Asia Society: Educating for Global Competence:
Preparing Our Youth to Engage the WorldVeronica Boix Mansilla & Anthony Jackson
Chapter IX Promoting Global Competence through Public Policy
I was very interested in reading this chapter as I volunteer as VP of Public Policy for the CT Association for the Education of Young Children, and wanted to make comparisons and learn where the K-12 future is heading.
Again, reading about educators, policy makers and researchers working together to reform education that promotes Global Competence gives me hope. Yet I am fully aware of the unprecedented division of politicians and citizens in this country. Lincoln’s famous quote “A house divided against itself cannot stand” is as meaningful today as it was in his time of Civil War. Social media, newspapers, news magazines, all speak to the black or white, all or nothing thinking that is choking this nation. We are in a time of finger pointing, blame, denial and selfishness like we have never seen before. There are so many issues that need to be resolved to set this country back on it’s feet. As an advocate for children and families I try to post fact based information about poverty, hunger, and education. Yet am absolutely dismayed by the propaganda and misinformation that is spread as truth.
America is in trouble. Mansilla and Jackson offer hope for our students:
“There are two intertwined challenges facing American education. The first is overcoming the chronic failure of school systems to educate all students to high levels, especially students from low-income and minority backgrounds. The second is preparing students for work and civic roles in a globalized environment, where success increasingly requires the ability to compete, connect, and cooperate on an international scale.”
Somehow the US education system has lost sight of the fact that we are preparing our youth to be active, involved, productive members of society. When compared to other countries, we pale in comparison to other developed countries.
Jackson and Mansilla suggest: “To understand how well students are reaching standards foundational to global competence, high-performing nations are transforming their assessment systems to make more use of formative assessment, better use of data to improve instruction and performance, greater involvement of and professional development for teachers on assessment practices, and more authentic measurement of the kinds of reasoning capacities that support global competence.” In the midst of the standardized testing and Common Core objectives we must remember the student, their learning styles, interests, needs, beliefs, culture, schema and perspective of the world; as well as their communities influence over them.
Will these students be prepared to compete in a global economy? Thrive and Communicate in a global society? Participate in the democratic process as global citizens?
Gail I appreciate your drive for making a difference. I too am hopeful about our global future. As I reflected on the chapter about perspectives I realized that acceptance of different perspectives is so very critical in all aspects of public policy. Sometimes ethnocentrism gets in the way of progress and bad things happen. If we help our youngsters see through global lenses they will hopefully create future public policy that is respectful of all.
ReplyDeleteI too struggle with politics and perspective. It is frustrating to watch politicians' perspectives dictate what we in the trenches do in education. Their perspective is based on something they deem to be just as true as the the facts we try to convey. It is frustrating. It will be interesting to see what this next generation - the one that is living through the frequent changes in education policy - will do.
ReplyDeleteThank you both for reading and commenting. i am trying so hard not to just go off on a rant about people being so narrow minded and egocentric. So many have absolutely no insight into the lives of others, and feel their opinion is LAW. Opinion is just that OPINION. THey need to get out, visit the poorest neighborhoods, teach in the poorest schools and open their eyes.
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