Educating For The Global Community: A Framework For Community Colleges - November 15-17, 1996
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Educating For The Global Community:
A Framework For
Community Colleges
November 15-17, 1996
Convened at Airlie Center
Warrenton, Virginia
The American Council on The Stanley Foundation
International Intercultural Education
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
I
n November 1994 the Stanley Foundation and country in the coming year. All of these groups
the American Council on International have had the opportunity to learn about prototype
Intercultural Education (ACIIE) convened a global education programs and how to maximize
group of twenty-four community college existing and new resources in this pursuit.
educators and representatives of government,
industry, and nongovernmental organizations at On November 15-17, 1996, a second group
Airlie Center, Warrenton, Virginia, for the consisting of twenty-three community college
conference entitled Building the Global leaders and representatives of government
Community: The Next Step. This group was agencies met at the Airlie Center for a conference
charged with clarifying community college goals entitled Educating for the Global Community: A
in global education, articulating a clear mission Framework for Community Colleges. They were
statement, determining strategies, and given the task of examining two key questions:
constructing a plan of action for the
implementation of global education in US 1. What does it mean to be a globally
community colleges. A report was published in competent learner?
1995. It begins with the following mission 2. What is required institutionally for
statement: community colleges to produce globally
competent learners?
To ensure the survival and well-being of
our communities, it is imperative that This report is the product of the conference
community colleges develop a globally rapporteurs. Their intent has been to convey a
and multiculturally competent citizenry. sense of the proceedings without attributing
specific statements to the individuals who made
In the two years since the conclusion of that first them. All participants and observers were given
conference, ACIIE and the Stanley Foundation the opportunity to review the draft report and to
have embarked on a number of initiatives across provide factual corrections prior to the printing of
the United States to assist community colleges in this final version.
their efforts to globalize their institutions, their
curricula, and the environment of their campuses The texts of welcome remarks by Richard
and communities. Presentations of the conference Stanley, president of the Stanley Foundation, and
results were given at national and regional the opening address by Margaret B. Lee,
conventions for community college president of Oakton Community College (IL), as
administrators, trustees, and faculty. A satellite well as a list of conference participants, are
teleconference exposed viewers to the global included among the appendices.
education imperative at more than thirty sites
around the country. Seminars brought together ACIIE and the Stanley Foundation encourage use
community college CEOs and trustees in of this report for informational and educational
Washington, Massachusetts, Iowa, and Virginia. purposes. Any part of the material may be
Statewide gatherings of educators were held in duplicated, with proper acknowledgment.
New York, Missouri, and Iowa, with similar
conferences planned for other regions of the Production: Amy Bakke and Bonnie Tharp
“Global competency exists when a learner is able to understand the interconnectedness of peoples and
systems, to have a general knowledge of history and world events, to accept and cope with the existence of
different cultural values and attitudes and, indeed, to celebrate the richness and benefits of this diversity.”
INTRODUCTION
Second, they agreed to identify “learner” as an
U
sing the November 1994 report
Building the Global Community: The individual with one or more of the following
Next Step as a rich, building-block profiles: degree-seekers, lifelong learners,
resource, a group of educators and government nonenrolled community members who benefit
leaders met at Airlie Center in November 1996 from the community college’s programs,
to take the work of their predecessors to the community college presidents, administrators,
next level. It was clear from the start that faculty and staff (internal customers), local
participants embraced the conclusions of the business and industry personnel, trustees,
first conference: The “why” of global education legislators, taxpayers, and funding providers
is, simply put, the survival of our communities. (governmental and nongovernmental). In other
If community college educators care about the words, they catalogued the multiplicity of
communities they serve, global education is an needs, interests, and motivations that
imperative not an option. Without it, we could characterize the consumers of community
become relatively insignificant as individual college services.
human beings or as a society. Participants
reiterated the “payoff” identified two years While recognizing that the scope of their charge
earlier: globalizing our students and our was to establish a framework for community
communities has direct economic benefit and colleges, participants also acknowledged that
reduces the inevitable fear created by the results of their discussions might very well be
ongoing internationalization of business. applicable to other levels of education along the
continuum from kindergarten through post-
Participants felt that several preliminary steps graduate study. They concluded that perhaps the
needed to be taken before they could immerse most difficult parameter to determine is the
themselves in their assigned task; namely, to depth of global competence that is being
respond to the two key questions: defined, whether to prescribe a base level of
global literacy or to aim toward a higher level
1. What does it mean to be a globally of proficiency. Consensus was reached that
competent learner? community colleges typically provide an
2. What is required institutionally for introduction, developing a taste and interest for
community colleges to produce globally future study in each area. And finally,
competent learners? participants agreed that their recommendations
were to apply to the “average size” college;
They decided that it was important to define the namely, institutions with an enrollment base of
parameters of their discussion in several ways. 2,200-2,500 students. However, although not
First, they determined that the discussion would specifically targeted, larger and smaller
focus on US community colleges, but not at the community colleges can also richly benefit
exclusion of learning from the experiences of from the recommendations in this report and
similar institutions in other parts of the world. adapt them to fit their local needs and
conditions.
EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 3
DEFINING THE GLOBALLY COMPETENT LEARNER
type of institution. What will vary is the
T
here are legitimate questions being
raised by community college leaders and emphasis or the sequencing. Conferees agreed
others regarding the lack of definitions: that the first stage is of critical importance to all
What is meant by a competency? What are the global learners. Individual learners may
characteristics of a global learner? What are the accomplish varying degrees of stages two
developmental stages leading to global through four. Participants also recognized that
competency? Answers will help provide a more progress through the stages may not be linear.
intentional, systemic, and measurable global Some learners will begin with a general area of
education program. experience or knowledge and proceed to in-
depth study of a specific component. Others
Conferees responded by first defining the key may move from a specific experience into more
term, competency: generalized study.
A competency is an ability, a skill, a Conferees returned to the list of competencies
knowledge, or an attitude that can be identified earlier in the day and selected the
demonstrated, observed, or measured. most important. Heading the list were the
following nine characteristics: [The complete
After generating a list of more than fifty list may be found in Appendix C.]
elements, which admittedly contained some
duplication and redundancy, conferees worked The globally competent learner:
toward creating a consolidated profile of the
educated person in a global society. Four 1. Is empowered by the experience of global
developmental stages were identified in the education to help make a difference in
process: society.
2. Is committed to global, lifelong learning.
1. Recognition of global systems and their 3. Is aware of diversity, commonalities, and
connectedness, including personal awareness interdependence.
and openness to other cultures, values, and 4. Recognizes the geopolitical and economic
attitudes at home and abroad. interdependence of our world.
2. Intercultural skills and direct experiences. 5. Appreciates the impact of other cultures on
3. General knowledge of history and world American life.
events—politics, economics, geography. 6. Accepts the importance of all peoples.
4. Detailed area studies specialization: expertise 7. Is capable of working in diverse teams.
in another language, culture, country. 8. Understands the nonuniversality of culture,
religion, and values.
The four stages represent a continuum germane 9. Accepts responsibility for global citizenship.
throughout all levels of education; they are not
exclusive to community colleges, or any other4 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
Conferees concluded:
Global competency exists when a
learner is able to understand the
interconnectedness of peoples and
systems, to have a general knowledge of
history and world events, to accept and
cope with the existence of different
cultural values and attitudes and, indeed,
to celebrate the richness and benefits of
this diversity.EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 5
INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE GLOBAL
EDUCATION EFFORTS
• Provide student services—academic advising,
I
f global education is to be embedded in the
very fabric of US community colleges career counseling, instructional support
through a process of systemic change, the services—to promote access to global
starting point is at the governance level, education for all learners.
specifically at the level of the board of trustees.
Effort must be expended to increase trustee
awareness and acceptance of the central place
of global competency for the multiple
constituencies, missions, and goals of the
community college.
Moving to the next level of identifying
institutional requirements for community
colleges to produce globally competent
learners, conference participants recognized the
critical importance of a series of steps to be
taken by community colleges:
• Obtain the commitment of the college’s CEO
and board of trustees.
• Include global education as an integral
component of the institution’s mission
statement to establish it as a priority for the
college and its community.
• Review and revise accreditation criteria to
acknowledge the importance of global
competency.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive
global education program on campus.
• Conduct a needs assessment for local
businesses and others interested in global
education and commerce.
• Allocate resources, including release time, to
faculty for research and development of
curriculum, exchanges, and activities.
• Provide support and incentives for
international initiatives, both on and off
campus.EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 7
THE CURRENT STATUS OF GLOBAL EDUCATION IN US
COMMUNITY COLLEGES
• Community colleges are supporting trade
C
onferees discussed existing efforts in
community colleges to prepare globally missions and are involved in state and
educated citizens, focusing on both regional economic development initiatives.
successful programs and activities and on the • Collaboration with four-year colleges and
perceived limitations within and external to universities is increasing access to study
institutions. The enumeration which follows abroad and other programs for faculty and
points up the significant progress made over the students.
fifteen to twenty years since community • Through conferences and state and regional
colleges began directing their attention to global associations and consortia, community college
education. The list does not reflect a priority educators are sharing global perspective
ranking, nor is it intended to imply that there is courses and modules with other colleges and
a uniform level of activity at community K-12-level colleagues.
colleges nationwide. Bearing these caveats in • There is increasing interest and need for
mind, consider the richness and variety of exporting the concept of community colleges
involvement represented by the list. to other countries—both developing and
developed.
Partnership
• Community colleges are forging closer Faculty Development
connections with local business and industry, • More professional development opportunities
especially multinational companies for whom are available to community college educators.
global competency and comfort with diversity • The importance of faculty study abroad is
are a matter of survival. more readily acknowledged, with institutions
• Community colleges are providing work force giving priority to projects and sabbaticals
training in global skills and long-distance which further enhance curriculum
training to other educational institutions and development.
businesses. • Community colleges are offering faculty
• Economic development projects involving seminars on campus with incentives for
training overseas or at the home campus offer participation.
additional potential for international
experience for US colleges and offer spin-off Curriculum Enhancement
opportunities for faculty and students. • Curriculum development efforts are
• Community colleges have established expanding as many community colleges
international trade centers to help their local infuse East-West and other area studies into
business community deal more successfully in the general education curriculum.
the international marketplace through course • Colleges are offering short- and long-term
work in international trade (import/export) study abroad programs, apprenticeship
and customized training and consulting programs, and specialized integrated
services. programs.8 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
• The importance of global education in lower access to technology, including the Internet and
division offerings has been acknowledged as a distance learning. Student exposure to global
way to reach all students regardless of major. issues has been significantly expanded and
enriched. Finally, many community college
Diversity CEOs and trustees have been more regularly
• Community college mission statements reflect exposed to the real benefits of global education
the importance of diversity and multi- via campus projects, media exposure, reading,
culturalism. the presence of an increasingly diverse student
• Colleges are successfully linking the cultural population, and changing local business needs,
diversity of their campuses with efforts to among others. The process is well underway
expand curricular offerings. Diversity training and gaining momentum nationwide. Global
is providing exposure to other cultures and education has become a reality for local
values. communities.
