Global Competencies and the Common Core

I attended a session at the 2012 ASCD Annual Conference early on Saturday morning entitled Common Core and Curriculum 21: Global Competency in Literacy, Math, and Science.  The session was facilitated by an organization called Facing the Future.  As we move to the Common Core it is crucial that we sustain a renewed focus on engaging students using global issues across multiple disciplines to keep them hooked and in position for achievement.  Some great resources were initially shared that can assist educators and schools develop a 21st Century curriculum while integrating elements of the Common Core Standards.  They included:

• Curriculum 21
• CCSSO
• Common CoreState Initiative
• EdSteps (be sure to check out their Global Competence Matrix)
• Asia Society (global understandings)
• Facing the Future (support all of the other organizations listed above).

So how did we get here?  The presenter discussed how many elements of the 21st Century Skills movement influenced the development of the Common Core Standards.  He referenced Tony Wagner's  Survival Skills for the 21stCentury that include:

• critical thinking and problem solving
• leading by influence and collaboration across networks
• agility and adaptability
• initiative and entrepreneurialism
•  curiosity and imagination
•  accessing and analyzing info
• effective oral and written communication skills

An overview of the work done by Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Curriculum 21 was then discussed.  She contends that a curriculum for the 21st Century should:

• Ask the question for what year are we preparing our students.
• Be upgraded with more engaging selections.
• Demonstrate learning with products and performances that match our times.
• Be a model for growth, not a model for change. 

It is important to note that we must have a firm understanding of what global competencies are and how they are defined by the Common Core Standards if we are to successfully integrate them into lessons.  Global competence is defined as the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.  We must cultivate learning environments that allow students to demonstrate knowledge and apply skills that:

• investigate the world
• recognize perspectives
• communicate ideas
• take action

Now the task becomes developing learning activities and curricula that support 21st Century Skills while addressing the Common Core.  Facing the Future has a nice Standards Correlation tool that allows educators to align curriculum to the Common Core, state resources, and other national standards.  Download free curricular resources HERE. 

How are you preparing for the Common Core while also addressing the needs of today's learners aligned with societal demands and expectations?