Multicultural and global literacy

MODULE 5:

Multicultural and global literacy

 1. Discuss global and multicultural literacy
 2. Illustrate the Global Competence Framework
 3. Explain the dimensions of multiculturalism
 4. Elucidate on the assessment strategy for global confidence and global
understanding
 5. Present effective ways on how to integrate global multiculturalism in
the lesson using appropriate delivery strategies, instructional materials
and assessment tools.
 6. Draw relevant life lessons and significant values from personal
experience in demonstrating multicultural literacy
 7. Analyze research abstract on global and multicultural literacy and its
implications on the teaching-learning process
 8. Draft relevant policy in addressing multiculturalism in school
As schools cater to diverse students in class, be it in
terms of gender, color, race, nationality, religious
affiliations, cultural, beliefs, ethnic groups, social-
economic status, etc., teachers need to understand
the concept of multicultural literacy to come up with
appropriate approaches in school
 Multicultural Literacy

Multicultural literacy consists of the skills and ability to

identify the creators of knowledge and their interests
(Banks, 1996) to reveal the assumptions of knowledge,
to view knowledge from diverse ethnic and cultural
perspective, and to use knowledge to guide action that
will create a humane and just world (Boutte, 2008).
Multicultural literacy then, brings attention to diversity,
equity and social justice to foster cultural awareness by
addressing difficult issues like discrimination and
oppression towards others ethnicities (Boutte, 2008)
Accordingly, education for multicultural literacy
should help students to develop the 21st century
skills and attitudes that are needed to become active
citizens who will work toward achieving social justice
within communities. Because of the growing racial,
language and ethnic diversity in the country,
multicultural literacy needs to be transformed in
substantial ways to prepare students to function
effectively in the 21st Century (Boutte
 Boutte (2008) reiterated that making small changes within the
classrooms can create big changes globally. As diversity grows,
there is a need for the emergence of multicultural education that
is more representative of the students in today's classrooms.
Banks (2003) asserted that teaching students to be advocates of
multiculturalism is also a matter of sending a message of
empathy and tolerance in schools to develop a deeper
understanding of others and appreciation of different cultures.
 Developing these attitudes and skills requires basic knowledge
prior to teaching students how to question assumptions about
cultural knowledge and how to critique and critically think about
these important cultural issues, which is what essentially makes
multicultural literacy a 21st Century literacy (Banks, 2003)
 Global Literacy

 Global literacy aims to address issues of globalization, racism,

diversity and social justice (Guo, 2014). It requires awareness and
action, consistent with a broad understanding of humanity, the
planet, and the impact of human decision on both. It also aims to
empower students with knowledge and take action to make a
positive impact in the world and their local community (Guo,
2014).
 According to the Ontario Ministry of Education (2015), a global
citizen should possess the following characteristics: (1) respect for
humans regardless of race, gender, religion or political
perspectives; (2) respect for diversity and various perspectives; (3)
promote sustainable patterns of living, consumption, and
production; and (4) appreciate the natural world and demonstrate
respect on the rights of all living things.
 Interconnecting multicultural and global literacy.

 Every classroom contains students of different races, religious and

cultural groups. Guo (2014) averred that students embrace diverse
behaviors, cultural values, patterns of practice, and
communication, yet they all share one commonality, which is their
educational opportunity.
 Therefore, teachers should teach their students that other cultures
exist and that these deserve to be acknowledged and respected.
Integrating a variety of cultural context into lessons and activities
teaches students to view the world from many angles, creates
respect for diversity and enables students to learn exciting
information. As classrooms become increasingly more diverse, it is
important for educators to analyze and address diversity issues
and integrate multiculturalism information into the classroom
curriculum (Guo, 2014)
The OECD Global Competence Framework
(Source:
https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2018-global-compe
tence.htm
The framework depicts the four dimensions of global
competence encompassing the development of
knowledge, values, attitude and skills that flow along
parameters of attaining such competency.
 Global Competence