• Community colleges are making use of their
international and resident ethnic students to
increase awareness of other cultures; e.g.,
through presentations in appropriate college
classes, presentations, and service learning
programs in the schools and for community
organizations, and other vital initiatives.
• Institutions are providing service grants to
international students to help defray the cost
of education.
• Community colleges are reaching out to
diverse populations at home and abroad.
Community colleges are also thriving, due to
their higher profile in the Clinton
administration. This new and welcome
development provides opportunities to both
accelerate and enrich local programs.
Participants also acknowledged that our society
as a whole recognizes the growing need for
global competence at home and abroad. This
recent public awareness has created an
abundance of new learners to be served by
community colleges. Yet another reason for
successful programs and activities is growingEDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 9
RESTRAINING FORCES
• Colleges may face opposition based on the
T
here is a variety of formidable
limitations and obstacles which shortsightedness of uninformed state
community colleges face in their attempt legislators and governing bodies.
to globalize. The process is fraught with • There are those who unwisely position
inhibitors ranging from negative attitudes to community colleges between K-12 and four-
current institutional practices, to obsolete year institutions, not recognizing that there is
priorities, to lack of marketing community a continuum through all levels of education.
college capabilities and potential. Participants
were asked to identify both real and perceived Practices
impediments. They listed the following: • Global education is not an additive; it needs to
be pervasive, with the goal of building global
Attitudes competency throughout the entire academic
• Ethnocentrism remains in our communities. program.
• Many US citizens are monolingual. In fact, • Colleges often underutilize their rich resource
common use of the term “foreign” languages of international students.
reinforces existing negative perceptions about • Colleges sometimes provide insufficient
language study. services for international students.
• There are concerns about community • Study abroad is often Eurocentric, not
perceptions regarding global education; it may sufficiently diversified in terms of destinations
be easier to alter such attitudes in small, rural and targeted participants.
colleges than in their larger urban • An adversarial relationship serves neither the
counterparts. community college nor the four-year
• Many of us do not acknowledge our university sector. Community colleges are
regressive behavior about diversity issues. rarely in a competitive position to be awarded
• Negative perceptions of Americans persist in large federal projects, so it can be
other countries; colleges need to sensitize advantageous to work together in a collective
students to this fact. unit. (This recognizes the reality that agencies
• The perception persists that global education face similar costs to administer large and
is defined as international travel for small projects. Therefore, they favor a smaller
presidents. number of large projects.)
• There is insufficient institutional support for • There are not enough community college
innovation and experimentation. readers/evaluators of grants.
• Entrenched American faculty sometimes resist • Colleges must examine how flexible and
curricular change. adaptive they are. For example, training for
• Where trustee opposition exists, it must be business rarely engages existing college
countered by programs to increase awareness faculty as the trainers.
and provide personal experience. • There are limited training opportunities for
• Some educators have low expectations for community college faculty; too few programs
global education. like the East-West Center have actively
encouraged community college participation.10 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
Priorities • While there remains a perception at the federal
• Not all community college mission statements government level that community colleges
include global education. and universities are the same, community
• The commitment of the CEO and trustees is colleges must approach funding not as an
variable. entitlement but as an unfulfilled, continuing
• The United States has yet to make global task.
education a priority or view it as a profitable • Community colleges do not spend enough
product. time working with legislators to promote
• Colleges need to include global education themselves and their capacities.
priorities in other areas that already receive • It is important to invite the policymakers to
funding besides Title VI. become part of the global education effort.
• Small institutions must reorder priorities; they • There continues to be a need for a more
may not be able to work within existing effective national advocacy role in support of
resources, both human and financial. community colleges.
• Institutions need more faculty with global • Colleges must be able to justify to the
issues expertise. taxpayers the investment in faculty study
• Curricular needs include competency in abroad and presidential travel.
geography; courses in international ethics; a • This question requires our answer: Why help
multicultural awareness program; and international companies when there are
comprehension of foreign government and domestic companies in need?
business practices/geopolitical realities, world • Our communities do not fully understand the
religions, etc. community college global education mission.
• Community colleges are experiencing • The message that community colleges are on
diminishing financial resources precisely the cutting edge of technology needs wider
when more are needed. Colleges need to look dissemination.
beyond the federal government for funding; to
act in entrepreneurial ways to fund projects; to A review of the two lists should lead the reader
work with state, local, and private funders. to the same conclusions as the conferees that
• Colleges also need to better allocate existing many valuable, challenging, and inexpensive
resources, not just focus on the need for new global education activities and programs have
ones. been and continue to be developed. However,
an integrated institution-wide plan is lacking for
Marketing curriculum development, training and
• Community colleges need to educate federal retraining, community outreach, student
and state agencies, as well as non- services, and more. In essence, even in
governmental organizations, about their community colleges where globalization has
capacities and current efforts in the global taken strong root, efforts are frequently
arena. Now is the time to market our fragmented and rarely systemic.
