Press Release
November 6, 2014

EDUCATION FOR GLOBAL COMPETENCE TO ENGAGE THE WORLD
By SENATOR MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO

Keynote speaker, College of Arts and Sciences, Trinity University
of Asia, on 6 November 2014, at the University Auditorium

Global Competence

In a paper published by the Asia Society, global competence is defined as the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance. Why should we aim for global competence? There are four reasons:

1. The phenomenon of globalization

2. The digital revolution

3. Mass migration; and

4. The prospect of climate instability.

We shall discuss these factors one by one.

The first rationale for global competence is the so-called "flattened global economy and changing demands of work."

Globalization has resulted in what we sometimes call the flattened global economy, as distinguished from the uneven global economy. Globalization is the phenomenon of our generation. Globalization means the accelerating traffic of goods, ideas, people, and capital around the world. Thus, workers all over the world now have to compete and play similar roles, wherever they might find themselves in. Globalization is the development of ordinary interconnections into one of "unprecedented and breathtaking speed and consequence."

The common example of globalization is as follows: "A company in one country employs workers in another one. Consumers in a third country buy the goods produced. Transactions are aided by high-speed internet communications, the lowering of important tariffs, and government incentives for foreign investment."

With this dizzying speed, countries like the United States have found it necessary to establish, for example, the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. The new workforce to which you belong must concentrate on creativity. Your generation should be able, in the words of this American Commission, to do the following:

* "Imagine how people can use things that have never been available before,

* "Create ingenious marketing and sales campaigns,

* "Build furniture, write books, make movies, and imagine new kinds of software that will capture people's imagination and become indispensable to millions."

In short, your generation will be required to develop multiple skills which will include learning, thinking, and innovation skills.

The second rationale for global competence is unprecedented migration.

In this new age, all over the world each one of us will have to adapt to the world of increasing social, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity. We have to develop our cultural sophistication. This means first, the capacity to recognize perspectives - ours and those of others. Second, it means the capacity to communicate ideas effectively across diverse audiences. If we are successful in preparing for an interactive world, only then can we investigate the world and take action.

The third rationale for global competence is the urgent need to manage the consequences of climate change and to devise effective solutions for mitigation and adaptation.

This is what I meant earlier when I said that you as students should learn to recognize perspectives. Climate change is global in nature, and it produces multiple impacts in various parts of the world.

After adapting to the globalized economy, we should proceed to a disciplinary and interdisciplinary study of the world. To put it in another way, globally competent students should be able to perform the following four competencies identified by the paper from Asia Society:

1. Investigate the world beyond your immediate environment, by identifying problems and researching the answers.

2. Recognize the perspectives of yourself and those of others.

3. Empower yourself to communicate ideas effectively with diverse audiences.

4. Take action to improve conditions.

I will summarize this section on global competence by pointing out that as students, you should be able to communicate ideas globally and therefore, you need to be proficient with a variety of media and new technologies.

If you are able to equip yourself with these skills, you should then be able to take action in ways suggested by the Asia Society:

1. Create opportunities for personal or collaborative action to improve conditions.

2. Assess options and plan actions based on evidence and the potential for impact.

3. Act, personally or collaboratively, to contribute to improvement in various localities.

4. Reflect on your capacity to educate and contribute to improvement in those localities.

Social Media as a New Form of Communication

According to Time magazine, in the March 2014 issue, the No. 1 selfie users in the world are the youth residents of Makati and Pasig. Filipino young adults, aged 16- to-24, make up nearly 54 per cent of those who are active online and use electronic communication for socialization, entertainment, recreation, and self-expression. Another study revealed that internet chatting is the most popular activity among Filipino adolescents. Today, as adolescents and young adults in the age of social media, you are called "digital natives" because you were born and grew up in the context of computer language, which is said to be one of your "mother tongues."

Hence, without being aware of it, your brain has morphed into structures different from those of your parents. One author noted that as digital natives you are accustomed to getting facts and figures very quickly; to do parallel processes and multi-tasking; to look at graphics before reading the text; and to opt for random access (such as hypertext).

Instead of reading, writing, and arithmetic, the "three Rs" are now: "remaking, remixing, and renaming." Thus, we are undergoing one of the most significant shifts in human history. And as a result, each one of you now has an unprecedented range of choices that was not available to my generation. But you also assume a new burden - that it is no longer enough to be computer literate. You must be multiliterate. Although English has turned out to be the global language, you have to recognize that there are multiple "Englishes."

We can conclude that during our time, there are three main global trends:

1. The fusion of knowledge and skill.

2. Compliance with the requirements for 21st century skills, such as what Stanford University calls "Programme for International Student Assessment."

3. The emphasis on creativity. You should be able to execute non-routine creative tasks if you are to excel in the economy.

Accordingly, I ask you to start at the ladder of success in two ways. First, identify your leadership skills and establish consensus, here in Trinity University. The second is to develop and prioritize implementation plans with a proposed group of stakeholders within and outside the campus.

E-learning

Finally, let me just add a word about e-learning as a global trend for higher educational institution. E-learning is defined as the use of information and communication technology in teaching and learning. I hope that Trinity University will soon use e-learning to meet the demand for professional graduates and for continuing education.

Trinity University should explore more flexible teaching approaches, an open system of admission, and sharing learning resources at no cost by the use of free and user-friendly ICT. I know that by nature, Trinity University is tasked to join the movement for free knowledge also known as Open Educational Resources. With support for online learning, the teacher is no longer the sole source of knowledge but one of many sources, such as online articles, online videos, or interactive exercises on the web.

Conclusion

I am fighting and apparently winning a battle with lung cancer, and I am very personally depressed by all of the negative developments tending to show corruption and plunder in very high places in our government. But long before I came to teach political science in Trinity University and up to now, I remain a staunch believer in God and the triumph of good over evil. This is why I would like to leave you with the passage from the famous poem "Battle Hymn of the Republic":

Mines eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;

His truth is marching on.

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