Global Learning, Global Competencies, Global Everything...
Everything is global these days. Global is about everywhere, about diversity, cross-cultural transitions, trade, politics, you name it. It is also about global strife, poverty, inequality, the "clash of cultures, histories, and worldviews" as Kevin Hovland, director of global learning and curricular change at Association of American Colleges and Universities., put it. Education has had to adjust to societal changes and the amazing opportunities for connecting internationally that new technology affords. I first enjoyed dissecting the term "global learning" while reading a 2009 piece by Kevin Hovland. Here are some excepts from that paper:
So What is Global Learning???
"...Data reconfirms our conviction that college and university students will benefit from a careful and intentional alignment of global learning goals with the essential learning outcomes of a liberal education-what it means to be a well-educated citizen for the twenty-first century.
More and more, institutions are defining global learning as a vehicle for integrating multiple disciplinary perspectives and weaving together existing commitments to explore diversity, build capacity for civic engagement, and prepare students to take responsibility for common global problems."
Sp the term is a not universally agreed-on construct. In fact, it's complex, contested and changing, with definitions and uses often as varied as universities and individuals who are innovating in the field of international education. My own foray into this work has started relatively recently (in 2003), so when I am asked to discuss holistic approaches to Global Learning opportunities in higher education, I have to say that I become a believe in following one's institutional needs when adopting a term, be it Curriculum Internationalization or Global Learning. What does it mean for your students, your faculty, your staff, your leadership? One has to move forward from there.
Kevin writes, "Since 2001, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has worked through its Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility initiative to help member colleges and universities envision and enact global learning models that foreground questions of diversity, identity, citizenship, interconnection, and responsible action. Shared Futures supports the efforts of faculty, staff, and administrators as they create curricular, cocurricular, and integrated experiences that enable all students-those who study abroad and the vast majority who do not-to approach the world’s challenges and opportunities from multiple perspectives and to wrestle with the ethical implications of differential power and privilege....
Through Shared Futures, AAC&U led efforts to build coherent, vertically and horizontally integrated, general education curricula around complex, multidisciplinary global issues such as Health and social justice, Sustainability, Globalization, wealth, and poverty, Religion in global contexts (similar to what UMD Seven Revolutions Project aims to bring in the spotlight as integral effort to increase students' global competencies)."
Hovland continues by stating, "Study abroad or study away is strengthened by opportunities for course-based preparation and reflection. The knowledge, skills, and experiences gained in study abroad or away, in turn, expand and deepen the insights that students bring to what they are learning in the rest of their courses. Equally important to success-especially at a large urban commuter institution-is finding creative ways to bring students into generative contact-to create spaces and opportunities for them to share their diverse experiences and identities in the context of global challenges."
Mental Notes For Self
I see Global Learning as
1. A process
-curriculum and co-curricular activities internationalization
-Study abroad, outreach, exchange, international engagement opportunities on campus (living-learning communities, peer-pairing, other proven high-impact practices), etc.
2. An outcome
- defined by the HEI , e.g., GL activities ensure student success/enhance global competencies for the entire academic community (staff, faculty and friends of locally and regionally).
-President Obama's goal of producing "a workforce prepared for the jobs of the 21st century
Global learning opportunities at an institution may include:
•education abroad
•global studies minor
• global leadership certificate opportunities
•International exchange
•intercultural competence assessment development
And much, much More!
So how do we advance the GL cause?
•Success in a connected world
•Visibility
•Relationships >> Collaboration
•Education
GL team goals
-creating educational, outreach and training opportunities for academic community to achieve global and cultural competencies
Things to ponder/discuss:
1.What are current opportunities for GL ?
•Fin aid for GL activities (when relevant)
•Online GL community management
•Appreciative inquiry:
-What can we do to strengthen WSU GL team capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential? It involves systematic discovery of what gives “life” to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms;
4 Ds: Dream, design, deliver, discover
2.What resources do we already have?