strengths.EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 11
STRATEGIES TO COUNTER THE OBSTACLES TO SYSTEMIC SUPPORT
FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION
importance of global competence. The CEO
C
onferees were quick to acknowledge the
degree, scope, and variety of obstacles can help to establish priorities which support
facing global education efforts. But they global activities and reward those who are
were also optimistic about the effectiveness of moving toward global competence.
strategies listed below to negate or minimize • To counter the perception that there is lack of
such obstructions. Global education is too support for faculty development, institutions
important to delay, too vital to be ignored, and must reexamine existing mechanisms to
too urgent to be frustrated by indifference or provide opportunities and rewards that give
ignorance. priority to the development of global
competency. Existing programs can be
Institutional Policies and Practices retrofitted to this priority: faculty seminars,
• Conferees repeatedly returned to the college’s sabbaticals, opportunities for exchange, tuition
mission statement, universally agreeing that a waivers, release time. Colleges can provide
critical first step is to revise the statement to information resources and assist faculty in
include global education as part of the fiber of identifying professional development
the institution. The next step is to com- opportunities. Colleges can also find ways to
municate the message and the mission both expose faculty to leaders from the global
internally and externally. Both the president community and create opportunities for
and the board of trustees must publicly intellectual and economic regeneration by
articulate global education as a priority. enabling faculty to serve as resources to local
Further, colleges can include global business and industry.
competencies as part of their institutional • Student services are needed to support global
effectiveness plan. efforts—advising, career counseling,
• Community college leaders need to change instructional support services of all kinds.
language and mind-sets from exclusive to Colleges must aim toward building a total
inclusive through in-service programs for environment from admissions through
college faculty and staff, through community program completion which reflects a
service programs on the importance of consistent institutional approach and
globalization, through international issues commitment to global competence.
forums, and by identifying international • It is important to create an atmosphere on
resources that exist in the community campus that fosters the establishment of
(visitors, international students, resident ethnic learning communities which focus on the
communities). To facilitate internal change, a heritage of constituent groups.
commitment to globalization and diversity • Colleges can use the fine and performing arts
must be encouraged for current employees and to expand understanding of other peoples.
made a criterion for hiring new staff. Job • Existing and emerging technologies can be
descriptions, evaluation, and promotion corralled to advance globalization; educators
processes must consistently stress the can identify a host of resources that will help12 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
overcome insularity, provide exposure via the • Local boards may require an individualized
Internet, use distance learning to maximize program to bring each trustee to the next step
access to and to share global expertise among of new awareness and understanding.
educational institutions at all levels. • It is necessary to dispel the myth that limited
• Without diminishing the value of study resources hamper the progress of global
abroad, it is also possible to facilitate change education in community colleges. Institutional
within institutions without sending people and individual commitment is far more
abroad. important. Colleges must learn to leverage
available resources by partnering with others
Public Awareness of Diversity and recognize that although access to financial
• Diversification of American society can resources certainly helps resources of other
encourage us to recognize and embrace many types abound. For example, recognizing that
different views of reality. Colleges should time is a resource, colleges can work toward
make more active use of local media, reallocating faculty work load assignments to
providing publicity for college programs as provide for development of global com-
well as global issues. petency and involvement in international
• Gifts presented to visitors to the college can activity.
take on a global aspect, selecting such items • It is important for community colleges to
as globes or books about local cultures. “solicit customers”; that is, to act entre-
• Colleges can work with community groups, preneurially, to form partnerships outside of
encouraging them to meet around the district education with those working in economic
in areas they may not be familiar with in order development and work force preparation.
to make people more aware of the Once colleges determine their needs through a
international nature of their community. local global audit, they can market specialized
• Efforts must be made to encourage training and services. College CEOs and
accreditation teams to focus on global trustees must maintain regular interaction with
competence. Colleges can also work to revise local business and industry, keeping these
articulation agreements to reflect globalization communities informed through publications
throughout K-16 curriculum. and electronic and print media.
• Community college educators must make the
attainment of global competence a national Advocacy
priority for the American Association of • Community college global educators must
Community Colleges (AACC), the find ways to combat the inherent
Association of Community College Trustees ethnocentrism of our communities,
(ACCT), the US Department of Education, unconvinced administrators and trustees,
and other agencies and organizations at the linear thinking, the long-time prejudice
national level. against community college involvement in
global education, the failure of leaders to seeEDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 13 global education as a means toward building organizations are substantially ahead of community, the disinterest of students, and the community colleges in global efforts—by view that there is only limited good to be necessity. Community colleges need to learn found in this pursuit. from them, listen to their needs, involve them • For real systemic change to occur, the in advisory committees, and take the first step community college must be involved at all toward involving this source of talent and levels of educational change and reform; they expertise. must claim a rightful space for community • It would be foolish and unrealistic to ignore colleges within the broad spectrum of the the fear factor. Change, conflict, and risk turn educational system. people back toward the status quo. Successful • Linkages can be formed using local task programs are contagious. Colleges need to forces to make global competence a share their experiences and support one measurable outcome for students. another. They need to be comfortable with • Community college educators must also make and even celebrate failure, as they reward global education a priority for their fellow change, innovation, and integration. presidents, boards, and state boards of Overcoming the fear is a development to be education. celebrated in its own right. • Following that, the next step is to convince government leaders and legislators by the use of political/economic interest studies to document impact of global education on the community. These are effective tools to market the benefits of international activity to both internal and external constituents; there is little to refute the employability of the globally competent. Preparedness for Change • Colleges must not lose sight of the competitive edge. If community colleges do not provide the training and services needed in a global society, others will. Industry and other public and private training organisms are already positioned to fill the gap. • Changes are well underway in the corporate world, changes in infrastructure which require increased sensitivity and cultural awareness. In many ways, industry and nongovernmental
EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 15
STRATEGIES FOR INSTITUTIONS SEEKING TO BEGIN OR EXPAND
GLOBALIZATION EFFORTS
consortia to gain access to programs already
C
onferees approached their deliberations
knowing full well that US community established for community colleges.
