An increasingly popular theme of many education and training programmes around the world is equipping people, particularly graduates, with the skills and competencies to live and work in a global society. This can be seen in school-based initiatives worldwide, in university courses, and in professional training courses within companies and businesses. Whilst the evidence for the popularity of this theme can be seen predominantly in Western and historically more industrialised countries, the promotion of such terms as 21st Century skills, global competencies, and skills to be a global citizen are also seen in the international policy initiatives of bodies such as UNESCO, OECD and the World Bank.
But what is meant by these terms, how they are being interpreted, and the extent to which they address the skills that people need to live and work in the complex globalised world of todayâthese questions have rarely been addressed. This volume aims to make a contribution to answering these questions.
Skills are increasingly referred to in international policy documents and frameworks (UNDP 2016; UNESCO 2012; OECD 2017) and there is an ongoing debate in many countries as to whether the focus of the school curriculum , for example, should be knowledge or skills based. Some of these debates have been linked to the extent to which the economy and society is high or low income. With the assumption that many leading industrialised countries of the twentieth century are now in a post-industrial economy, there is a concomitant assumption of the need to emphasise âthe knowledge-based societyâ. Skills are therefore seen as a greater priority in lower income countries and those undergoing major industrial expansion.
There are many different interpretations of what is meant by skills, and there is considerable debate as to the relative importance of cognitive versus emotional skills. But what most interpretations would accept as a starting point for a definition is that the term is associated with abilities and capabilities to carry out activities. Within this broad interpretation there is often reference to competence, ability to carry out tasks, or skills related to specific technical or craft-based forms of employment . Increasingly however the term is also seen as being about broader themes related to working with people, and social skills such as co-operation, empathy, trust and respect.
There is also increasing use of the term âcompetenciesâ, often used interchangeably with âskillsâ. Discussions on skills and competencies are frequently framed, and as a consequence also critiqued, as reflections of the dominance of neo-liberalism and an emphasis on individualisation, performance, assessment and the needs of the market. Whilst I accept that these terms are often linked to neo-liberal viewpoints, there is a danger of ignoring other interpretations and usages. Skills are not just about technical efficiency. They are also about social forms of interaction, ability to understand and make sense of the world around us.
This volume suggests that skills are important for all societies and economies, but precisely what they are and how they are developed needs to be linked to a recognition of the forces of globalisation. With the drive towards a more âknowledge basedâ society in higher income countries, the importance of skills can often be lost. Their relevance goes beyond the needs of employment , to include all aspects of society.
I consciously focus here on professions. The role of professions, their training and relationship to the changing needs of economies and societies pose major questions about skills in an era of globalisation. Professions have also historically been locations of expertise, with some form of regulation and external verification, providing a broader public service (Eraut 1994). Training for professions has become increasingly related to degree programmes and this is why much of the discussion on the four specific professions featured in this volume, namely business management, teaching, engineering and health, is linked to higher education courses. This is where some of the debates have taken place about the need for the professions to think beyond narrow and specifically technical skills and to include consideration of broader social and cultural needs. The challenge, as this volume will suggest, is to encourage professions to have a broader social and global outlook that whilst recognising the importance of technical skills, includes broader interdisciplinary and social skills.
This volume outlines a rationale for why the concept of global skills is important in the globalised world of today and recognises particularly the social, economic and cultural impacts of recent political events in Europe and North America. It uses evidence gathered from literature primarily from Europe, North America and the AsiaâPacific region and from within the Development Education Research Centre at UCL-Institute of Education in the UK. It outlines examples of practice that have demonstrated different ways of interpreting the concept of global skills and how these can be used in a range of education and training programmes for professions. Particularly valuable to developing much of the thinking in this volume have been the observations and work of students on our Masterâs programme on Development Education and Global Learning.
The rest of this introduction now looks at the evolution of my thoughts on global skills and where they relate to my broader work around development education and global learning âwhich I see as a distinctive pedagogical approach to learning about global and international development issues, influenced by the ideas of Paulo Freire . Reference is made to several interventions I have made on global skills themes, relating them to other initiatives in the field of development education and global learning. I conclude this introductory chapter with a rationale for a new pedagogical approach to global skills.
Global Skills and Influences from Development Education
In the field of development education and global learning there are passing references to global skills, but the focus has tended to be on the competencies teachers need, or in guidelines for the school curriculum (Asia Society 2018; Oxfam 2016).
Where there has been a great deal of activity has been in the promotion of the term âglobal citizenshipâ, which has been covered well in other publications (Davies et al. 2018; Tarozzi and Torres 2016; Torres 2017; Dill 2013; Oxley and Morris 2013; Gaudelli 2017). What is relevant here, drawing on debates in this area, are the following:
- recognition of the different interpretations of the term global citizenship with a knowledge, skills or values-based focus;
- linkage between learning and forms of action, with the emphasis on citizenship;
- the extent to which the term has been taken up by policymakers, most notably UNESCO , in terms of encouraging a more global outlook and a sense of global social responsibility.
These themes have been integrated into discussions on skills such as critical thinking, active engagement in society, lobbying decision-makers and developing and promoting a global outlook or mindset. Examples can be seen in the educational work of the international NGO Oxfam, which has an innovative educational programme on the theme of global citizenship; and in the Council of Europeâs North-South Centre training courses on global education.
The Global Citizenship Educational Framework outlined by Oxfam UK refers specifically to the following global skills:
critical and creative thinking, empathy, self-awareness and reflection, communication, cooperation and conflict resolution, ability to manage complexity and uncertainty, informed and reflective action . (Oxfam 2016)
Whilst this framework is aimed mainly at the school curriculum in the U.K., these concepts, as will be shown in later chapters, are common in a number of interpretations of global skills. This framework is important for two reasons. Firstly, the inclusion of informed action demonstrates the linkages to broader discourses and practices around citizenship. Secondly, the framework has had considerable influence on educational practice in Europe. An example of this is the Schools for Future Youth Project involving NGOs in four European countries that includes youth led citizenship activities.1
The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe plays a leading role in the promotion of Global Education in Europe, and their Handbook for Global Education identifies the following skills:
critical thinking and analysis, changing perspectives or multi-perspective approach...