Educating for the Global Community: A Framework for ... · PDF fileEDUCATING THE GLOBAL...

The Stanley FoundationThe American Council onInternational Intercultural Education

Educating For The Global Community:

A Framework For

Community Colleges

November 15-17, 1996

Convened at Airlie CenterWarrenton, Virginia

In November 1994 the Stanley Foundation andthe American Council on InternationalIntercultural Education (ACIIE) convened a

group of twenty-four community collegeeducators and representatives of government,industry, and nongovernmental organizations atAirlie Center, Warrenton, Virginia, for theconference entitled Building the GlobalCommunity: The Next Step. This group wascharged with clarifying community college goalsin global education, articulating a clear missionstatement, determining strategies, andconstructing a plan of action for theimplementation of global education in UScommunity colleges. A report was published in1995. It begins with the following missionstatement:

To ensure the survival and well-being ofour communities, it is imperative thatcommunity colleges develop a globallyand multiculturally competent citizenry.

In the two years since the conclusion of that firstconference, ACIIE and the Stanley Foundationhave embarked on a number of initiatives acrossthe United States to assist community colleges intheir efforts to globalize their institutions, theircurricula, and the environment of their campusesand communities. Presentations of the conferenceresults were given at national and regionalconventions for community collegeadministrators, trustees, and faculty. A satelliteteleconference exposed viewers to the globaleducation imperative at more than thirty sitesaround the country. Seminars brought togethercommunity college CEOs and trustees inWashington, Massachusetts, Iowa, and Virginia.Statewide gatherings of educators were held inNew York, Missouri, and Iowa, with similarconferences planned for other regions of the

country in the coming year. All of these groupshave had the opportunity to learn about prototypeglobal education programs and how to maximizeexisting and new resources in this pursuit.

On November 15-17, 1996, a second groupconsisting of twenty-three community collegeleaders and representatives of governmentagencies met at the Airlie Center for a conferenceentitled Educating for the Global Community: AFramework for Community Colleges. They weregiven the task of examining two key questions:

1. What does it mean to be a globallycompetent learner?

2. What is required institutionally forcommunity colleges to produce globallycompetent learners?

This report is the product of the conferencerapporteurs. Their intent has been to convey asense of the proceedings without attributingspecific statements to the individuals who madethem. All participants and observers were giventhe opportunity to review the draft report and toprovide factual corrections prior to the printing ofthis final version.

The texts of welcome remarks by RichardStanley, president of the Stanley Foundation, andthe opening address by Margaret B. Lee,president of Oakton Community College (IL), aswell as a list of conference participants, areincluded among the appendices.

ACIIE and the Stanley Foundation encourage useof this report for informational and educationalpurposes. Any part of the material may beduplicated, with proper acknowledgment.

Production: Amy Bakke and Bonnie Tharp

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Using the November 1994 reportBuilding the Global Community: TheNext Step as a rich, building-block

resource, a group of educators and governmentleaders met at Airlie Center in November 1996to take the work of their predecessors to thenext level. It was clear from the start thatparticipants embraced the conclusions of thefirst conference: The “why” of global educationis, simply put, the survival of our communities.If community college educators care about thecommunities they serve, global education is animperative not an option. Without it, we couldbecome relatively insignificant as individualhuman beings or as a society. Participantsreiterated the “payoff” identified two yearsearlier: globalizing our students and ourcommunities has direct economic benefit andreduces the inevitable fear created by theongoing internationalization of business.

Participants felt that several preliminary stepsneeded to be taken before they could immersethemselves in their assigned task; namely, torespond to the two key questions:

1. What does it mean to be a globallycompetent learner?

2. What is required institutionally forcommunity colleges to produce globallycompetent learners?

They decided that it was important to define theparameters of their discussion in several ways.First, they determined that the discussion wouldfocus on US community colleges, but not at theexclusion of learning from the experiences ofsimilar institutions in other parts of the world.

Second, they agreed to identify “learner” as anindividual with one or more of the followingprofiles: degree-seekers, lifelong learners,nonenrolled community members who benefitfrom the community college’s programs,community college presidents, administrators,faculty and staff (internal customers), localbusiness and industry personnel, trustees,legislators, taxpayers, and funding providers(governmental and nongovernmental). In otherwords, they catalogued the multiplicity ofneeds, interests, and motivations thatcharacterize the consumers of communitycollege services.

While recognizing that the scope of their chargewas to establish a framework for communitycolleges, participants also acknowledged thatresults of their discussions might very well beapplicable to other levels of education along thecontinuum from kindergarten through post-graduate study. They concluded that perhaps themost difficult parameter to determine is thedepth of global competence that is beingdefined, whether to prescribe a base level ofglobal literacy or to aim toward a higher levelof proficiency. Consensus was reached thatcommunity colleges typically provide anintroduction, developing a taste and interest forfuture study in each area. And finally,participants agreed that their recommendationswere to apply to the “average size” college;namely, institutions with an enrollment base of2,200-2,500 students. However, although notspecifically targeted, larger and smallercommunity colleges can also richly benefitfrom the recommendations in this report andadapt them to fit their local needs andconditions.

“Global competency exists when a learner is able to understand the interconnectedness of peoples andsystems, to have a general knowledge of history and world events, to accept and cope with the existence ofdifferent cultural values and attitudes and, indeed, to celebrate the richness and benefits of this diversity.”

INTRODUCTION

EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 3

There are legitimate questions beingraised by community college leaders andothers regarding the lack of definitions:

What is meant by a competency? What are thecharacteristics of a global learner? What are thedevelopmental stages leading to globalcompetency? Answers will help provide a moreintentional, systemic, and measurable globaleducation program.

Conferees responded by first defining the keyterm, competency:

A competency is an ability, a skill, aknowledge, or an attitude that can bedemonstrated, observed, or measured.

After generating a list of more than fiftyelements, which admittedly contained someduplication and redundancy, conferees workedtoward creating a consolidated profile of theeducated person in a global society. Fourdevelopmental stages were identified in theprocess:

1. Recognition of global systems and theirconnectedness, including personal awarenessand openness to other cultures, values, andattitudes at home and abroad.

2. Intercultural skills and direct experiences.3. General knowledge of history and world

events—politics, economics, geography.4. Detailed area studies specialization: expertise

in another language, culture, country.

The four stages represent a continuum germanethroughout all levels of education; they are notexclusive to community colleges, or any other

type of institution. What will vary is theemphasis or the sequencing. Conferees agreedthat the first stage is of critical importance to allglobal learners. Individual learners mayaccomplish varying degrees of stages twothrough four. Participants also recognized thatprogress through the stages may not be linear.Some learners will begin with a general area ofexperience or knowledge and proceed to in-depth study of a specific component. Othersmay move from a specific experience into moregeneralized study.

Conferees returned to the list of competenciesidentified earlier in the day and selected themost important. Heading the list were thefollowing nine characteristics: [The completelist may be found in Appendix C.]

The globally competent learner:

1. Is empowered by the experience of globaleducation to help make a difference insociety.

2. Is committed to global, lifelong learning.3. Is aware of diversity, commonalities, and

interdependence.4. Recognizes the geopolitical and economic

interdependence of our world.5. Appreciates the impact of other cultures on

American life.6. Accepts the importance of all peoples.7. Is capable of working in diverse teams.8. Understands the nonuniversality of culture,

religion, and values.9. Accepts responsibility for global citizenship.

DEFINING THE GLOBALLY COMPETENT LEARNER

4 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

Conferees concluded:

Global competency exists when alearner is able to understand theinterconnectedness of peoples andsystems, to have a general knowledge ofhistory and world events, to accept andcope with the existence of differentcultural values and attitudes and, indeed,to celebrate the richness and benefits ofthis diversity.


• Provide student services—academic advising,career counseling, instructional supportservices—to promote access to globaleducation for all learners.

If global education is to be embedded in thevery fabric of US community collegesthrough a process of systemic change, the

starting point is at the governance level,specifically at the level of the board of trustees.Effort must be expended to increase trusteeawareness and acceptance of the central placeof global competency for the multipleconstituencies, missions, and goals of thecommunity college.

Moving to the next level of identifyinginstitutional requirements for communitycolleges to produce globally competentlearners, conference participants recognized thecritical importance of a series of steps to betaken by community colleges:

• Obtain the commitment of the college’s CEOand board of trustees.

• Include global education as an integralcomponent of the institution’s missionstatement to establish it as a priority for thecollege and its community.

• Review and revise accreditation criteria toacknowledge the importance of globalcompetency.

• Develop and implement a comprehensiveglobal education program on campus.

• Conduct a needs assessment for localbusinesses and others interested in globaleducation and commerce.

• Allocate resources, including release time, tofaculty for research and development ofcurriculum, exchanges, and activities.

• Provide support and incentives forinternational initiatives, both on and offcampus.

INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE GLOBAL

EDUCATION EFFORTS


Conferees discussed existing efforts incommunity colleges to prepare globallyeducated citizens, focusing on both

successful programs and activities and on theperceived limitations within and external toinstitutions. The enumeration which followspoints up the significant progress made over thefifteen to twenty years since communitycolleges began directing their attention to globaleducation. The list does not reflect a priorityranking, nor is it intended to imply that there isa uniform level of activity at communitycolleges nationwide. Bearing these caveats inmind, consider the richness and variety ofinvolvement represented by the list.

Partnership• Community colleges are forging closer

connections with local business and industry,especially multinational companies for whomglobal competency and comfort with diversityare a matter of survival.

• Community colleges are providing work forcetraining in global skills and long-distancetraining to other educational institutions andbusinesses.

• Economic development projects involvingtraining overseas or at the home campus offeradditional potential for internationalexperience for US colleges and offer spin-offopportunities for faculty and students.

• Community colleges have establishedinternational trade centers to help their localbusiness community deal more successfully inthe international marketplace through coursework in international trade (import/export)and customized training and consultingservices.

• Community colleges are supporting trademissions and are involved in state andregional economic development initiatives.

• Collaboration with four-year colleges anduniversities is increasing access to studyabroad and other programs for faculty andstudents.

• Through conferences and state and regionalassociations and consortia, community collegeeducators are sharing global perspectivecourses and modules with other colleges andK-12-level colleagues.

• There is increasing interest and need forexporting the concept of community collegesto other countries—both developing anddeveloped.

Faculty Development• More professional development opportunities

are available to community college educators.• The importance of faculty study abroad is

more readily acknowledged, with institutionsgiving priority to projects and sabbaticalswhich further enhance curriculumdevelopment.

• Community colleges are offering facultyseminars on campus with incentives forparticipation.

Curriculum Enhancement• Curriculum development efforts are

expanding as many community collegesinfuse East-West and other area studies intothe general education curriculum.

• Colleges are offering short- and long-termstudy abroad programs, apprenticeshipprograms, and specialized integratedprograms.

THE CURRENT STATUS OF GLOBAL EDUCATION IN USCOMMUNITY COLLEGES


• The importance of global education in lowerdivision offerings has been acknowledged as away to reach all students regardless of major.

Diversity• Community college mission statements reflect

the importance of diversity and multi-culturalism.

• Colleges are successfully linking the culturaldiversity of their campuses with efforts toexpand curricular offerings. Diversity trainingis providing exposure to other cultures andvalues.

• Community colleges are making use of theirinternational and resident ethnic students toincrease awareness of other cultures; e.g.,through presentations in appropriate collegeclasses, presentations, and service learningprograms in the schools and for communityorganizations, and other vital initiatives.

• Institutions are providing service grants tointernational students to help defray the costof education.

• Community colleges are reaching out todiverse populations at home and abroad.

Community colleges are also thriving, due totheir higher profile in the Clintonadministration. This new and welcomedevelopment provides opportunities to bothaccelerate and enrich local programs.Participants also acknowledged that our societyas a whole recognizes the growing need forglobal competence at home and abroad. Thisrecent public awareness has created anabundance of new learners to be served bycommunity colleges. Yet another reason forsuccessful programs and activities is growing

access to technology, including the Internet anddistance learning. Student exposure to globalissues has been significantly expanded andenriched. Finally, many community collegeCEOs and trustees have been more regularlyexposed to the real benefits of global educationvia campus projects, media exposure, reading,the presence of an increasingly diverse studentpopulation, and changing local business needs,among others. The process is well underwayand gaining momentum nationwide. Globaleducation has become a reality for localcommunities.


There is a variety of formidablelimitations and obstacles whichcommunity colleges face in their attempt

to globalize. The process is fraught withinhibitors ranging from negative attitudes tocurrent institutional practices, to obsoletepriorities, to lack of marketing communitycollege capabilities and potential. Participantswere asked to identify both real and perceivedimpediments. They listed the following:

Attitudes• Ethnocentrism remains in our communities.• Many US citizens are monolingual. In fact,

common use of the term “foreign” languagesreinforces existing negative perceptions aboutlanguage study.

• There are concerns about communityperceptions regarding global education; it maybe easier to alter such attitudes in small, ruralcolleges than in their larger urbancounterparts.

• Many of us do not acknowledge ourregressive behavior about diversity issues.

• Negative perceptions of Americans persist inother countries; colleges need to sensitizestudents to this fact.

• The perception persists that global educationis defined as international travel forpresidents.

• There is insufficient institutional support forinnovation and experimentation.

• Entrenched American faculty sometimes resistcurricular change.

• Where trustee opposition exists, it must becountered by programs to increase awarenessand provide personal experience.

• Some educators have low expectations forglobal education.

• Colleges may face opposition based on theshortsightedness of uninformed statelegislators and governing bodies.

• There are those who unwisely positioncommunity colleges between K-12 and four-year institutions, not recognizing that there isa continuum through all levels of education.

Practices• Global education is not an additive; it needs to

be pervasive, with the goal of building globalcompetency throughout the entire academicprogram.

• Colleges often underutilize their rich resourceof international students.

• Colleges sometimes provide insufficientservices for international students.

• Study abroad is often Eurocentric, notsufficiently diversified in terms of destinationsand targeted participants.

• An adversarial relationship serves neither thecommunity college nor the four-yearuniversity sector. Community colleges arerarely in a competitive position to be awardedlarge federal projects, so it can beadvantageous to work together in a collectiveunit. (This recognizes the reality that agenciesface similar costs to administer large andsmall projects. Therefore, they favor a smallernumber of large projects.)

• There are not enough community collegereaders/evaluators of grants.

• Colleges must examine how flexible andadaptive they are. For example, training forbusiness rarely engages existing collegefaculty as the trainers.

• There are limited training opportunities forcommunity college faculty; too few programslike the East-West Center have activelyencouraged community college participation.

RESTRAINING FORCES

10 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY10 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

Priorities • Not all community college mission statements

include global education.• The commitment of the CEO and trustees is

variable.• The United States has yet to make global

education a priority or view it as a profitableproduct.

• Colleges need to include global educationpriorities in other areas that already receivefunding besides Title VI.

• Small institutions must reorder priorities; theymay not be able to work within existingresources, both human and financial.

• Institutions need more faculty with globalissues expertise.

• Curricular needs include competency ingeography; courses in international ethics; amulticultural awareness program; andcomprehension of foreign government andbusiness practices/geopolitical realities, worldreligions, etc.

• Community colleges are experiencingdiminishing financial resources preciselywhen more are needed. Colleges need to lookbeyond the federal government for funding; toact in entrepreneurial ways to fund projects; towork with state, local, and private funders.

• Colleges also need to better allocate existingresources, not just focus on the need for newones.

Marketing• Community colleges need to educate federal

and state agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations, about theircapacities and current efforts in the globalarena. Now is the time to market ourstrengths.

• While there remains a perception at the federalgovernment level that community collegesand universities are the same, communitycolleges must approach funding not as anentitlement but as an unfulfilled, continuingtask.

• Community colleges do not spend enoughtime working with legislators to promotethemselves and their capacities.

• It is important to invite the policymakers tobecome part of the global education effort.

• There continues to be a need for a moreeffective national advocacy role in support ofcommunity colleges.

• Colleges must be able to justify to thetaxpayers the investment in faculty studyabroad and presidential travel.

• This question requires our answer: Why helpinternational companies when there aredomestic companies in need?

• Our communities do not fully understand thecommunity college global education mission.

• The message that community colleges are onthe cutting edge of technology needs widerdissemination.

A review of the two lists should lead the readerto the same conclusions as the conferees thatmany valuable, challenging, and inexpensiveglobal education activities and programs havebeen and continue to be developed. However,an integrated institution-wide plan is lacking forcurriculum development, training andretraining, community outreach, studentservices, and more. In essence, even incommunity colleges where globalization hastaken strong root, efforts are frequentlyfragmented and rarely systemic.


Conferees were quick to acknowledge thedegree, scope, and variety of obstaclesfacing global education efforts. But they

were also optimistic about the effectiveness ofstrategies listed below to negate or minimizesuch obstructions. Global education is tooimportant to delay, too vital to be ignored, andtoo urgent to be frustrated by indifference orignorance.

Institutional Policies and Practices• Conferees repeatedly returned to the college’s

mission statement, universally agreeing that acritical first step is to revise the statement toinclude global education as part of the fiber ofthe institution. The next step is to com-municate the message and the mission bothinternally and externally. Both the presidentand the board of trustees must publiclyarticulate global education as a priority.Further, colleges can include globalcompetencies as part of their institutionaleffectiveness plan.

• Community college leaders need to changelanguage and mind-sets from exclusive toinclusive through in-service programs forcollege faculty and staff, through communityservice programs on the importance ofglobalization, through international issuesforums, and by identifying internationalresources that exist in the community(visitors, international students, resident ethniccommunities). To facilitate internal change, acommitment to globalization and diversitymust be encouraged for current employees andmade a criterion for hiring new staff. Jobdescriptions, evaluation, and promotionprocesses must consistently stress the

importance of global competence. The CEOcan help to establish priorities which supportglobal activities and reward those who aremoving toward global competence.

• To counter the perception that there is lack ofsupport for faculty development, institutionsmust reexamine existing mechanisms toprovide opportunities and rewards that givepriority to the development of globalcompetency. Existing programs can beretrofitted to this priority: faculty seminars,sabbaticals, opportunities for exchange, tuitionwaivers, release time. Colleges can provideinformation resources and assist faculty inidentifying professional developmentopportunities. Colleges can also find ways toexpose faculty to leaders from the globalcommunity and create opportunities forintellectual and economic regeneration byenabling faculty to serve as resources to localbusiness and industry.

• Student services are needed to support globalefforts—advising, career counseling,instructional support services of all kinds.Colleges must aim toward building a totalenvironment from admissions throughprogram completion which reflects aconsistent institutional approach andcommitment to global competence.

• It is important to create an atmosphere oncampus that fosters the establishment oflearning communities which focus on theheritage of constituent groups.

• Colleges can use the fine and performing artsto expand understanding of other peoples.

• Existing and emerging technologies can becorralled to advance globalization; educatorscan identify a host of resources that will help

STRATEGIES TO COUNTER THE OBSTACLES TO SYSTEMIC SUPPORT

FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION


overcome insularity, provide exposure via theInternet, use distance learning to maximizeaccess to and to share global expertise amongeducational institutions at all levels.

• Without diminishing the value of studyabroad, it is also possible to facilitate changewithin institutions without sending peopleabroad.

Public Awareness of Diversity• Diversification of American society can

encourage us to recognize and embrace manydifferent views of reality. Colleges shouldmake more active use of local media,providing publicity for college programs aswell as global issues.

• Gifts presented to visitors to the college cantake on a global aspect, selecting such itemsas globes or books about local cultures.

• Colleges can work with community groups,encouraging them to meet around the districtin areas they may not be familiar with in orderto make people more aware of theinternational nature of their community.

• Efforts must be made to encourageaccreditation teams to focus on globalcompetence. Colleges can also work to revisearticulation agreements to reflect globalizationthroughout K-16 curriculum.

• Community college educators must make theattainment of global competence a nationalpriority for the American Association ofCommunity Colleges (AACC), theAssociation of Community College Trustees(ACCT), the US Department of Education,and other agencies and organizations at thenational level.

• Local boards may require an individualizedprogram to bring each trustee to the next stepof new awareness and understanding.

• It is necessary to dispel the myth that limitedresources hamper the progress of globaleducation in community colleges. Institutionaland individual commitment is far moreimportant. Colleges must learn to leverageavailable resources by partnering with othersand recognize that although access to financialresources certainly helps resources of othertypes abound. For example, recognizing thattime is a resource, colleges can work towardreallocating faculty work load assignments toprovide for development of global com-petency and involvement in internationalactivity.

• It is important for community colleges to“solicit customers”; that is, to act entre-preneurially, to form partnerships outside ofeducation with those working in economicdevelopment and work force preparation.Once colleges determine their needs through alocal global audit, they can market specializedtraining and services. College CEOs andtrustees must maintain regular interaction withlocal business and industry, keeping thesecommunities informed through publicationsand electronic and print media.

Advocacy• Community college global educators must

find ways to combat the inherentethnocentrism of our communities,unconvinced administrators and trustees,linear thinking, the long-time prejudiceagainst community college involvement inglobal education, the failure of leaders to see


global education as a means toward buildingcommunity, the disinterest of students, and theview that there is only limited good to befound in this pursuit.

• For real systemic change to occur, thecommunity college must be involved at alllevels of educational change and reform; theymust claim a rightful space for communitycolleges within the broad spectrum of theeducational system.

• Linkages can be formed using local taskforces to make global competence ameasurable outcome for students.

• Community college educators must also makeglobal education a priority for their fellowpresidents, boards, and state boards ofeducation.

• Following that, the next step is to convincegovernment leaders and legislators by the useof political/economic interest studies todocument impact of global education on thecommunity. These are effective tools tomarket the benefits of international activity toboth internal and external constituents; there islittle to refute the employability of theglobally competent.

Preparedness for Change• Colleges must not lose sight of the

competitive edge. If community colleges donot provide the training and services needed ina global society, others will. Industry andother public and private training organisms arealready positioned to fill the gap.