 The desire to participate in interconnected, complex and diverse

societies has become a pressing need. Recognizing the roles of
schools in preparing the youth to participate in the world, the
OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
developed a framework to explain, foster and assess students' global
competence. This design serves as a tool for policymakers, leaders
and teachers in fostering global competence among students
worldwide.
 Global competence is a multidimensional capacity. Therefore,
globally competent individuals can analyze and rationalize local,
global and intercultural issues, understand and appreciate different
perspectives and worldviews, interact successfully and respectfully
with others, and take responsible action toward sustainability and
collective well-being (OECD publication)
Global competence refers to skills, values and
behaviors that prepare young people to thrive in a
diverse, interconnected and rapidly Changing world.
It is the ability to become engaged citizens and
collaborative problem solvers who are ready for the
workplace.
 Promoting global competence in schools. Schools play a crucial
role in helping young people to develop global competence. They
can provide opportunities to critically examine global
developments that are significant to both the world and to their
own lives. They can teach students how critically, effectively and
responsibly use digital information and social media platforms.
 Schools can encourage intercultural sensitivity and respect by
allowing students to engage in experiences that foster an
appreciation for diverse peoples, languages and cultures (Bennett,
1993; Sinicrope, Norris and Watanabe, 2007). Schools are also
positioned to enhance students' ability to understand their place in
the community and the world and improve such ability to make
judgements and take action (Hanvey, 1975 in PISA, 2018)
 The Need for Global Competence

The following are the reasons why global competence is necessary.

 1. To live harmoniously in multicultural communities. Education for
global competence can promote cultural awareness and purposeful
interactions in increasingly diverse societies (Brubacker and Latin,
1999; Kymlicka, 1995; Sen, 2007). People with diverse cultures are
able to live peacefully, respect differences, find common solutions,
resolve conflicts and learn to live together as global citizens (Delors,
et al., 1996; UNESCO, 2014b). Thus, education can teach students
the need to address cultural biases and stereotypes.
 2. To thrive in a changing labor market. Education for global
competence can boost employability through effective
communication and appropriate behavior within diverse teams
using technology in accessing and connecting to the world (British
Council, 2013)
3. To use media platforms effectively and responsibly. Radical
transformations in digital technologies have shaped young
people's outlook on the world, their interaction with others
and their perception of themselves. Online networks, social
media and interactive technologies give rise to new concepts of
learning, wherein young people exercise to take their freedom
on what and how they learn (Zuckerman, 2014).
4. To support the sustainable development goals. Education
for global competence can help form new generations who
care about global issues and engage in social, political,
economic and environmental discussions.
Dimension of Global Competence: Implications to Education

 Education for global competence is founded on the ideas of different

models of global education, such as intercultural education, global
citizenship education and education for democratic citizenship
(UNESCO, 2014a; Council of Europe, 2016a)
 Despite differences in focus and scope, these models share a common
goal of promoting students' understanding of the world and empower
them to express their views and participate in the society. PISA
proposes a new perspective on the definition and assessment of global
competence that will help policy makers and school leaders create
learning resources and curricula that integrate global competence as a
multifaceted cognitive, socio-emotional and civic learning goal (Boix
Mansilla, 2016).
 This definition outlines four dimensions of global competence that
people need to apply in their everyday life just like students from
different cultural backgrounds are working together on school projects.
 Dimension 1:
Examine issues of local, global and cultural significance