•IP
•Int student, scholars, faculty and staff
•Region 1 institutional partners
•International partners
•…
Sources:
http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-fa09/hovland.cfm
http://www.aacu.org/SharedFutures/global_century/index.cfm
Note: Currently, General Education for a Global Century is a Curriculum and Faculty Development Project of the Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility initiative and the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative.
So What is Global Learning???
"...Data reconfirms our conviction that college and university students will benefit from a careful and intentional alignment of global learning goals with the essential learning outcomes of a liberal education-what it means to be a well-educated citizen for the twenty-first century.
More and more, institutions are defining global learning as a vehicle for integrating multiple disciplinary perspectives and weaving together existing commitments to explore diversity, build capacity for civic engagement, and prepare students to take responsibility for common global problems."
Sp the term is a not universally agreed-on construct. In fact, it's complex, contested and changing, with definitions and uses often as varied as universities and individuals who are innovating in the field of international education. My own foray into this work has started relatively recently (in 2003), so when I am asked to discuss holistic approaches to Global Learning opportunities in higher education, I have to say that I become a believe in following one's institutional needs when adopting a term, be it Curriculum Internationalization or Global Learning. What does it mean for your students, your faculty, your staff, your leadership? One has to move forward from there.
Kevin writes, "Since 2001, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has worked through its Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility initiative to help member colleges and universities envision and enact global learning models that foreground questions of diversity, identity, citizenship, interconnection, and responsible action. Shared Futures supports the efforts of faculty, staff, and administrators as they create curricular, cocurricular, and integrated experiences that enable all students-those who study abroad and the vast majority who do not-to approach the world’s challenges and opportunities from multiple perspectives and to wrestle with the ethical implications of differential power and privilege....
Through Shared Futures, AAC&U led efforts to build coherent, vertically and horizontally integrated, general education curricula around complex, multidisciplinary global issues such as Health and social justice, Sustainability, Globalization, wealth, and poverty, Religion in global contexts (similar to what UMD Seven Revolutions Project aims to bring in the spotlight as integral effort to increase students' global competencies)."
Hovland continues by stating, "Study abroad or study away is strengthened by opportunities for course-based preparation and reflection. The knowledge, skills, and experiences gained in study abroad or away, in turn, expand and deepen the insights that students bring to what they are learning in the rest of their courses. Equally important to success-especially at a large urban commuter institution-is finding creative ways to bring students into generative contact-to create spaces and opportunities for them to share their diverse experiences and identities in the context of global challenges."
Mental Notes For Self
I see Global Learning as
1. A process
-curriculum and co-curricular activities internationalization
-Study abroad, outreach, exchange, international engagement opportunities on campus (living-learning communities, peer-pairing, other proven high-impact practices), etc.
2. An outcome
- defined by the HEI , e.g., GL activities ensure student success/enhance global competencies for the entire academic community (staff, faculty and friends of locally and regionally).
-President Obama's goal of producing "a workforce prepared for the jobs of the 21st century
Global learning opportunities at an institution may include:
•education abroad
•global studies minor
• global leadership certificate opportunities
•International exchange
•intercultural competence assessment development
And much, much More!
So how do we advance the GL cause?
•Success in a connected world
•Visibility
•Relationships >> Collaboration
•Education
GL team goals
-creating educational, outreach and training opportunities for academic community to achieve global and cultural competencies
Things to ponder/discuss:
1.What are current opportunities for GL ?
•Fin aid for GL activities (when relevant)
•Online GL community management
•Appreciative inquiry:
-What can we do to strengthen WSU GL team capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential? It involves systematic discovery of what gives “life” to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms;
4 Ds: Dream, design, deliver, discover
2.What resources do we already have?
•IP
•Int student, scholars, faculty and staff
•Region 1 institutional partners
•International partners
•…
Sources:
http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-fa09/hovland.cfm
http://www.aacu.org/SharedFutures/global_century/index.cfm
Note: Currently, General Education for a Global Century is a Curriculum and Faculty Development Project of the Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility initiative and the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative.