them.” He adds another essential
element: “the attitudinal and ethical
dispositions that make it possible to
interact peacefully, respectfully, and
productively with fellow human beings
from diverse geographies” (Reimers, in
press).
Consistent across most definitions of
global competence is the issue of getting
neighbors—because these behaviors
promote peace.
One element, then, of global citizenship is knowledge of the vast economic
and social inequalities existing in today’s
world as well as the repercussions of
these inequalities. Although globalization may have generated more wealth
around the world, the distribution has
We must learn to help others and
work on raising the living standards of
our impoverished neighbors—because
these behaviors promote peace.
along with people. In our effort to
educate global citizens, we must
develop a framework for dealing with
others. This framework has five crucial
requirements.
A Framework for Global
Competence
Fernando Reimers, director of Global
Education at Harvard Graduate School
of Education, defines global competency
as “the knowledge and skills that help
people understand the flat world in
which they live, the skills to integrate
across disciplinary domains to comprehend global affairs and events, and the
intellect to create possibilities to address
© KATIE S. ATKINSON / STOCK ILLUSTRATION SOURCE
Understanding Global Interdependence
A basic truth about living in the global
village is that the welfare of all human
beings has become so interconnected
and interdependent that no individual,
organization, or nation can continue to
live prosperously when their fellow
villagers live in misery. Poverty, diseases
such as HIV/AIDS, conflicts, and
resource shortages in one part of the
world can affect other countries, no
matter how far away they are. Conflicts
in the Middle East can cause gas prices
everywhere to rise. Famine in Africa
can increase food prices globally. Water
shortages in Ethiopia can lead to wars
in the region, resulting in great
numbers of refugees and illegal migration to other nations. Even from a
purely selfish perspective, we in
wealthier communities must learn to
help others and work on raising the
living standards of our impoverished
been uneven. Some have even charged
that it has increased misery worldwide
(Bigelow & Peterson, 2002). Our children, who will live in this village much
longer than we will, need to understand
that globalization’s negative outcomes—
exploitation of poor countries, for
example—can affect their own lives.
Understanding Global Economics
On March 12, 2009, the Michigan
House of Representatives passed a
package of bills called The Hire
Michigan First plan with an 82–26 vote.
These bills, if passed in their entirety in
the Senate, would reward businesses
that hire Michigan workers with state
tax breaks and other economic incentives and would require businesses to
report whom they hire to ensure that
Michigan residents are given priority.
Michigan is not alone. Since the beginning of the current financial crisis, many
countries have begun to take measures
to protect jobs for their own citizens
(Gamberoni & Newfarmer, 2009).
As a longtime tax-paying Michigan
resident who has witnessed years of
continued, massive job losses in the