 This dimension refers to globally competent people's practices

of effectively utilizing knowledge about the world and critical
reasoning in forming their own opinion about a global issue.
People, who acquire a mature level of development in this
dimension, use higher-order thinking skills, such as selecting
and weighing appropriate evidence to support arguments about
global developments. Most likely, globally competent students
can draw on and combine the disciplinary knowledge and
thinking styles learned in schools to ask questions, analyze date
and propositions, explain phenomena, and develop a position
concerning a local, global or cultural issue. Hence, globally
competent people effectively use and create both traditional
and digital media (Boix Mansilla and Jackson, 2011).
 Dimension 2:
Understand and appreciate the perspectives and world views of other

his dimension highlights that globally competent people

are willing and capable of considering other people's
perspectives and behaviors from multiple viewpoints to
examine their own assumptions. This in turn, implies a
profound respect for and interest in others with their
concept of reality and emotions. Individuals with this
competence also consider and appreciate the
connections that enable them to bridge in differences
and create common ground. They retain thier cultural
identity while becoming aware of the cultural values and
beliefs of people around them (Fennes and Hapgood,
1997).
 Dimension 3:
Engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions across cultures

This dimension describes what globally competent

individuals can do when they interact with people
from different cultures. They understand the cultural
norms, interactive styles and degrees of formality of
intercultural contexts, and they can flexibly adapt
their behavior and communication manner through
respectful dialog even with marginalized groups.
Therefore, it emphasizes Individuals capacity to
interact with others across differences in ways that
are open, appropriate and effective (Barrett, et. al.,
2014)
 Dimension 4:
Take action for collective well-being and sustainable development

This dimension focuses on young people's role as

active and responsible members of society and refers
to individual's readiness to respond to a given local,
global or intercultural issue or situation. It
recognizes that young people have multiple realms of
influence ranging from personal and local to digital
and global. Globally competent people create
opportunities to get engaged to improve living
conditions in their communities and build a just,
peaceful, inclusive and an environmentally
sustainable world
 The assessment strategy for global competence

The PISA 2018 assessment of global competence

contributes development, while considering
challenges and limitations. It has two components: 1)
cognitive test exclusively focused on the construct of
“global understanding”; and 2) a set of questionnaire
items collecting self-reported information and
students' awareness on global issues and cultures,
skills (both cognitive and social) and attributes, as
well as information from schools and teachers on
activities that promote global competence (OECD,
2018).
 Curriculum for global competence: Knowledge, skills, attitudes
and values

 Schools can provide opportunities for students to explore complex

global issues that encounter through media and their own
experiences. The curriculum should focus on four knowledge
domains: (1) culture and intercultural relations; (2) social-economic
development and interdependence; (3) environmental sustainability;
and (4) global institutions, conflicts and human rights. Teaching these
four domains should stress on differences in perspectives, questioning
concepts, and arguments. Students can acquire knowledge in this
domain by reflecting on their own cultural identity and that of their
peers by analyzing common stereotypes toward people and their
community or analyzing related cases of cultural conflict.
 Acquiring knowledge in this aspect is important and developing
values, such as peace, respect, non-discrimination, equality, fairness,
acceptance, justice, non-violence and tolerance (OECD, 2018
 Skills to understand the world and take action

 Global Competence builds on specific cognitive, communication and

social-emotional skills. Effective education for global competence
gives students the opportunity to mobilize and use their knowledge,
attitudes, skills and values together while sharing ideas on global
issues in and outside of school or interacting with people from
different cultural backgrounds.
 A school community that desires to nurture global competence
should focus on clear, controllable and realizable learning goals. This
means engaging all educators to reflect on teaching topics that are
globally significant, the types of skills that foster deeper
understanding of the world and facilitate respectful interactions in
multicultural contexts, and facilitate respectful interactions in
multicultural contexts, and attitudes and values that drive
autonomous learning and inspire responsible action (OECD, 2018
 Knowledge about the world and other cultures

Global competence is supported by the knowledge of

global issues that affect lives locally and around the
globe, as well as intercultural knowledge, or
knowledge about the similarities, differences and
relations among cultures.
This knowledge helps people to challenge
misinformation and stereotypes about other
countries and people and thus, results in intolerance
and oversimplified representations of the world.
This can be done through the following strategies
(OECD, 2018)
Perspective-taking refers to the cognitive and social
skills of understanding how other people think and
feel.
Adaptability refers to the ability to adapt systems
thinking and behaviors to the prevailing cultural
environment, or to situations and context that can
prevent new demands or challenges
Openness, respect for diversity and global-mindedness

