans to further the UN mission to develop global citizens.
Connie Rensink, Vice-chair of the Committee for Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN) and Director of Global Education at iEARN-USA introduced Dr. William Gaudelli, Dean and Professor of the College of Education of Lehigh University and Vice Provost of Innovation in Education at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA. Ms. Rensink shared that she met Professor Gaudelli when she was a student in the Global Competence Certificate Program that Dr. Gaudelli co-founded while at Columbia University. Mr. Gaudelli is the author of three books, the latest bein Global Citizenship Education: Everyday Transcendence
William [Bill] Gaudelli raised the question: What attributes do global competencies entail? Basically, he said, it is about building skills for personal and social change. Students want to be change agents, to humbly learn from other cultures, and to find ways to make sustainable changes that will benefit themselves and the global community. Educators who develop a Global Competence Curriculum are committed to change and offer experiences for students to authentically collaborate and present ways to solve both local and global issues.
It is essential for students to understand how we live in an interdependent world. Media plays an important part in developing students’ perspectives and an important part of the curriculum. Mr. Gaudelli encouraged teachers to use media to teach what is missing from the episodic nature of reporting. Citing three separate recent articles on COP 26, Supply chain, and inflation that were in the news, he felt it was important for educators to show the intersection of these global issues to students. Students need to see the role they play as consumers as the world faces the problems of climate change.
In closing, Mr.Gaudelli cited the progress he has seen in the last 30 years for teachers to support the development of global competencies. He was encouraged by the recent UNESCO report (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/) that teachers saw the value of this curriculum and were eager for the tools to prepare students for their roles as change agents for a sustainable world.
Dr. Eunhee Jung, Founder and President of the International Virtual Exchange of Classroom Activities (IVECA), added to the discussion on global competencies and shared how IVECA contributed to the new paradigm that Ms. Giannini and Dr. Gaudelli had discussed. Dr. Jung’s collaboration with ECOSOC and UNDP produced an intercultural program that developed students’ (K-12) problem solving skills with students from different cultures or linguistic backgrounds. Teachers were trained to collaborate with other teachers and develop a global competence curriculum to implement it in a virtual classroom with a classroom from another country. Students would meet other students, focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and develop a project that promoted the five dimensions of intercultural competence: knowledge, awareness, attitude, skill and language proficiency. During this 8 to 10 week collaboration students would come up with a solution to an SDG related problem and share it at the United Nations or at a Zoom round table. Dr. Jung’s presentation gave viewers a model of how big ideas reach the classroom and give students new perspectives.
Dr. Jennifer Williams , CoFounder and Co-Executive of Take Action Global,
joined the conversation on global competencies by highlighting her journey to give students access to information, ideas, and meaningful opportunities. Since 2015 when the United Nations appointed Dr. Williams and four others to develop the TeachSDGs Platform to ensure the SDGs were in every classroom around the world, Dr. Williams’ SDG movement has grown from 17 to 22. During the panel discussion, Dr. Williams was prompted by Dr. Gaudelli’s remark, How do we act in the world? She referred to the Take Action Global platform (https://www.takeactionglobal.org/) that gives students a voice on climate change. Students have tools to solve problems, engage with others, and address SDGs.
Jill Woerner Director of Education and External Outreach for AFS-USA , knows that teachers need relevant data and tools to make changes in curriculum that follow the United Nations SDGs. She collaborated with educators at AFS-USA and designed a tool to affect change: Global Competence Readiness Index for Schools. With self-assessments and recommendations, teachers now have a direction on how to move forward. The AFS-USA nonprofit organization provides a valuable Global Competence Certificate that gives teachers opportunities to look inward at their identity, learning style, and comfort zone. Lessons are provided that nurture inclusiveness at Intercultural Classroom Activities. The Effect+ hands-on program and the accompanying Tool Kit help advance global citizenship and teach the SDGs to Middle and High School students. The Asia Pacific Center of UNESCO has recognized this highly valued program. Ms. Woerner along with the other members of the CTAUN webinar panel highlighted the need for global competencies and the resources available for developing global citizens.
Trina Haygaru, Lower School Principal of the International School of Indiana in Indianapolis, Indiana, continued the discourse on promoting global citizens and shared how her staff implemented global competencies using the Compassionate System Framework in her school. Teachers followed the curriculum designed at MIT that would give students opportunities to design projects that would develop their International Mindedness; a compassion for self, other people, all living things, the planet, and its resources. Ms Haygaru shared several examples of projects that provided challenges for students that developed both critical thinking and empathy skills. In a fourth-grade immigration project, the UN Simulation Model was used to move students from one campus to another so they would experience both immigrant processing and assimilation in a different classroom. Compassionate Integrity often begins with challenges that produce discomfort. It is essential for students to achieve global competency. When a third grader was asked why it was important the student said, “It’s important because we shouldn’t just care about ourselves. You shouldn’t just go, “me, me, me like you should care about the other people around you because every person, even people that you didn’t even know, is one whole family.”
Ms Rensink concluded the hour webinar by thanking the speakers and the webinar committee and also sharing her appreciation for their passion, resources, and time. Ms. Rensink reminded us of Mr. Gaudelli’s remark, Together, we are learning to learn.
To encourage teachers to continue learning about Global Competence implementation, Ms. Rensink invited the audience to look at the programs available on the CTAUN Global Competence Playlist (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLp20uCL9625LtgeeJO8GuuYdJus-hpD6) and other resources posted on https://teachun.org/
A recording of the webinar can be found HERE