• Changes are well underway in the corporateworld, changes in infrastructure which requireincreased sensitivity and cultural awareness.In many ways, industry and nongovernmental

organizations are substantially ahead ofcommunity colleges in global efforts—bynecessity. Community colleges need to learnfrom them, listen to their needs, involve themin advisory committees, and take the first steptoward involving this source of talent andexpertise.

• It would be foolish and unrealistic to ignorethe fear factor. Change, conflict, and risk turnpeople back toward the status quo. Successfulprograms are contagious. Colleges need toshare their experiences and support oneanother. They need to be comfortable withand even celebrate failure, as they rewardchange, innovation, and integration.Overcoming the fear is a development to becelebrated in its own right.


Conferees approached their deliberationsknowing full well that US communitycolleges find themselves at every stage

along the spectrum of globalization. Whilesome institutions have yet to begin the process,others have taken the first steps or are fairlyadvanced in their efforts but seek, nonetheless,to move those efforts to an even higher level.Bearing in mind this extent of variation,conference participants decided to recommenda compendium of strategies from whichcommunity colleges at any stage ofdevelopment may select. In addition, theysuggest measures which community collegesmay take collectively to advance the globaleducation agenda beyond their own campuses.

Strategies identified by participants pertained tosix general areas: coordination of efforts,student and faculty involvement, activecommunity participation, commitment,technology, and financial resources. Readers arecautioned to recognize that this list is not linear;there is no universal first step. Rather, allfactors work in concert in the development andsustainability of a viable program.

Coordination• Identify appropriate personnel to manage

internal and external programs and grant-funded activities.

• Recognize the need for a variety of programsto draw a critical mass of participation.

• Inventory library holdings to expandawareness of existing resources and identifygaps needing to be filled in order to supportcurriculum development.

• Join state or regional associations and

consortia to gain access to programs alreadyestablished for community colleges.

Student and Faculty Involvement• Identify faculty who are interested and willing

to be involved.• Designate a coordinator of efforts for

international and intercultural programs, witha central, visible location on campus tofacilitate the internal dissemination ofinformation about programs and opportunities.The coordinator should report directly orindirectly to the president.

• Work toward extensive grass roots levelinvolvement in global education initiativesacross the institution to provide a broad baseof support for the coordinator.

• Establish a college-wide committee to helpdevelop and implement initiatives.

• Develop a well coordinated, internationalstudent program using these students asresources for area expertise.

• Seek faculty development opportunities (e.g.,the East-West Center, National Endowmentfor the Humanities seminars, Fulbrightprograms, Rotary fellowships, in-house orlocal area seminars on language and culture).Recognize the multiplier effect for studentswhen faculty gain global expertise.

• Participate in the ACIIE, Community Collegesfor International Development (CCID), andother global education organizationconferences for information on modelprograms and funding opportunities.

• Enhance communication about global effortsthrough internal newsletters, brown baglunches, inviting staff and faculty to sharewhat they have gained through seminar and

STRATEGIES FOR INSTITUTIONS SEEKING TO BEGIN OR EXPAND

GLOBALIZATION EFFORTS


conference attendance, participation inexchanges, specialized study, etc.

• Seek ways to involve more faculty,particularly in vocational and technical fields,and maintain support for those who havealready become involved.

• Invite consultants from other colleges to workwith administrators, faculty, and staff (bothCCID and ACIIE provide referrals toconsultants).

• Encourage bilingualism for all members of thecollege community.

Active Community Participation• Conduct an inventory/audit of resources and

needs of the institution and its community. Besure to include students, college personnel,and the lay community as potential globaleducation resources.

• Use statements from AACC and ACCTrecognizing the importance of globaleducation to support local efforts.

• Establish links with business and industry andseek their support and involvement in theprogram.

• Establish links with local ethnic groups andcommunity organizations such as Sister Cities,Rotary, chambers of commerce, and tradeassociations.

• Identify and consult with potential customersfor programs under consideration.

Commitment• Secure the commitment of the CEO and the

academic vice president to include globalefforts in the institution’s effectiveness plan.

• Seek the support of the board of trustees and

work with/through them to create a missionstatement that includes global education.

Technology• Utilize information technology, including

distance learning and teleconferencing,Internet e-mail, and the World Wide Web.

• Reconceptualize the way languages are taughtto take into account new technologies and tostrengthen the link between culture andlanguage.

Financial Resources• Seek grant funding to help support global

initiatives.• Initiate a line item in the college budget for

international programs.• Work with state and local funding sources to

legitimize use of resources to support globaleducation initiatives.


Conferees agreed that while much can andmust be done at the level of individualinstitutions and their communities, there

remains a substantial need to inform, educate,and influence the policymakers in federal andstate governments and within public and privateassociations and organizations. This collectiveeffort is best accomplished through a unifiedapproach which involves all relevantorganizations: AACC, ACCT, ACIIE, CCID.

At the federal level, opportunities andchallenges to action were noted in a variety ofareas:

• Immediate input is needed to support theHigher Education Act currently up forreauthorization.

• Community college representatives can testifyat the reauthorization hearings scheduledaround the country and in Washington, DC.

• A statement from AACC, ACCT, ACIIE, andCCID on the importance of globalcompetency for community colleges should besent to the Department of Education forinclusion in their international educationpolicy statement currently under revision.

• Community colleges should develop asaturation strategy, encouraging communitycollege internships in federal agencies.

• Community colleges can play a role in federalagency round tables to share information ontheir global initiatives.

• Networking efforts with representatives offederal agencies should continue and beexpanded.

Community colleges can also work toward theinclusion of global competence in theaccreditation standards which govern theiroperations:

• Community college leaders can have animpact on the newly formed Council forHigher Education Accreditation to gain aformal place for global competence inevaluation criteria.

• Appropriate community college leaders shouldalso make formal presentations on the subjectat meetings of the national and regionalaccrediting associations.

At the state level, a number of directions wereidentified for concerted effort:

• Community college leaders can suggest thewriting (or rewriting) of the enablinglegislation for community colleges to includeglobal education as one of the missions. (Anorganization such as ACIIE might produceboilerplate documents for this purpose.)

• Trustees can facilitate state funding for globaleducation through their state organizations andby working one on one with legislators fromtheir own districts.

• Community colleges can work to be includedon the agenda of the National GovernorsAssociation and the National Council of StateLegislatures/Legislators.

• Proponents of global education must workwith state vocational education directors.

• Presidents and trustees can work within theirstate associations to network for globaleducation (as well as with their own campusfoundations as potential sources of funding).

ADVANCING GLOBAL EDUCATION BEYOND THE COMMUNITY

COLLEGE CAMPUS


Community college leadership can make aneffective case for global competence with thegeneral public. Suggested approaches includethe following:

• Cable TV public service announcements.• ACIIE might develop a thirty- or sixty-second

video on the topic which could be customizedby individual member institutions to use intheir local market.

• ACIIE and AACC should work with theNational Council on Marketing and PublicRelations (an AACC affiliate council) todevelop effective marketing strategies.

• AACC and ACIIE should compile statisticaland anecdotal information on the positive andforceful impact of global education onemployment.

• There should be a national campaign oneducating the global citizen, perhaps a fullpage ad in The Wall Street Journal securedwith corporate sponsorship.

• We can capitalize on the national emphasis onwork force development, reaching majorcompanies to support community colleges atthe national and local levels.

Finally, several other directions for fundingoutreach were targeted:

• Private and corporate foundations. (Luce,Ford, and Rockefeller Foundations were usedas examples of funding sources for globalinitiatives.)

• Student organizations such as local andnational Phi Theta Kappa associations,campus honors students associations, andvocational associations.