Globally competent behavior requires an attitude of

openness towards people from other cultural
backgrounds, an attitude of respect for cultural
differences and an attitude of global-mindedness.
Such attributes can be fostered explicitly through
participatory and learner-center teaching, as well as
through curriculum characterized by fair practices
and an accommodating school climate for all
students.
Openness toward people from other cultural backgrounds
involves sensitivity towards curiosity about and willingness
to engage with other people in other perspectives on the
world (Byram, 2008; Council of Europe 2016)
Respect consists of a positive regard for it someone based
on judgment of intrinsic worth. It assumes the dignity of all
human beings and their inalienable right to choose their
own affiliations, beliefs, opinions or practices (Council of
Europe 2016a).
Global-mindedness is defined as a worldview, in which one
sees him/herself connected to the community and feels his
sense of responsibility for its members (Hansen, 2010)
 Valuing human dignity and diversity

 Valuing human dignity and valuing cultural diversity contribute to global

competence because they constitute critical filters through which individuals
process information about other cultures and decide how to engage with others
and the world. Hence, people, who cultivate these values, become more aware
of themselves and their surroundings, and strongly motivated to fight against
exclusion, ignorance, violence, oppression and war.

 Clapham (2006) introduced the four aspects of valuing equality of core rights
and dignity. To wit: (1) the prohibition of all types of inhuman treatment,
humiliation or degradation by one person over another; (2) the assurance of the
possibility for individual choice and the conditions for each individual's self-
fulfillment, autonomy or self-realization; (3) the recognition that protection
of group identity and culture may be essential for that of personal
dignity; and (4) the creation of necessary conditions to have the
essential needs satisfied
 Global understanding

Understanding is the ability to use knowledge to find

meaning and connection between different pieces of
information and perspectives.
The framework distinguishes four interrelated
cognitive processes that probability competent
students need to use to understand fully global or
intercultural issues and situations (OECD, 2018).
 1. The capacity to evaluate information, formulate arguments and
explain complex situations and problems by using and connecting
evidence identifying biases and gaps in information and managing
conflicting arguments
 2. The capacity to analyze multiple perspectives and worldviews,
positioning and connecting their own and others' perspectives on
the world.
 3. The capacity to understand differences and communication,
recognizing the importance of socially appropriate communication
and adapting it to the demands of diverse cultural contexts.
 4. The capacity to evaluate actions and consequences by
identifying and comparing different courses of action and
weighing actions on the basis of consequence
Thus, globally competent students should be able to
perform a wide variety of tasks utilizing different
cognitive processes, such as: reasoning with evidence
about an issue or situation of local, global and
intercultural significance; searching effectively for
useful sources of formation; evaluating information
to describe the main ideas in an argumentative text or
the salient passages of a conversation; and combining
their background knowledge, new information and
critical reasoning to build multi-causal explanations
of global or intercultural issues (OECD, 2018)
Integrating Global and Intercultural Issues in the Curriculum

