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Maria, 55 years old, teaches in a Portuguese primary school in a small town. Her current students are very multilingual and multicultural, quite different from those she had at the beginning of her career. One day Matilde tells her that she does not understand why her friend Fatima just started wearing a veil and that she had heard that the Mayor of the town had forbidden the building of a mosque.

Matilde: Why?

Maria did not know what to say when Matilde asked her why. Maria is also in doubt about the school’s cell-phone policy: she has forbidden the children to use it, but then she sees her students using their cell-phones in interesting ways. During rest-time, Uiara uses whatsapp to communicate with her cousins in Brazil, Alice watches tutorials from Japan to make paper-flowers and Daniel teach Portuguese to the newly-arrived student Boh using google translate.

Uiara: I can communicate with my cousin

Daniel (in portuguese): House

During a teacher meeting, Maria says: “I’ve been teaching for 30 years and I feel that now students have new skills and different needs in order to become competent citizens in such a changing and complex society. Something should change in our way of teaching”.

Maria: Something should change in our way of teaching.

To innovate their teaching when dealing with children like Fatima, Alice, Daniel and Boh, Maria and other teachers from all over the world, include “the development of Global Competence” in the curriculum.

Global competence is the ability to investigate the world, to recognize different perspectives, to communicate ideas and to take action to change the world.

Children acquire global competence when they learn:

... to develop critical thinking about current issues, such as migration or environmental problems

Mohamed: Global competence is a serious problem

… to learn from different sources, like books, the internet and the newspapers

Francis: It is important to be informed.

… to make a good use of Innovative Communication Technologies such as smartphones

Uiara: It is important to keep in touch with friends and relatives.

… to be careful about the way they express their ideas and to respect people with different cultural beliefs and behaviors…

Marie: Every culture has the same value!

… to solve problems and take action!

All children together: We can try to think and solve problems.

Education for Global competence goes far beyond your classroom. You can start in your classroom, then involve your school and community in small changes. Local changes can have a big impact on the world!