Career and technical education (CTE) teachers need to not only teach the technical and academic skills needed for their content area, they also need to teach students 21st century skills that will make them successful working in a global marketplace. Therefore, a substantive understanding of how local issues relate to global challenges is the foundation of global competence and is required in all career pathways.

Specifically, globally competent students are able to:

• Investigate the World. Students ask and explore questions that are globally significant.
• Weigh Perspectives. Students recognize they have a unique perspective and that others may not share it, but they are able to respect all perspectives and create a new point of view.
• Communicate Ideas. Students can effectively communicate, verbally and non-verbally, with diverse groups.
• Take Action. Student can weigh options for action based on evidence and insight, see the potential consequences, then act and reflect on their actions.

While it is important to examine the four capacities above individually, global competence is best seen as an integrated outlook on the world—not a collection of independent skills.

These skills are required and highly desirable when considering the Architecture and Construction pathway and there are a wide range of applications within it. We are reminded that the designing, planning, and constructing of buildings is a global process, requiring a careful consideration of the local culture when designing a building. Actual construction is often undertaken by people from various backgrounds. This reality requires a deep understanding of the global nature of this field for those who choose specialize in it.

Sample Projects

These globally focused projects, written by CTE educators and aligned to the Common Core by ELA, math and science educators, can be used as stand alone projects in one CTE classroom or can be combined by multiple CTE educators in a building. These projects are based around themes and contain the lesson plans, assessment information, and auxiliary materials an educator needs for implementation. Listed below are themes and the projects relevant to the Architecture and Construction pathway.

Japanese Architectural Visualization Project from Northampton Community College 

UN Sustainable Development Goal #9: No Hunger

• Project on creating a sustainable pipeline for fresh water in your community (Word version)

UN Sustainable Development Goal #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• Project on temporary housing units (Word version)

Clean Energy: Solar or Wind

• Business/Finance
• Law/Government
• Manufacturing 
• Building Trades/Architecture
  • Project Rubric Example
  • Floor Plan Checklist
  • Legal Descriptions
  • Electrical Plans
  • Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
  • Roof Plan Components

Welding Assignment from South Seattle College

Project Planning Template

Use this blank project planning template to plan your own global CTE project! (Can be used on your own, or in conjunction with Module 2 of the Global CTE PD Course).

Standards, Crosswalks, and Rubrics

The Common Career Technical Core is a common set of CTE standards created for each of Advance CTE’s 16 Career Cluster areas. This document crosswalks the Architecture and Construction cluster with the four domains of global competence, demonstrating the clear alignment between global education and careers in this field. This crosswalk is also filled with ideas of global projects that can support the standards taught in each of the career pathways.

Architecture and Construction Standards Crosswalked to Global Competence

Career Profile and Classroom Videos

RoadTrip Nation: A database of career interviews from virtually every profession! (subscription required)

Global CTSO Activities

1. SkillsUSA

Additional Resources

Resources coming soon!