 For global education to translate abstraction into action, there is a

need to integrate global issues and topics into existing subjects (Klein,
2013; UNESCO, 2014). In practice, content knowledge related to global
competence is integrated in the curriculum and taught in specific
courses. Therefore, students can understand those issues across ages,
starting in early childhood when presenting them in developmentally
appropriate ways (Boix Mansilla and Jackson, 2011; UNESCO, 2015).
 Therefore, Gaudelli (2006) affirmed that teachers must have clear
ideas and global and intercultural issues that students may reflect on.
They also need to collaboratively research topics and carefully design
the curriculum while giving students multiple opportunities to learn
those issues.
 Teachers may also engage in professional learning communities and
facilitate peer learning.
More so, teaching about minority cultures in different subject
areas entails accurate content information about ethnically
and racially diverse groups and experiences. Curricula should
promote the integration of knowledge of other people, places
and perspectives in the classroom throughout the year
(UNESCO, 2014a), rather than using a “tourist approach”, or
giving students a superficial glimpse of life in different
countries now and then.
Textbooks and other instructional materials can also distort
cultural and ethnic differences (Gay, 2015). Teachers and their
students should critically examine textbooks and other
teaching resources and supplement information when
necessary.
Connecting global and intercultural topics to the
reality, contexts and needs of the learning group is
an effective methodological approach to make them
relevant to adolescents (North-South Centre of the
Council of Europe, 2012). People learn better and
become more engaged when they get connected with
the content and when they see it's relevance to their
lives and their immediate environment (Suárez-
Orozco and Todorova, 2008)
Pedagogies for promoting global competence. Various
student-centered pedagogies can help students develop
critical thinking along global issues, respectful
communication, conflict management skills, perspective
taking and adaptability.
Group-based cooperative project work can improve reasoning
and collaborative skills. It involves topic- or theme-based
tasks suitable for various levels and ages, in which goals and
content are negotiated and learners can create their own
learning materials that they present and evaluate together.
Learners, participating in cooperative tasks, soon would
realize that to be efficient, they need to be respectful,
attentive, honest, and empathic (Barrett et al., 2014)
 Class discussion is an interactive approach that encourages proactive
listening and responding to ideas expressed by peers. By exchanging
views in the classroom, students learn that there is no single right answer
to a problem, understand the reasons why others hold different views and
reflect on the origins of their own beliefs (Ritchhart, et al., 2011).
 Service learning is another tool that can help students develop multiple
global skills through real-world experience. This requires learners to
participate in organized activities that are based on what has been learned
in the classroom and that benefit their communities. After the activities,
learners reflect critically on their service experience to gain further
understanding of course content, and enhance their sense of role in
society with regard to civic, social, economic and political issues (Bringle
and Clayton, 2012). Through service learning, students not only “serve to
learn,” which is applied learning, but also “learn to serve” (Bringle, et. al.,
2016).
The Story Circle Approach intends students to practice key
intellectual skills, including respect, cultural self-awareness
and empathy (Deardorff, n.d.). The students, in groups of
5-6, take turns sharing a 3-minute story from their own
experience based on specific prompts, such as “Tell us
about your first experience when you encountered someone
who was different from you in some ways,”. After all
students in the group have shared their personal stories,
students then, share the most memorable point from each
story in a “flash back” activity.
Other types of intercultural engagements involve
simulations, interviews, role plays and online games.
Attitudes and values integration toward global competence.
Allocating teaching time to a specific subject that deals with
human rights issues and non-discrimination is an important
initial step in cultivating values for global competence.
Values and attitudes are partly communicated through the
formal curriculum and also through ways, in which teachers
and students interact, how discipline is encouraged and the
types of opinions and behavior that are validated in the
classroom. Therefore, recognizing the school and classroom
environments' influence on developing students' values
would help teachers become more aware of the impact of
their teaching on students (Gay, 2015).
 GLOBAL AND MULTICULTURAL LITERACIES
LEARNING REFLECTION

Multicultural literacy depicts diversity, equity and social justice to foster cultural
awareness on discrimination and oppression toward other ethnicities.
 Global literacy aims to address issues of globalization, racism, diversity and
social justice.
 Global competence refers to the skills, values and behaviors that prepare
young people to thrive in a more diverse, interconnected world, engaged
citizens and collaborative problem solvers who are ready for the workforce.
 Globally competent individuals can examine local, global and intercultural
issues, understand and appreciate different perspectives and worldviews,
interact successfully and respectfully with others, and take responsible action
toward sustainability and collective well-being.
 The Global Competence Framework is designed as a tool for policymakers,
leaders and teachers in nurturing global competence among young people
worldwide with four salient dimension.
https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/la-carlota-
city-college/operations-management/module-5-
multicultural-and-global-literacy/28582611