California Community College Association for Occupational Education (CCCAOE) hosted its 2016 Fall Conference in the resort city of Palm Springs bringing together State and Regional Deputy Sector Navigators (DSNs), Technical Assistant Providers (TAPs), CCCCO Directors and Managers, Community College Consortia, Deans, Faculty, Counselors, Workforce Development Board Directors, and Economic Development agencies under the roof of the Omni Ranchos Las Palmas Resort. Skyline College’s Global Learning Programs DSN for Global Trade and Logistics (GTL), Yvonne Reid, not only convened with state and regional leaders to discuss CTE: Your Key to Equity & Access, she led a breakout session with one of her colleagues.
Yvonne collaborated with Julie Samson, DSN at Santa Barbara City College to lead their CCCAOE breakout session debut topic on “Building Global Competence through Career Technical Education.” Yvonne and Julie welcomed attendees to the interactive session to discuss the importance of integrating global competence into community college CTE programs and classrooms. The room of Deans, Faculty, and WDB Directors engaged with one another as they explored a global competence framework, U.S. Department of Education’s adoption of the Asia Society and Longview Foundation’s definition of global competence, engaged in round table discussion and participated in global competence level self-assessment.
Although the topic of global competence was new to some, it was familiar to others. Yvonne and Julie shared the connection between CTE and Global Competence and its essential role in the bedrock of America’s competitiveness to having a well-educated and skilled workforce; that our CTE programs are designed to deliver. They further noted that within the respective CTE programs— and in our increasingly interconnected and interdependent global economy—students need to develop the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance (global competence). Students can attain global competence as CTED educators and CTE programs provide learning opportunities that instill global competence, offer a means to assess the flexible, cooperative thinking that is the hallmark of interdisciplinary thought, and nurture students in informed and respectful ways.
As the participants completed their self-assessments, they were provided additional tools and resources for building global competence into existing curricula and to support professional development. Yvonne and Julie ended the session asserting that in our CCCAOE’s formula of providing “more and better CTE” to better prepare our students for college and career, the combination of global competence and CTE equates to better CTE. There’s a global component to every priority and emerging sector requiring global competence.
To learn more about Building Global Competence, please contact Yvonne Reid, CITD Director and DSN-GTL, E: reidy@smddc.edu T: 650-738-6098
Please join Julie Samson as she hosts the Global Competence Summit, Nov 4th, 2016 in Santa Barbara, CA. Contact: charlenesansone@gmail.com
Article by Emma Briones