The task to globalize a community collegeis an imperative, obstacle-laced, time-consuming enterprise. And yet, the

rewards and benefits can be enormous tostudents, faculty, administrators, trustees, andthe community. As global learners experiencepersonal added value, those individualsresponsible for providing global educationstrengthen their own effectiveness and that oftheir institution and community.

Global education is now recognized as adominant component of meaningful, futuristic,and applicable education. We can provide ourlearners with nothing more valuable thanquality, comprehensive, global education. It’s aworthy service to them and to their community,college, nation, and world.

SUMMARY


John T. Blong, Chancellor, Eastern IowaCommunity College District

Elizabeth Buck, Codirector, Asian StudiesDevelopment Program, East-West Center

Hiram Larew, Science and Technology PolicySpecialist, US Agency for InternationalDevelopment

Margaret B. Lee, President, OaktonCommunity College

Robert Ludwiczak, Assistant to the President,Brevard Community College/CommunityColleges for International Development, Inc.

James Mahoney, Director of Academic,Student and International Services, AmericanAssociation of Community Colleges

Montez Martin, Chairman, Association ofCommunity College Trustees, and Trustee,Trident Technical College

Donald Matthews, Director of ResourceDevelopment, Daytona Beach CommunityCollege

John E. McGee, President, St. Clair College ofApplied Arts and Technology

Carolyn Mewhorter, Director of InternationalEducation, Fox Valley Technical College

Valeriana Moeller, President, Columbus StateCommunity College

Marijane Axtell Paulsen, President, PikesPeak Community College

Judith A. Redwine, President, Black HawkCollege

Cynthia Reed, Director of Governmental andInternational Relations, Austin CommunityCollege

David A. Sam, Dean, The University of AkronCommunity and Technical College

Lydia Santibañez, Board Member, Associationof Community College Trustees, and Trustee,Temple College

Richard Stanley, President, The StanleyFoundation

Ray Taylor, President/CEO, Association ofCommunity College Trustees

Dean P. VanTrease, Chairman, AmericanCouncil on International InterculturalEducation, and President, Tulsa CommunityCollege

Sim Wignall, Assistant Principal, BilstonCommunity College

Joan Winship, Vice President of Outreach, TheStanley Foundation

Jacqueline E. Woods, Liaison for CommunityColleges, US Department of Education

PARTICIPANTS


FacilitatorMichael Murphy, President, College ofDuPage

RapporteursLinda A. Korbel, Executive Director,American Council on International InterculturalEducation

Jack Smith, Senior Program Officer, TheStanley Foundation

ObserversAudree Chase, Coordinator of InternationalServices, American Association of CommunityColleges

Pete Kellams, Professor, St. Louis CommunityCollege

Mary Soley, Deputy Director, Access: AnInternational Affairs Information Service

Laura Walker, Director, InternationalLanguage Center, Tulsa Community College

AcknowledgmentsJessica Lane, Conference Assistant, TheStanley Foundation

Educating for the Global

Getting Concrete...Community college leaders andrepresentatives of government agencies metto get more specific about how to supporteffective global education in communitycolleges. They identified attributes of aglobally competent learner and institutionalrequirements to produce such learners.

Community:A Framework for Community Colleges


by Richard H. Stanley, PresidentThe Stanley Foundation

In this latter part of the twentieth century, weare participants in a tide change in theworld. We are experiencing a phenomenon

that I call the globalization of nearly everything.And I am excited that community colleges areplaying an increasingly important role indeveloping necessary global competencyamong their students, faculty, administrators,trustees, and communities. I find littledisagreement these days about the centralimportance of this role for community colleges.

Now, it is time to move discussions to the nextlevel. We talk about global competency, aboutthe need for our students, communities, andworld to be able to work and interact moreeffectively and peaceably. But, what are thoseneeded competencies?

Two years ago when we met here at Airlie, wedescribed global competency as including asense of global interconnectedness andinterdependence. We talked about theimportance of an appreciation for humandiversity. Our survival in this shrinking worldrequires that we cherish and celebrate thisdiversity and, yet at the same time, affirm andstrengthen our commonality as human beings.Graduates of our community colleges, indeedall of us, need to be able to participateeffectively in our increasingly multiethnic andmulticultural work force.

We also talked about the need to understand andrespect environmental and resource systems andconstraints. Environmental and resource factors

both shape human activity and, in turn, areimpacted by that human activity. Humans areembedded as working parts of the globalecology.

In addition, the globally competent need a goodunderstanding of peace and conflict resolution.We must be able to get along when we disagreeand work things out when we differ, withoutresorting to force or violence. Finally, theremust be a sense of the continuing fact ofchange, the possibility of alternative futures,and the role that we humans can play in helpingto shape the future for ourselves and ourdescendants.

I hope that our conversation here this weekendin Virginia will move us toward a betterunderstanding of what constitutes a globallycompetent learner.

We will also benefit from exploring whatcommunity colleges can do to build that globalcompetency among their students and in theircommunities. What programs and activitieswork best? How can global competency beinfused into classes and extracurricular work?What characterizes a community college that isproviding a comprehensive, effective globaleducation program? What new initiatives areneeded? Questions such as these merit our bestthinking and response.

I hope that our discoveries here at Airlie willadd impetus to an already energetic and livelycommunity college program across the country.Our task is to accept the challenge ofdiscovering together how to better build globalcompetency.

Appendix AWELCOMING ADDRESS


by Margaret B. Lee, PresidentOakton Community College

Thank you for inviting me to be a part ofthis second conference cosponsored bythe Stanley Foundation and the

American Council on International InterculturalEducation. I am honored by the invitation andhumbled to be standing in the place whereErnest Boyer stood at the beginning of the firstof these conferences two years ago. He hasbeen for me and for many others a mentor in hiscommitment to the role of education in buildingthe human community.

My role today is, in part, to focus onconnectedness and to explore from anotherperspective the significance of the idea of thehuman community. Both connectedness andcommunity were beacons for Boyer in his lifeand in his work. I want to connect the work ofAirlie I and our work in Airlie II. I want toestablish a context that will provide the largestframe possible for the big questions we willthink about together: How do we define aglobally competent student, and what isrequired institutionally of community collegesto educate such a student? As we listen to andspeak with each other, we will develop someanswers and undoubtedly raise many morequestions.

I want to begin with the big question: Why is itso important that we gather here, at this time, tobuild a framework for educating for the globalcommunity? Ernest Boyer answered thisquestion by describing the commonalities

shared by all human beings who inhabit thisplanet. It is good for us to remember these:

• We all share the same life cycle: we are born;we grow; we die.

• We all use symbols and make meaningthrough the language we use to communicatewith each other.

• We all respond to the aesthetic, and our soulsare stirred by beauty.

• We all have the unique capacity to locateourselves in time and space; we alone of allbeings can recall the past and anticipate thefuture.

• We are all members of groups and institutions;we are not meant to live our lives alone.

• We all are producers and consumers; work is apart of who we are.

• We are all connected to nature.• We all search for meaning.

Before his death which left us bereft of hiswisdom and vision, Boyer translated thesecommonalities into an idea for a curriculum thatwould go beyond measurable objectives and theartificial boundaries of set time and Carnegieunits, of disciplines and departments. Hebelieved that such a curriculum should beembraced by K-12 as well as college anduniversity levels.