colleges find themselves at every stage
along the spectrum of globalization. While Student and Faculty Involvement
some institutions have yet to begin the process, • Identify faculty who are interested and willing
others have taken the first steps or are fairly to be involved.
advanced in their efforts but seek, nonetheless, • Designate a coordinator of efforts for
to move those efforts to an even higher level. international and intercultural programs, with
Bearing in mind this extent of variation, a central, visible location on campus to
conference participants decided to recommend facilitate the internal dissemination of
a compendium of strategies from which information about programs and opportunities.
community colleges at any stage of The coordinator should report directly or
development may select. In addition, they indirectly to the president.
suggest measures which community colleges • Work toward extensive grass roots level
may take collectively to advance the global involvement in global education initiatives
education agenda beyond their own campuses. across the institution to provide a broad base
of support for the coordinator.
Strategies identified by participants pertained to • Establish a college-wide committee to help
six general areas: coordination of efforts, develop and implement initiatives.
student and faculty involvement, active • Develop a well coordinated, international
community participation, commitment, student program using these students as
technology, and financial resources. Readers are resources for area expertise.
cautioned to recognize that this list is not linear; • Seek faculty development opportunities (e.g.,
there is no universal first step. Rather, all the East-West Center, National Endowment
factors work in concert in the development and for the Humanities seminars, Fulbright
sustainability of a viable program. programs, Rotary fellowships, in-house or
local area seminars on language and culture).
Coordination Recognize the multiplier effect for students
• Identify appropriate personnel to manage when faculty gain global expertise.
internal and external programs and grant- • Participate in the ACIIE, Community Colleges
funded activities. for International Development (CCID), and
• Recognize the need for a variety of programs other global education organization
to draw a critical mass of participation. conferences for information on model
• Inventory library holdings to expand programs and funding opportunities.
awareness of existing resources and identify • Enhance communication about global efforts
gaps needing to be filled in order to support through internal newsletters, brown bag
curriculum development. lunches, inviting staff and faculty to share
• Join state or regional associations and what they have gained through seminar and16 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
conference attendance, participation in work with/through them to create a mission
exchanges, specialized study, etc. statement that includes global education.
• Seek ways to involve more faculty,
particularly in vocational and technical fields, Technology
and maintain support for those who have • Utilize information technology, including
already become involved. distance learning and teleconferencing,
• Invite consultants from other colleges to work Internet e-mail, and the World Wide Web.
with administrators, faculty, and staff (both • Reconceptualize the way languages are taught
CCID and ACIIE provide referrals to to take into account new technologies and to
consultants). strengthen the link between culture and
• Encourage bilingualism for all members of the language.
college community.
Financial Resources
Active Community Participation • Seek grant funding to help support global
• Conduct an inventory/audit of resources and initiatives.
needs of the institution and its community. Be • Initiate a line item in the college budget for
sure to include students, college personnel, international programs.
and the lay community as potential global • Work with state and local funding sources to
education resources. legitimize use of resources to support global
• Use statements from AACC and ACCT education initiatives.
recognizing the importance of global
education to support local efforts.
• Establish links with business and industry and
seek their support and involvement in the
program.
• Establish links with local ethnic groups and
community organizations such as Sister Cities,
Rotary, chambers of commerce, and trade
associations.
• Identify and consult with potential customers
for programs under consideration.
Commitment
• Secure the commitment of the CEO and the
academic vice president to include global
efforts in the institution’s effectiveness plan.
• Seek the support of the board of trustees andEDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 17
ADVANCING GLOBAL EDUCATION BEYOND THE COMMUNITY
COLLEGE CAMPUS
Community colleges can also work toward the
C
onferees agreed that while much can and
must be done at the level of individual inclusion of global competence in the
institutions and their communities, there accreditation standards which govern their
remains a substantial need to inform, educate, operations:
and influence the policymakers in federal and
state governments and within public and private • Community college leaders can have an
associations and organizations. This collective impact on the newly formed Council for
effort is best accomplished through a unified Higher Education Accreditation to gain a
approach which involves all relevant formal place for global competence in
organizations: AACC, ACCT, ACIIE, CCID. evaluation criteria.
• Appropriate community college leaders should
At the federal level, opportunities and also make formal presentations on the subject
challenges to action were noted in a variety of at meetings of the national and regional
areas: accrediting associations.
• Immediate input is needed to support the At the state level, a number of directions were
Higher Education Act currently up for identified for concerted effort:
reauthorization.
