This article was originally written by me for CMT Learning where I worked as Media Coordinator for their Nike Sports Camps. It has been slightly edited for my website.
I was keen to work with CMT Learning and experience their Nike Sports Camps because I like that the camps attract young sports players from countries all over the world to come and learn together in a very intimate and close-knit environment. On one occasion, children from 25 countries were learning sports and the English language together on one of the football camps in a single week. Such an environment is great for creating a valuable opportunity for young people to develop a range of critical skills, values and behaviours that will help to prepare them to thrive in a more diverse, interconnected world.
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| Photo by Ben White on Unsplash |
The need for globally competent youth
Jobs are becoming more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. It’s no longer only international jobs that require global competence as a critical skill. With increased migration and rapid technological advancements in particular contributing to the changing nature of jobs in the 21st century, urgent action to educate our young people so that they are well equipped for further dramatic changes that are predicted for the years to come is paramount.
Discussion on what global competence education is, what it should include and how best to educate it has been given more focus in recent years, especially with the establishment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, which provide a framework for achieving a better, more sustainable world. In the field of global education, target 4.7 of SDG: Quality Education includes, “...promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.” Towards Target 4.7 and beyond, the approach to educating youth needs to be more intentional, it needs to reflect the needs of today’s world and it needs to include specific human-centred values. I believe that above all, it should promote harmony among the world’s people, move away from competition and towards collaboration, champion tolerance and respect for diversity and be based upon an understanding of Earth as our shared, common home.
The world today
We’re moving into a new phase. The world today is home to 1.8 billion young people which is the largest generation of youth in history. We can either see it as a challenge, or we can see it as a valuable opportunity to harness all the fresh energy and innovative ideas that come with youth. Young people are more engaged in local, national and global affairs than ever before and thanks to technology and greater online access, they are more informed and connected than any generation that has come before. We need to consider all of this and incorporate it into decision-making at all levels of society.
What we cannot do is waste time. Immediate and effective action to take every opportunity to develop global competence is necessary so that we can prepare ourselves for the changes we’re experiencing and the new changes and challenges on the way. It is not only traditional education institutions that should be concerned or expected to shoulder the responsibility for refreshing education. Any and all who are in contact with young people have a part to play, right down to the family unit. The success of the SDGs will ultimately come down to the actions taken by every individual and every organisation at every level of society, after all. The SDGs are a shared responsibility that everyone must aim to contribute to and I believe that every step taken towards this end does matter.
The impacts of globalisation on jobs
Globalisation has created new cognitive, attitudinal and skill demands. As a result, a workforce is required who possess such demands. Intercultural awareness, the ability to speak foreign languages, respect for other cultures, emotional intelligence - whilst these skills are certainly not new, they are newly important. A 2018 report by Microsoft and McKinsey & Company’s Education Practice, “The Class of 2030 and life-ready learning,” tracked emerging job trends in the 21st century amidst the rise of technology and makes predictions towards the nature of work in the coming decade. The report cites a number of recommendations as to how we can best prepare those young people who will be entering the world of work by 2030 and gives a special mention to the importance of social-emotional education.
Social-emotional learning refers to, “the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions,” (CASEL). Essentially it involves cultivating basic human values (which are intrinsic to all people) towards individual, social and environmental prosperity.
The report also predicts that social skills such as persuasion, emotional intelligence, and teaching others will become more important in the emerging “gig economy,” with short-term project work becoming increasingly commonplace. This type of work doesn’t just require demanding skills, it also requires the flexibility to function in an uncertain and changeable climate which can put a strain on a person’s mental and emotional state. In such a case, a strong social-emotional skill set and a workforce who understand and are empathetic to the demands is crucial to ensure the well-being of those future generations that will be living in such a climate.
A further thing to consider is that the number of international jobs are on the rise, so those who have an awareness of the world and different cultures will stand a better chance of gaining employment. Young people who possess such skills will be more employable. This is supported by researchers at Warwick University who found that so-called “soft skills”, including strong links with people from different cultural backgrounds, are a necessity for working in global environments.
Developing global competence at Nike Sports Camps
I experienced a unique opportunity for young people to take part in new social experiences, learn new perspectives, develop skills such as confidence, maturity, curiosity and a deeper understanding of the world they live in on the Nike Sports Camps. For up to 3 weeks, young people from across the world were able to meet and live with other young athletes from different countries. I witnessed them learning new languages and different traditions and establishing connections, many of which developed into strong bonds of friendships. Whilst the young people were primarily there to improve their sport, the environment created by the camp and the opportunities it presented to develop global competence were not overlooked. I was impressed that the opportunity to maximise this into valuable learning was not over-looked.
During my time at the Nike Sports Camps, I had the opportunity to talk to a few of the members of staff on camp about their observations of life on camp and hear from them what they think are the benefits of young people learning in a culturally diverse environment. Here’s what they said:
“The fact that these children come from different cultures and have one language that they are able to communicate in brings them together culturally. They have more to talk about because they can bring their experiences from home and teach someone else about them and they’ll use English to communicate it. If you come from the same country, then you already know about each other’s cultures. Having a different culture means you have more to share with each other and that can deepen the connection.” - Liliana an English Teacher and an EFL Tutor.
“I would say that the main benefit in terms of sports is seeing how players from other countries behave, mostly off-court. When children see others behaving in a good way, they want to behave in a similar way. They don’t want to compare themselves negatively or think they are not behaving as well, they want to be on the same level. I think that it’s important for children to see how sports are regarded in other countries too. In Japan, for example, tennis is very, very important to them and to their lives. You can see it the moment that they step on the court. A lot of the European children on camp see this and strive to apply the same respect to their performance as a result.” - Dani a Tennis Coach.
I feel fortunate to have experienced first-hand the value in global experiences for young people, like the one offered on the Nike Sports Camps, and believe that if the importance of educating children in global competence, global citizenship and social-emotional skills was more widely recognised it would definitely be a positive step towards supporting the targets set out by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Are you currently involved with a project or programme relating to global competency or global citizenship education? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do drop a comment below.
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