In broad outlines, the common learning heproposed would be structured and developedaround the following integrative themes orstrands. (I am paraphrasing these after listeningto one of Boyer’s last public presentations. Ibelieve it was made to the American Society forCurriculum Development.) Boyer elaborated onthe themes he had first proposed fifteen years

Appendix BABOUT CONNECTEDNESS, COMMUNITY, AND STARDUST


earlier, describing general education in theundergraduate curriculum in A Quest forCommon Learning. I think it is significant thathe also proposed that they form the basis for theK-12 as well as the college and universitycurriculum. These integrative themes are:

• The cycle of life and the mystery of existence.• The use of symbols—including words,

numbers, and the responsibility of honest,accurate use of all language.

• The role of the aesthetic and the human needand capacity to respond to beauty in its myriadforms and cultural manifestations.

• The connectedness of ourselves with others intime and space and an exploration of our pastand an imagination of our future.

• The nature of the social webs in which humanlife exists and evolves in institutions from thefamily to other groups and organizations,including governments.

• The place of work and the role of humanbeings as producers, consumers, andconservers of the goods of this earth.

• The relationship of human beings to theplanet, as Lewis Thomas suggested, “In whichwe are embedded as working parts.”

• The importance of shared values and beliefs inour search for the larger purpose in ourlives—which we need in order to find andmake meaning.

A curriculum like this, so conceived andimplemented, would take us a long way towardthe connectedness essential in our quest toeducate globally competent citizens. But I wantto suggest that the challenge before us is evengreater than we have yet begun to imagine. Weneed to expand our understanding of what it

means to be globally competent at this time, inthis place, and for our future as we approach anew millennium.

Let me share with you how I began to awakento what this means for us. I have a fourteen-year-old son who is a member of the class ofthe year 2000. This past summer, he started hisfreshman year a little early with an honorsBiology class. His teacher was wonderful, goodhumored, truly a person who cared for the earthand was acutely conscious of the unique placeof each individual in the community of life—the profile of an exemplary teacher—of Biologyor anything else. This care and consciousnesswere evident in the assignments he gave to theclass.

One night’s assignment was to read the story ofputting the pieces of the DNA puzzle togetherin The Double Helix. Other assignments overseveral nights included a collection of essays byEdward O. Wilson on The Diversity of Life andAldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac.Reading the assignments with my son, I cameto a new appreciation of the incrediblebiodiversity of our planet. I learned thatscientists haven’t even begun to be able toapproximate the number of species which liveon the earth. Consider this: in a gram ofordinary soil, in one millionth of a pinch of soil,as many as l0 to l0,000 colonies ofbacteria can grow. A Norwegian research groupfound between 4,000 to 5,000 bacterial speciesin a single gram of beech forest soil.

I got pretty interested in DNA and dirt. (Iremembered that when I studied Biology inhigh school—it was before DNA was in the


textbooks. By the time I studied it in collegeabout four years later, it was a brand new story.)In my son’s Biology course, I discovered yetanother story and some extraordinaryconnections. Listen to this from WilliamLogan’s book, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of theEarth:

We don’t know the first thing about dirt. Wedon’t even know where it comes from. All wecan say is that it doesn’t come from here. Ourown sun is too young and cool to manufactureany element heavier than helium…number twoon the periodic table, leaving some ninetyelements on earth that were not even made inour solar system. Uranium and plutonium, theheaviest elements that occur in nature, can beforged only in an exploding star, a supernova.Everything is stardust.

So what about DNA? There’s a cosmicconnection. Not long after my son started hisBiology course, my friend and former highschool English teacher came to visit us for afew weeks. She shared with me one of herfavorite current readings, Thomas Berry’s TheDream of the Earth. Berry tells a new story ofthe universe, connecting our human identity tothe process of the evolving universe. In thisstory, our human home—the earth—has(through the human species) awakened andbecome conscious. The earth, according toBerry, is the only biospiritual planet we know.And we are the biospiritual beings who inhabitit. We are the universe, thinking about itself.Just as the human body took its shape throughsome fourteen or fifteen billion years of efforton the part of the universe and through somefour and a half billion years of earth existence,

so the human mind and spirit have also beentaking shape over those millions of years.

If your mind is boggled, as mine is, by thebillions numbers, other scientists have come toour rescue. Think of it this way. Take the mostrecent five billion years—the time during whichour earth has emerged in the universe. We areamong the youngest. If those five billion yearswere compressed into a period of twelvemonths, the time required for the molten gases(which still burn in the core of the earth) toevaporate and become the ocean (the source ofall life forms) is equivalent to the first eightmonths. It took eight months to create theconditions which allowed the crust of the earthto cool, the oceans to form, the continents totake shape, the amino acids to structurethemselves, and life as we know it to begin tounfold. It is only during the last four months wehave come from the beginnings of life to wherewe are today. We humans have been around forabout the last half hour. And where will we gofrom here?

We are living in a time when we need to listento and learn this new story about ourselves andour connection to the universe. We have movedbeyond the ages of geological and biologicaltime to the present human time. We havefashioned the eye of the Hubble telescope, sentit into space, and through it we have been ableto look back through space and time to the birthof the stars. We have discovered how to stepaway from our planet home; look on it fromafar; and see its uniqueness in the solar systemin which it is set.


In the four months of this compressed fivebillion year evolution, life on this earth hasunfolded into ever greater genetic complexity.Some have suggested that this unfolding is theearth expressing itself through more and morecomplex forms of life. The earth has learned tobreathe, to see, to hear, to reproduce itself, tonourish, and to heal—all before we humansarrived. In the last half hour, we have caused ashift in earth/human relations: the earth thatused to control itself perfectly, now, to anextensive degree controls itself through us.

We have an immense responsibility to care forthis earth, to collaborate as a humancommunity. We need to learn to think ofourselves not as ethnic, cultural, national, orlanguage groups but as a human species amongother species. This is the primary responsibilityof globally competent citizens, and it is criticalto our survival—as a species, as a planet, andfor the universe. The water we drink, the air webreathe, the food we eat here and half a worldaway depends on decisions and actions of thefew for the many.

I think it must have been about ten years agothat Ernest Boyer suggested that although theworld may not yet be a global village, we must“expand our sense of neighborhood” and “learnto act more like citizens of an increasinglyinterdependent planet.” Today technology hasjust about transformed our world into thatglobal village, bridging the boundaries oncecreated by time and space. Today the world is1/600th of a millisecond in diameter on theInternet. (And don’t forget that Shannon Lucidkept in touch with NASA and her family from

the space station orbiting above the earth—viae-mail.) What separates us today are barriers oflanguage, culture, and understanding, no longertime and space. We have to begin to imaginenew possibilities for international andintercultural education.

One of the most compelling images of theimmensity and diversity which confronts us inour task of educating the globally competentstudent is one which many of you haveprobably seen in at least some version. Think ofthis:

If the world’s population were represented by avillage of 100 people, it would consist of fifty-six Asians, twenty-one Europeans, nineAfricans, eight South Americans, and six NorthAmericans. Thirty of the people would beChristian, seventeen Moslem, thirteen Hindu,five Buddhist, five Animist, nine miscellaneous,and twenty-one without religion. Of the 100people, six would control half the total income,fifty would be hungry, sixty would live inshanty towns, and seventy would be illiterate.

And think of how information floods our globalneighborhood. The sum total of what there is toknow doubled from 1750 to 1900. The pacepicked up in the twentieth century. Since 1965,what there is to know has doubled every fiveyears. In the next five years there will be morestuff to learn than in the last 2,000 years. By2020 what there is to know will double everyseventy-three days.