• Community college representatives can testify • Community college leaders can suggest the
at the reauthorization hearings scheduled writing (or rewriting) of the enabling
around the country and in Washington, DC. legislation for community colleges to include
• A statement from AACC, ACCT, ACIIE, and global education as one of the missions. (An
CCID on the importance of global organization such as ACIIE might produce
competency for community colleges should be boilerplate documents for this purpose.)
sent to the Department of Education for • Trustees can facilitate state funding for global
inclusion in their international education education through their state organizations and
policy statement currently under revision. by working one on one with legislators from
• Community colleges should develop a their own districts.
saturation strategy, encouraging community • Community colleges can work to be included
college internships in federal agencies. on the agenda of the National Governors
• Community colleges can play a role in federal Association and the National Council of State
agency round tables to share information on Legislatures/Legislators.
their global initiatives. • Proponents of global education must work
• Networking efforts with representatives of with state vocational education directors.
federal agencies should continue and be • Presidents and trustees can work within their
expanded. state associations to network for global
education (as well as with their own campus
foundations as potential sources of funding).18 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Community college leadership can make an effective case for global competence with the general public. Suggested approaches include the following: • Cable TV public service announcements. • ACIIE might develop a thirty- or sixty-second video on the topic which could be customized by individual member institutions to use in their local market. • ACIIE and AACC should work with the National Council on Marketing and Public Relations (an AACC affiliate council) to develop effective marketing strategies. • AACC and ACIIE should compile statistical and anecdotal information on the positive and forceful impact of global education on employment. • There should be a national campaign on educating the global citizen, perhaps a full page ad in The Wall Street Journal secured with corporate sponsorship. • We can capitalize on the national emphasis on work force development, reaching major companies to support community colleges at the national and local levels. Finally, several other directions for funding outreach were targeted: • Private and corporate foundations. (Luce, Ford, and Rockefeller Foundations were used as examples of funding sources for global initiatives.) • Student organizations such as local and national Phi Theta Kappa associations, campus honors students associations, and vocational associations.
EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 19
SUMMARY
T
he task to globalize a community college
is an imperative, obstacle-laced, time-
consuming enterprise. And yet, the
rewards and benefits can be enormous to
students, faculty, administrators, trustees, and
the community. As global learners experience
personal added value, those individuals
responsible for providing global education
strengthen their own effectiveness and that of
their institution and community.
Global education is now recognized as a
dominant component of meaningful, futuristic,
and applicable education. We can provide our
learners with nothing more valuable than
quality, comprehensive, global education. It’s a
worthy service to them and to their community,
college, nation, and world.20 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
PARTICIPANTS
John T. Blong, Chancellor, Eastern Iowa Marijane Axtell Paulsen, President, Pikes
Community College District Peak Community College
Elizabeth Buck, Codirector, Asian Studies Judith A. Redwine, President, Black Hawk
Development Program, East-West Center College
Hiram Larew, Science and Technology Policy Cynthia Reed, Director of Governmental and
Specialist, US Agency for International International Relations, Austin Community
Development College
Margaret B. Lee, President, Oakton David A. Sam, Dean, The University of Akron
Community College Community and Technical College
Robert Ludwiczak, Assistant to the President, Lydia Santibañez, Board Member, Association
Brevard Community College/Community of Community College Trustees, and Trustee,
Colleges for International Development, Inc. Temple College
James Mahoney, Director of Academic, Richard Stanley, President, The Stanley
Student and International Services, American Foundation
Association of Community Colleges
Ray Taylor, President/CEO, Association of
Montez Martin, Chairman, Association of Community College Trustees
Community College Trustees, and Trustee,
Trident Technical College Dean P. VanTrease, Chairman, American
Council on International Intercultural
Donald Matthews, Director of Resource Education, and President, Tulsa Community
Development, Daytona Beach Community College
College
Sim Wignall, Assistant Principal, Bilston
John E. McGee, President, St. Clair College of Community College
Applied Arts and Technology
Joan Winship, Vice President of Outreach, The
Carolyn Mewhorter, Director of International Stanley Foundation
Education, Fox Valley Technical College
Jacqueline E. Woods, Liaison for Community
Valeriana Moeller, President, Columbus State Colleges, US Department of Education
Community CollegeEDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 21 Facilitator Michael Murphy, President, College of DuPage Rapporteurs Linda A. Korbel, Executive Director, American Council on International Intercultural Education Jack Smith, Senior Program Officer, The Stanley Foundation Observers Audree Chase, Coordinator of International Services, American Association of Community Colleges Pete Kellams, Professor, St. Louis Community College Mary Soley, Deputy Director, Access: An International Affairs Information Service Laura Walker, Director, International Language Center, Tulsa Community College Acknowledgments Jessica Lane, Conference Assistant, The Stanley Foundation
Educating for the Global Getting Concrete... Community college leaders and representatives of government agencies met to get more specific about how to support effective global education in community colleges. They identified attributes of a globally competent learner and institutional requirements to produce such learners.
Community: A Framework for Community Colleges
EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 25
Appendix A
WELCOMING ADDRESS
by Richard H. Stanley, President both shape human activity and, in turn, are
The Stanley Foundation impacted by that human activity. Humans are
embedded as working parts of the global
ecology.
I
n this latter part of the twentieth century, we
are participants in a tide change in the
world. We are experiencing a phenomenon In addition, the globally competent need a good
that I call the globalization of nearly everything. understanding of peace and conflict resolution.
And I am excited that community colleges are We must be able to get along when we disagree
playing an increasingly important role in and work things out when we differ, without
developing necessary global competency resorting to force or violence. Finally, there
among their students, faculty, administrators, must be a sense of the continuing fact of
trustees, and communities. I find little change, the possibility of alternative futures,
disagreement these days about the central and the role that we humans can play in helping
importance of this role for community colleges. to shape the future for ourselves and our
descendants.
