Global Competence

What does it mean to be a global citizen? There are many ways to go about and answer this question but I am going to pick one main topic; global competence. I believe that global competence is a very important topic when discussing what it means to be a global citizen. In general, global competence means one should have knowledge and should be aware of the world around them. Global competence is used “to describe a body of knowledge about world regions, cultures, and global issues, and the skills and dispositions to engage responsibly and effectively in a global environment.” After spending the two weeks abroad, I would definitely say that all of us have become more of a global citizen and have acquired a sense of global competence. I learned a lot about the history and culture of England. We got to experience the cultural norms in many ways. We learned about it and experienced it first hand when we went to places and communicated with all the different types of people. Thus, we had to use cross cultural skills to communicate with people and we had to understand multiple cultural perspectives in order to do so. One must reach a certain level of global competence in order to assimilate global citizenship. I believe that a study abroad trip, very much like the one we participated in is a great way to expand one’s horizons with global awareness. In my opinion, that is what it means to be considered a global citizen.

References
http://www.globalteachereducation.org/global-competence