Combine that set of projections with Moore’sLaw, which describes how computing powerdoubles every eighteen months. You can buy a


computer with twice the speed and memory,that is half the size and weight of the less thantwo-year-old model you have, for a little morethan half the cost of the old one. If automobileshad developed at the same rate during the lastforty years, your car would travel faster than thespeed of light and cost less than twenty-fivecents.

How can our teaching, learning, and most of allour imagining keep pace? Beyond classes andcourses, disciplines and majors, work forcedevelopment and education for careers, the goalof teaching and learning is to enable the learnerto see the big picture; to understand theimmense story of the universe and the potentialof each conscious being to contribute tocreating the next chapter in the story. As welearn and help others to learn, we hand oncultural coding from one generation to anotherin a manner somewhat parallel to the way inwhich the genetic coding of any living being iscommunicated to succeeding generations.

Just as our ability to study and separate DNAenables us to learn more and more about thediversity of species, our consciousness that weare all “thinking stardust” has to reinforce theconnectedness of ourselves with each other,with our planet, and with the process of theunfolding universe. We share the stuff of life:the nucleotide sequences, the amino acids, theprotein molecules. Everything on this earth andin this universe is connected under the skin inthe substructures of the cells. We know that thehuman genome project will eventually chartevery gene that is part of the makeup of thehuman species.

A study published for the first time last year,The History and Geography of Human Genes,is a genetic analysis based on blood from genepools in place in Europe in 1500 A.D. Theresearchers, Paola Menozzi and Alberta Piazza,explode the myth of a genetic base for the racialcategories with which we are most familiar.Their work virtually eliminates the racialcategory of Caucasian by demonstrating thatmost Europeans are a combination of 65percent Asian and 35 percent African. Theirwork is a clear example of technology, in thiscase gene research, making new learningpossible and forcing a change in both ourpresumptions and perceptions.

Another example of technology enabling us tomake new connections in this time when thereis so much new to know is the newsupercomputer currently under constructionfrom the stuff that we ourselves are made of—DNA. The molecular structures are capable ofmassive parallel processing in ways we havehardly begun to imagine.

About two years ago, one of the presenters inthe Honors Speakers Series at our collegechallenged us to some heavy duty imagining.He talked about our world in the process ofradical transformation and reminded us at thesame time of our connection with the stars.Gentry Lee, a real live rocket scientist who hasbeen involved with NASA and worked withCarl Sagan, spoke about living and learning inand for the twenty-first century. His messagewas both fascinating and frightening.Underlying all of his specific examples was awarning that it is impossible to prepare for the


future only by looking at the past. The way welive and the way we learn have to bedramatically different.

There is so much new to know that people willhave to integrate continuous learning into theirworking lives. He suggested that there will beno such thing as lifetime employment in asingle career or with a single organization.Companies and even colleges will beorganizational shells through which those withcurrent skills in their portfolios will contracttheir services. Lee predicted that mostsequential jobs will be done by machines, manythe products of biotechnology. As examples, heused the worm that rolls down the face ofskyscrapers in order to wash the windows and abacteria that cleans bathrooms as it grows andthen self-destructs. The creative, theimaginative, and the nonsequential will be thedomain reserved for the human species. Neverhas there been a time when the ability to thinkand learn will be so important. Never will therebe a time when education done well will bemore critical. And never will there be a moreexciting time to be part of a communitycommitted to the art of helping people learn.

I was particularly moved by a story Gentry Leetold about a conversation he had with one of hisseven sons. The two were out one night star-gazing, and the son expressed an intensefascination with the stars. “Why do you careabout the stars?” the father asked his son. Hethen proceeded, as a rocket scientist is apt to do,to answer his own tough question. “Because,”he said, “in a very real way the stars are yourparents. For example, the hemoglobin in yourblood essential to the life of your body came to

all human beings from the iron in the first stars.Astrophysics demonstrates that it was a resultof the death of two generations of stars whichmade possible life on our planet. In a veryfundamental sense, we are made of the samechemicals as the original stars; but we arechemicals risen to consciousness. We haveeclipsed the stars; we can think and learn and bejoyful.” Sounds pretty poetic for a rocketscientist. In fact, it made me think of linesspoken by Shakespeare’s teacher/magicianProspero who described us human beings as“such stuff as dreams are made on.” Berry’sThe Dream of the Earth and some of my othersummer reading made me recall the poetry ofGentry Lee’s science.

In between studying Biology with my son andescaping to the retreat that is the home ourfamily is building which connects us with thepast and the earth, I spent a week this pastsummer at the Harvard Seminar for NewPresidents. I had the opportunity to hear andtalk with Steve Gilbert, the technology gurufrom the American Association of HigherEducation (AAHE). We have conversed on theInternet, but it is the first time we met face toface. I admire his wisdom, as well as hisknowledge about technology connections andthe connectedness of people. He has beenbuilding interactively on his listserv, what hecalls a vision worth working toward; and wetalked together about some of the elements ofthat vision.

Gilbert writes about the goal of achievingcollaboration while striving for connectedness.He cited Edward Hallowell’s notion ofconnectedness, that “sense of being part of


something larger than oneself. It is a sense ofbelonging or a sense of accompaniment. It isthat feeling in your bones that you are notalone. It is a sense that, no matter how scarythings may become, there is a hand for you inthe dark. While ambition drives us to achieve,connectedness…urges us to ally, to affiliate, toenter into mutual relationships, to take strength,and to grow through cooperative behavior.”

In his vision, Gilbert tries to demonstrate hownetworks and technology can be of use increating connectedness, improving our lives,and shaping a better future—all the whileavoiding what he calls “big blunders.” He tellsthe story of how Gandhi, in the last years of hislife, set aside an hour every day to be alonewith his grandson, determined that his values—as well as his genes—would be carried on intofuture generations. On their final day together,shortly before his assassination, Gandhi gavehis grandson a list of seven blunders to beavoided. Gandhi’s grandson added an eighth,and Gilbert has added another four. Listen tothem:

Wealth without workPleasure without conscienceKnowledge without characterCommerce without moralityScience without humanityWorship without sacrificePolitics without principle

Gandhi’s grandson added:Rights without responsibilities

Steve Gilbert added:Technology without direction

Connection without communityTeaching without joyLearning without hope

In The Dream of the Earth, Berry also writesexplicitly and implicitly of these things—especially of the imperative of hope. Explainingthe whole sequence of crisis after crisis in theevolution of the universe, Berry demonstratesthe evidence of hopefulness:

At each stage of its development, whenit seems that impasse has been reached,most improbable solutions haveemerged that enabled the developmentto continue. At the very beginning of theuniverse, the rate of expansion had to beat an infinitesimally precise rate so thatthe universe would neither explode norcollapse. The same is true in the shapingof our own solar system: if the earthwere a little closer to the sun, it wouldbe too hot; if slightly more distant, itwould be too cold. If closer to the moon,the tides would overwhelm thecontinents; if more distant, the seaswould be stagnant and life developmentcould not have taken place. So with theradius of the earth: if it were a littlegreater, the earth would be moregaseous like Jupiter; if a little less, theearth would be more solid, like Mars. Inneither case could life have evolved inits present form.

But it did, and we are here. And we cannot rest.As tiny as we are in the vastness of time and


space, each of us has the capacity to make adifference. In his book, Dirt, Logan wrote:

Each of us is made of stardust…. Wehave each, then, the stuff in us and thebound-up energy that might launch abeam of light.... All [of us]rise from thedirt and stand upon it as on a launchingpad. At the outer edge of theatmosphere, the thin air continuallygives off hydrogen ions that join thesolar wind. To what end and to whatstars might this lightest, quickest dust bebound?