Now, it is time to move discussions to the next
level. We talk about global competency, about I hope that our conversation here this weekend
the need for our students, communities, and in Virginia will move us toward a better
world to be able to work and interact more understanding of what constitutes a globally
effectively and peaceably. But, what are those competent learner.
needed competencies?
We will also benefit from exploring what
Two years ago when we met here at Airlie, we community colleges can do to build that global
described global competency as including a competency among their students and in their
sense of global interconnectedness and communities. What programs and activities
interdependence. We talked about the work best? How can global competency be
importance of an appreciation for human infused into classes and extracurricular work?
diversity. Our survival in this shrinking world What characterizes a community college that is
requires that we cherish and celebrate this providing a comprehensive, effective global
diversity and, yet at the same time, affirm and education program? What new initiatives are
strengthen our commonality as human beings. needed? Questions such as these merit our best
Graduates of our community colleges, indeed thinking and response.
all of us, need to be able to participate
effectively in our increasingly multiethnic and I hope that our discoveries here at Airlie will
multicultural work force. add impetus to an already energetic and lively
community college program across the country.
We also talked about the need to understand and Our task is to accept the challenge of
respect environmental and resource systems and discovering together how to better build global
constraints. Environmental and resource factors competency.EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 27
Appendix B
ABOUT CONNECTEDNESS, COMMUNITY, AND STARDUST
by Margaret B. Lee, President shared by all human beings who inhabit this
Oakton Community College planet. It is good for us to remember these:
• We all share the same life cycle: we are born;
T
hank you for inviting me to be a part of
this second conference cosponsored by we grow; we die.
the Stanley Foundation and the • We all use symbols and make meaning
American Council on International Intercultural through the language we use to communicate
Education. I am honored by the invitation and with each other.
humbled to be standing in the place where • We all respond to the aesthetic, and our souls
Ernest Boyer stood at the beginning of the first are stirred by beauty.
of these conferences two years ago. He has • We all have the unique capacity to locate
been for me and for many others a mentor in his ourselves in time and space; we alone of all
commitment to the role of education in building beings can recall the past and anticipate the
the human community. future.
• We are all members of groups and institutions;
My role today is, in part, to focus on we are not meant to live our lives alone.
connectedness and to explore from another • We all are producers and consumers; work is a
perspective the significance of the idea of the part of who we are.
human community. Both connectedness and • We are all connected to nature.
community were beacons for Boyer in his life • We all search for meaning.
and in his work. I want to connect the work of
Airlie I and our work in Airlie II. I want to Before his death which left us bereft of his
establish a context that will provide the largest wisdom and vision, Boyer translated these
frame possible for the big questions we will commonalities into an idea for a curriculum that
think about together: How do we define a would go beyond measurable objectives and the
globally competent student, and what is artificial boundaries of set time and Carnegie
required institutionally of community colleges units, of disciplines and departments. He
to educate such a student? As we listen to and believed that such a curriculum should be
speak with each other, we will develop some embraced by K-12 as well as college and
answers and undoubtedly raise many more university levels.
questions.
In broad outlines, the common learning he
I want to begin with the big question: Why is it proposed would be structured and developed
so important that we gather here, at this time, to around the following integrative themes or
build a framework for educating for the global strands. (I am paraphrasing these after listening
community? Ernest Boyer answered this to one of Boyer’s last public presentations. I
question by describing the commonalities believe it was made to the American Society for
Curriculum Development.) Boyer elaborated on
the themes he had first proposed fifteen years28 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
earlier, describing general education in the means to be globally competent at this time, in
undergraduate curriculum in A Quest for this place, and for our future as we approach a
Common Learning. I think it is significant that new millennium.
he also proposed that they form the basis for the
K-12 as well as the college and university Let me share with you how I began to awaken
curriculum. These integrative themes are: to what this means for us. I have a fourteen-
year-old son who is a member of the class of
• The cycle of life and the mystery of existence. the year 2000. This past summer, he started his
• The use of symbols—including words, freshman year a little early with an honors
numbers, and the responsibility of honest, Biology class. His teacher was wonderful, good
accurate use of all language. humored, truly a person who cared for the earth
• The role of the aesthetic and the human need and was acutely conscious of the unique place
and capacity to respond to beauty in its myriad of each individual in the community of life—
forms and cultural manifestations. the profile of an exemplary teacher—of Biology
• The connectedness of ourselves with others in or anything else. This care and consciousness
time and space and an exploration of our past were evident in the assignments he gave to the
and an imagination of our future. class.
• The nature of the social webs in which human
life exists and evolves in institutions from the One night’s assignment was to read the story of
family to other groups and organizations, putting the pieces of the DNA puzzle together
including governments. in The Double Helix. Other assignments over
• The place of work and the role of human several nights included a collection of essays by
beings as producers, consumers, and Edward O. Wilson on The Diversity of Life and
conservers of the goods of this earth. Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac.
