A working library for educators who want to bring global competence into their practice: concepts, organizations, and the assessment tools I find most useful.
Students hand over thank-you notes at the end of a visit to Talongonan Elementary School.
Global competence begins with a global education approach grounded in culturally responsive teaching that reflects students' identities, experiences, and assets. Through strengths-based instruction and restorative practices, educators create inclusive learning environments that develop empathy, effective communication, and critical thinking—the essential components of global competence.
Global Education strengthens students' ability to advocate for themselves in their school communities. Native language texts, translation services, and equal access to technology help to lessen the gap in educational resources.
Students are taught to think globally, act locally, to investigate the world, and to become flexible in thinking and actions. In the classroom, this means creating opportunities for students to engage in meaningful discussions about equity and justice, from examining whether school meal options meet diverse cultural and dietary needs to exploring disparities in food access and food security around the world.
Global competence is empathy in action.
A short list of organizations I'd recommend to any teacher starting this work.
Developers of the Global Competence Matrix and a useful first stop for whole-school work.
Visit site →Their Center for Global Education runs a strong certification program and the International Studies Schools Network.
Visit site →Teacher and scholar exchange programs administered by the U.S. State Department. The route I took to the Philippines.
Visit site →Harvard's education research group behind Visible Thinking and the Global Thinking Routines, with ready classroom tools.
Visit site →A classroom-to-classroom network in more than 140 countries. Project-based and easier to use than expected.
Visit site →Primarily higher-education focused, but their research is consistently strong.
Visit site →Four assessment tools: two for measuring student growth, two for reflecting on your own practice.
A rubric for assessing investigation, perspective-taking, communication, and action across grade levels.
Self-assessment instrument from Tichnor-Wagner et al. for educators reflecting on twelve elements of practice.
International benchmark used to assess students' readiness to engage with a global, interconnected world.
Standards for teaching practice, including the global collaborator role, with indicators you can reflect against.
Organizations promoting global education and global competency around Atlanta and Decatur, Georgia, with notes on how to actually use each one.
Talks, panels, and sustained intercultural learning for teachers.
A non-partisan membership nonprofit that has run hundreds of talks and webinars on foreign policy and global issues since 2010.
An all-volunteer 501(c)(3) that runs free language and intercultural learning sessions around Atlanta's universities.
Grants, symposia, and university partnerships you can build a unit around.
A Georgia Tech–Georgia State partnership behind the annual Atlanta Global Studies Symposium and small K-12 teacher grants.
An Atlanta consortium of universities that supports study abroad and international exchange in higher education.
Places to take students, minutes from Decatur.
A Decatur-based network connecting refugee and immigrant farmers across farm and garden sites in metro Atlanta.
An Atlanta museum connecting civil rights history to the present through immersive exhibitions and public programs.
A Clarkston organization helping refugee women regain self-sufficiency and become leaders in their communities.
A short list of reading, listening, and programs worth your time. If you only have time for one, read the OECD framework in the assessment tools above.
Global education programs, teacher exchange, and classroom resources for schools.
Tichnor-Wagner, Parkhouse, Glazier, and Cain · ASCD, 2019
Facilitated video dialogue that connects classrooms across countries for structured conversation.
Interviews with classroom teachers doing this work in real schools.
Edutopia. A good piece to share with a colleague who is new to the concept.
Free tools for connecting classrooms with partner classes around the world.
This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and information presented are the participant's own and do not represent the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, the U.S. Department of State, or IREX.