Highlights: Education World Forum

The Center for Global Education at Asia Society's newest publication, Teaching for Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World, was released at the 2018 Education World Forum, held in London on January 21–24, 2018. Developed and published in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the publication sets forward a new framework for global competence and provides practical guidance and examples of how educators can embed global competence into their existing curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

In 2018, OECD will assess global competence for the first time as part of its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Global competence was also the focus of much of the forum.

OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher and UNESCO International Bureau of Education Director Mmantsetsa Marope spoke extensively on the topic during the Education Fast Forward debate, which took place on the first morning of the forum. Following their comments, members of the audience posed questions that Schleicher and Marope responded to in kind. The questions largely focused on moving beyond defining global competence and how to best implement global competence education at scale, particularly in developing countries and countries with fewer resources for education.

Shortly after the debate, Asia Society President and CEO Josette Sheeran, Vice President of Education Tony Jackson, and Schleicher sat down with press from around the world to discuss Teaching for Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World. Sheeran introduced the publication, noting that it provides "a framework and solution for the challenges of global competitiveness and youth empowerment."

Jackson focused on the teacher training necessary to bring schools and educators up to speed: "If our focus is to scale to impact as many young people as possible, we must train teachers on how to bring global competence into all of their lessons and subject areas."

The OECD and the Center for Global Education have worked with academics, educators, and stakeholders in the global education field over several years to define global competence for primary and secondary education. The Center also has extensive experience supporting educators to integrate global competence into their teaching and is now turning its attention to the questions raised at the forum regarding implementation, scale, and building capacity.

For the first time, the Center for Global Education's model for integrating global competence will be available in an online, accessible format for any teacher or school around the world. Previously only available to partner schools, the Center is working with Arizona State University to launch the first six in a series of professional development courses on teaching for global competence in early February.

As Sheeran stated in the ministerial exchange she presented in during the forum, "Training teachers on how to bring global competence into their classrooms, regardless of subject, is the key to equalizing opportunity for all students at great scale."