• The relationship of human beings to the Reading the assignments with my son, I came
planet, as Lewis Thomas suggested, “In which to a new appreciation of the incredible
we are embedded as working parts.” biodiversity of our planet. I learned that
• The importance of shared values and beliefs in scientists haven’t even begun to be able to
our search for the larger purpose in our approximate the number of species which live
lives—which we need in order to find and on the earth. Consider this: in a gram of
make meaning. ordinary soil, in one millionth of a pinch of soil,
as many as l0 to l0,000 colonies of
A curriculum like this, so conceived and bacteria can grow. A Norwegian research group
implemented, would take us a long way toward found between 4,000 to 5,000 bacterial species
the connectedness essential in our quest to in a single gram of beech forest soil.
educate globally competent citizens. But I want
to suggest that the challenge before us is even I got pretty interested in DNA and dirt. (I
greater than we have yet begun to imagine. We remembered that when I studied Biology in
need to expand our understanding of what it high school—it was before DNA was in theEDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY 29
textbooks. By the time I studied it in college so the human mind and spirit have also been
about four years later, it was a brand new story.) taking shape over those millions of years.
In my son’s Biology course, I discovered yet
another story and some extraordinary If your mind is boggled, as mine is, by the
connections. Listen to this from William billions numbers, other scientists have come to
Logan’s book, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the our rescue. Think of it this way. Take the most
Earth: recent five billion years—the time during which
our earth has emerged in the universe. We are
We don’t know the first thing about dirt. We among the youngest. If those five billion years
don’t even know where it comes from. All we were compressed into a period of twelve
can say is that it doesn’t come from here. Our months, the time required for the molten gases
own sun is too young and cool to manufacture (which still burn in the core of the earth) to
any element heavier than helium…number two evaporate and become the ocean (the source of
on the periodic table, leaving some ninety all life forms) is equivalent to the first eight
elements on earth that were not even made in months. It took eight months to create the
our solar system. Uranium and plutonium, the conditions which allowed the crust of the earth
heaviest elements that occur in nature, can be to cool, the oceans to form, the continents to
forged only in an exploding star, a supernova. take shape, the amino acids to structure
Everything is stardust. themselves, and life as we know it to begin to
unfold. It is only during the last four months we
So what about DNA? There’s a cosmic have come from the beginnings of life to where
connection. Not long after my son started his we are today. We humans have been around for
Biology course, my friend and former high about the last half hour. And where will we go
school English teacher came to visit us for a from here?
few weeks. She shared with me one of her
favorite current readings, Thomas Berry’s The We are living in a time when we need to listen
Dream of the Earth. Berry tells a new story of to and learn this new story about ourselves and
the universe, connecting our human identity to our connection to the universe. We have moved
the process of the evolving universe. In this beyond the ages of geological and biological
story, our human home—the earth—has time to the present human time. We have
(through the human species) awakened and fashioned the eye of the Hubble telescope, sent
become conscious. The earth, according to it into space, and through it we have been able
Berry, is the only biospiritual planet we know. to look back through space and time to the birth
And we are the biospiritual beings who inhabit of the stars. We have discovered how to step
it. We are the universe, thinking about itself. away from our planet home; look on it from
Just as the human body took its shape through afar; and see its uniqueness in the solar system
some fourteen or fifteen billion years of effort in which it is set.
on the part of the universe and through some
four and a half billion years of earth existence,30 EDUCATING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
In the four months of this compressed five the space station orbiting above the earth—via
billion year evolution, life on this earth has e-mail.) What separates us today are barriers of
unfolded into ever greater genetic complexity. language, culture, and understanding, no longer
Some have suggested that this unfolding is the time and space. We have to begin to imagine
earth expressing itself through more and more new possibilities for international and
complex forms of life. The earth has learned to intercultural education.
breathe, to see, to hear, to reproduce itself, to
nourish, and to heal—all before we humans One of the most compelling images of the
arrived. In the last half hour, we have caused a immensity and diversity which confronts us in
shift in earth/human relations: the earth that our task of educating the globally competent
used to control itself perfectly, now, to an student is one which many of you have
extensive degree controls itself through us. probably seen in at least some version. Think of
this:
We have an immense responsibility to care for
this earth, to collaborate as a human If the world’s population were represented by a
community. We need to learn to think of village of 100 people, it would consist of fifty-
ourselves not as ethnic, cultural, national, or six Asians, twenty-one Europeans, nine
language groups but as a human species among Africans, eight South Americans, and six North
other species. This is the primary responsibility Americans. Thirty of the people would be
of globally competent citizens, and it is critical Christian, seventeen Moslem, thirteen Hindu,
to our survival—as a species, as a planet, and five Buddhist, five Animist, nine miscellaneous,
for the universe. The water we drink, the air we and twenty-one without religion. Of the 100
breathe, the food we eat here and half a world people, six would control half the total income,
away depends on decisions and actions of the fifty would be hungry, sixty would live in
few for the many. shanty towns, and seventy would be illiterate.
I think it must have been about ten years ago And think of how information floods our global
that Ernest Boyer suggested that although the neighborhood. The sum total of what there is to
world may not yet be a global village, we must know doubled from 1750 to 1900. The pace
“expand our sense of neighborhood” and “learn picked up in the twentieth century. Since 1965,
to act more like citizens of an increasingly what there is to know has doubled every five
interdependent planet.” Today technology has years. In the next five years there will be more
just about transformed our world into that stuff to learn than in the last 2,000 years. By
global village, bridging the boundaries once 2020 what there is to know will double every
created by time and space. Today the world is seventy-three days.
1/600th of a millisecond in diameter on the
Internet. (And don’t forget that Shannon Lucid Combine that set of projections with Moore’s
kept in touch with NASA and her family from Law, which describes how computing power
doubles every eighteen months. You can buy aYou can also read