This is one of the questions that confronts us aswe consider how to build the framework foreducating the global community. The task ofeducation is the task of helping human beingslearn more, of helping the human speciesrealize its full potential, to continue to reach forthe stars and beyond. Berry says that educationadvances the universe. This is why it is soimportant that we gather here to put our mindsto work together. Each of us has a unique partto play in this discussion, a unique perspectiveto contribute. What task, at this time, is anymore significant, any more immense?

Though we may not finish, we cannot affordnot to begin our work. To illustrate this, I wantto use two stories which we might consider tobe parables for our time together. The first is astory I found on the last page of a newsletterthat crossed my desk sometime last summer. Ithink I have heard it before and you may havetoo. It goes like this:

As an old man walked the beach at dawn, henoticed a young man ahead of him picking up

starfish and flinging them into the sea. Finally,catching up with the youth, the old man askedhim why he was bothering to throw the starfishback into the ocean. The young man answeredthat the stranded starfish would die if left untilthe morning sun.‘But the beach goes on formiles and there are millions of starfish,’countered the old man, ‘how can your effortsmake any difference?’ The young man looked atthe starfish in his hand and then threw it tosafety in the waves. ‘It makes a difference tothis one,’ he said.

The young man was only one tiny, fragileperson. Undaunted by the enormity of the taskand the immensity of the world, he found a wayto make a difference.

I heard the second story in an audiotape of alecture given by Miriam McGillis, a womanwho has set about telling the new story set forthin the work of Thomas Berry. It’s about plantingdates. A date tree takes about eighty years fromthe time it is planted until it bears fruit. Theroots have to grow deep into the earth to findthe water necessary for growth. In the processof maturation, the date tree often appears to bedying rather than growing. The one who plantsthe date tree does so knowing that he willprobably never eat the fruit, but trusting that itwill serve to nourish those who live in a futurehe will never see. As McGillis says, “If youunderstand the process, you can make thecommitment.” The planting of the date tree isan act of hope, an act of faith, an act of care andconnectedness. This is the answer to thequestion I began with—why is it so importantthat we gather here at this time? Let us get on toplanting dates and remembering the stars.


Fifty-eight global competencies wereidentified by participants, many relatingto the recognition of the interdependency

and interconnectedness of all systems. Some aremore crucial or fundamental than others. All areworthy of note because any one of them maystrike a responsive cord with a reader. Thecompetencies of a global learner include:

• Intercultural relations skills.

• Interest in/reading about international current

events.

• Ability to identify countries of the world and

their locations.

• Ability to communicate with non-English

speaking persons.

• Ability to listen.

• Technological awareness (Internet literacy).

• Awareness of global issues.

• Empowered to acknowledge one’s ability to

make a difference.

• Understanding of the dynamics of interactivity

between government, business, and education.

• Comfortable with differences.

• Understanding of different political and

economic systems while acknowledging

economic interdependence.

• Awareness of history.

• Realize that challenges facing our world

cannot be solved by the same kind of thinking

and actions that created them.

• Knowledge of at least one non-Western

culture.

• Environmental literacy.

• Understand the impact of other cultures on our

lives and that culture affects behavior and

attitude.

• Recognize that one’s own culture, religion,

and values are not universally shared.

• Ability to speak at least one other language.

• Self-confidence in one’s own ability, identity,

skills, and cultural background.

• Seek peaceful resolution of differences.

• Awareness of diversity, similarities, and

interdependencies.

• Read on a regular basis newspapers and

magazines covering international issues.

• Identify historical and current major world

events.

• Ability to be flexible and resourceful.

• Understand different education systems

around the world.

• Understand different groupings within

America’s own multicultural structure.

• Participate in a voluntary in-service programs

(local, national, and international levels).

• Ability to work in diverse teams.

• Understand various faith traditions.

Appendix C: GLOBAL COMPETENCIES


• Awareness of world demography.

• Be motivated by love rather than fear.

• Realize that all the people of the world are

important.

• Have a commitment to lifelong global

learning.

• Ability to empathize and sympathize even

while not accepting.

• Exposure to other cultures through

participation in international study.

• Ability to function as a responsible member of

the human species within the community of

life.

• Awareness of human rights issues.

• Tolerance for ambiguity.

• Have knowledge of the United Nations and

other international organizations.

• Knowledge of international business practices.

• Visit a non-English speaking community or

country, having learned fifty words of their

language before going.

• Focus on quality of life issues in the world

community. (Recognize that the local concept

of quality of life may be different in other

parts of the world.)

• Participate in at least one student foreign

exchange program.

• Understand decision making in a global

community.

• Be able to apply trained skills to an

international context.

• Accept responsibility for global citizenship.

• Ability to articulate human differences and

similarities.

• Knowledge of human and social geography.

• Exercise moral leadership.

• Develop a long-term perspective.

• Understand that your community may become

endangered without global competence.

• Experience the literature, music, and art of

other cultures.

• Enjoy surprises, do not fear them.

• Be aware of the diversity of world sport.

• Have respect for human dignity.

• Speak, write, and read another language.

• Understand what it means to be ethical.

• Seek exposure to other cultures locally,

including dining in ethnic restaurants

whenever possible.

The American Council on InternationalIntercultural Education (ACIIE) is the affiliatecouncil of the American Association ofCommunity Colleges (AACC), with member-ship comprised of over one hundred collegesinvolved in global education. ACIIE sharesexpertise and provides information on topicssuch as cultural diversity, multiculturalrelations, foreign student recruitment andexchanges, faculty exchanges, professionaldevelopment programs, and fundingopportunities for international and interculturalactivities. ACIIE helps community collegescultivate international partnerships andparticipate in programs with organizationsworldwide. ACIIE pursues this mission throughannual conferences, a membership newsletter,an Internet listserv and home page,teleconferences, and other programs andactivities which foster the dissemination ofinformation and networking among members.

Additional copies may be ordered throughACIIE:

American Council on International Intercultural Education

Oakton Community College1600 E. Golf RoadDes Plaines, IL 60016Telephone: (847) 635-2605Fax: (847) 635-1764E-mail: [email protected]

The Stanley Foundation is a private operatingfoundation that conducts varied programs andactivities designed to provoke thought andencourage dialogue on world affairs and topromote secure peace with freedom and justice.

Programs engage policymakers, opinionleaders, and citizens interested in solvingproblems and finding opportunities that presentthem-selves in an increasingly interdependentworld. Areas of particular interest are: globalsecurity, US foreign relations, sustainabledevelopment, human rights, the United Nations,and the expansion of policy deliberations toinclude wider public representation.

Activities include:• Roundtable, off-the-record conferences and

meetings for influential leaders and experts.• Congressional programs for senior staff.• Citizen programs for educators, young

people, churches, professional associations,civic groups, and educational institutions.These activities are often held in collaborationwith other nonprofit organizations.

• Production of Common Ground, a weeklypublic radio program on world affairs.

• Publication of the monthly magazine, WorldPress Review.

• Publication of conference reports.

The Stanley Foundation welcomes gifts fromsupportive friends. The foundation is not agrantmaking institution.

The Stanley Foundation216 Sycamore Street, Suite 500Muscatine, IA 52761 USATelephone: (319) 264-1500Fax: (319) 264-0864E-mail: [email protected]

THE AMERICAN COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONALINTERCULTURAL EDUCATION

THE STANLEY FOUNDATION

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