Article
Understanding “Global Competence”: Helpful Resources
ID # 3696
The intercultural education course that I have taken as a senior at Carolina has been incredibly helpful in the development of my understanding of cultural education and developing skills as a communicator. Prior to my participation in the class, I honestly had no idea that the field was so extensive. It was incredibly helpful to gain an understanding of the discourse that is occurring in this emerging field of intercultural education, and I would not have known where to begin my education regarding this topic had I not taken that course.
The first resource that I would cite as incredibly helpful in understanding global education would have to be the Asia Society article. Also it was a lengthy publication, the importance of teaching education and how the field fits into our rapidly globalizing society. Also, Asia Society had the most clear and advanced explanation of global competence:
Global competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.
Although I understood the importance of effective communicating cross-culturally, this definition provided a clear goal that helped direct the means by which I would developing these skills. Global competence is not the accumulation of factual knowledge, but rather, it is the development of functional knowledge.
Secondly, I would emphasize the Cultural Detective as a helpful resource used in the course. Although it was not written about the country at the focus of my classroom lesson plans, the Cultural Detective provided a good framework from which I could begin to think more critically about the less superficial aspects of culture.
I am not dismissing any features of culture as frivolous. Instead, I have come to realize that global competence incorporates an understanding of the parts of culture below the surface. That is, plunging deep into the waters surrounding the “Cultural Iceberg”*.
The Cultural Detective deconstructs cultural complexity into discrete aspects, so I was able to juxtapose the examples with personal experiences. This made it much easier to recognize the cultural dimensions present in the Jamaican culture of my heritage and also made me cognizant of the lens through which I was viewing cultural differences and similarities. I will continue to consider these components of culture not only for the purposes of this class but also throughout my lifetime travels.
*”The Iceberg Concept of Culture” taken from the Indiana Department of Education Language Minority and Migrant Programs: www.doe.state.in.us/lmmp
Asia Society Book: http://asiasociety.org/files/book-globalcompetence.pdf
Culture Detective: http://www.culturaldetective.com/