Comments on Global Competencies summer reading

The contents of "Educating for Global Competency" by Reimers and "Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World" from the Asia Institute resonated with me and with our work at BB&N. In particular, the holistic requirements for educating students in global studies stood out to me. Reimers said "Global education is multidimensional, suggesting that quality global education must attend to each of these dimensions…the affective dimension, the action dimension, and the academic dimension." And Howard Gardner wrote "What is needed more than ever is a laser-like focus on the kinds of human beings that we are raising and the kinds of societies—indeed, in a global era the kind of world society—that we are fashioning." I couldn't agree more and feel encouraged that we all teach in an institution like BB&N where these dimensions and ideals are inherently woven into the fabric of our school. We, as educators, have a preexisting framework in which to enhance our curricula to include the essence of global education that both readings suggest. We also have worked on initiatives to highlight the importance technology, 21st century skills, multicultural affairs, and environmental stewardship that are all mentioned as keys to helping students achieve global competency. These are a few reasons why I feel energized by the readings---I feel like BB&N is well positioned to expand up global education and has prioritized some of the global issues needed to do so. With that said, I am now thinking about how to implement strategies to help students gain global competency in my classroom. As the readings suggest high quality curricula, professional development, and connected learning communities are needed to do so. I'm interested to read and hear from colleagues about ways to purposefully and meaningfully engage in this work.

 

-Melissa