The Globally Competent Teaching
Continuum:
A Self-Reflection Tool for Professional
Growth
Ariel Tichnor-Wagner
Jessie Montana Cain
Jocelyn Glazier, PhD
Hillary Parkhouse
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
We thank the Longview Foundation for supporting this work and the contributions of our partners
Learn NC and World View
Goals
• Define global competence and its importance
• Introduction to the Globally Competent Teaching
Continuum (GCTC)
– Development
– Who should use it
– How to use it
• Practice using the GCTC
• Q&A
What is global competence?
Global Competence
“The knowledge and skills individuals need
to be successful in today’s flat,
interconnected world and to be fully
engaged in and act on issues of global
significance” (US Department of Education,
2012, p. 5)
Global Competence
Cultural perspectives
Global conditions and
current events
Interconnectedness
of the world
Knowledge
Valuing and
understanding
multiple
perspectives
Intercultural
communication
Skills
International
partnerships
Capacity to act on
global issues
Dispositions
Empathy
openmindedness
Why should K-12 educators
develop global
competencies?
Globalization!
•
•
•
•
Global classrooms
Global communities
Global economy
Increased access to informational and
communication technologies
The Globally Competent Teaching
Continuum (GCTC)
• Purpose: Increase educators’ ability to
develop global competencies in themselves
and their students through self-reflection
• Scope: Interactive, web-based continuum
with linked resources (available through
Learn NC)
– 12 global competency elements (dispositions, knowledge,
and skills)
– 5 developmental stages for each element
– Links to lesson plans, exemplary teacher videos, classroom
vignettes, online and print resources, and more!
Intended Use: SelfReflection
Classroom teachers
–support student global competency development,
outline personal professional development plans
Teacher educators
–Support teacher global competency, reflect on
institutional capacity to support pre-service and inservice teachers’ global competency development
School administrators
–Support teacher and student global competency,
develop school resources and professional
development opportunities, determine school-wide
missions, programs, and projects
GCTC Development and Validation
STAGE 1: Define global competence, identify elements, and construct continuum
 Systematic literature review (81 articles, 9 books, 8 organizations)
 Initial feedback and pilot (n = 47)
STAGE 2: Evaluate GCTC
 Expert review (n = 4)
 Teacher educator review (n = 13)
 Pilot test (development sample; n = 111)
 Focus group (n = 4)
STAGE 3: Revise GCTC
 Inservice teacher cognitive interviews (n = 9)
 Expert review (n = 4)
STAGE 4: Evaluate GCTC

Pilot test (validation sample)
Dispositions
• Empathy and valuing multiple
perspectives
• Commitment to promoting equity
worldwide
Knowledge
• Understanding global conditions and
current events
• Understanding the ways in which the
world is interconnected
• Experiential knowledge of multiple
cultures
• Understanding intercultural
communication
Skills
• Communicate in multiple languages
• Create a classroom environment that values diversity
and global engagement
• Integrate learning experiences for students that
promote content aligned explorations of the world
• Facilitate intercultural and international conversation
that promote active listening, critical thinking, and
perspective recognition
• Develop local, national, and global partnerships that
provide real world contexts for global learning
• Develop and use appropriate methods of inquiry to
assess students’ global competence development
How to Use the GCTC
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/glob
al-continuum/
1)Reflect and rate yourself
2)Find resources
3)Take action
The GCTC In Practice:
Element 1 – Valuing Multiple
Perspectives
1. What level do I rate myself as? Why?
2. What ideas could I incorporate into my
classroom instruction/school
community to improve in this area?
3. What resources could I use to do so?
The GCTC In Practice:
Element 3 – Understanding of
Global Conditions and Current
Events
1. What level do I rate myself as? Why?
2. What ideas could I incorporate into my
classroom instruction/school
community to improve in this area?
3. What resources could I use to do so?
The GCTC In Practice:
Element 9 – Integrate learning
experiences that promote contentaligned investigations of the world
1. What level do I rate myself as? Why?
2. What ideas could I incorporate into my
classroom instruction/school
community to improve in this area?
3. What resources could I use to do so?
How do you envision using the GCTC in
your professional context?
What action steps will you take next to
further develop your globally competent
teaching practices?
Thank you!
GCTC Online User-Guide
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/globalcontinuum/
***
For more information email
arielt@live.unc.edu