Educating for global competence: Teachers' perceived barriers to global competence education implementation in a small, rural school district

Students in K-12 classrooms should be afforded the opportunity to cultivate global competence, equipping them to navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of the 21st century and contribute positively to the globalized world. However, many classrooms in the United States lack opportunities for such development. Thus, it is imperative to address this deficiency in global competence education. To achieve this, it is essential to identify and overcome the obstacles hindering its implementation. This study seeks to uncover teachers’ perceived barriers to implementing global competence education in K-12 classrooms in the United States. Additionally, it aims to investigate whether teachers' individual levels of global competence influence the barriers they identify. By conducting thematic analysis on the interview responses provided by nine study participants, ten barriers were identified: 1) engagement 2) exposure 3) student needs 4) curriculum 5) time 6) resources 7) lack of diversity 8) beliefs 9) accountability 10) COVID impact. These barriers were then discussed using Bronfenbrenner Ecological Systems Theory to recognize the interdependence of these barriers across system levels. This discussion led to four considerations: 1) The education system as a whole needs to work together to support global competence education implementation 2) The community (exosystem) is an obstacle to global competence education implementation 3) Educational systems are still learning how to deal with the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic 4) There are limited differences in the perceived barriers to global competence education implementation named by participants, according to the Globally Competence Learning Continuum (GCLC) (Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2019) score. This study concluded with recommendations to expand the investigation of barriers to global competence education implementation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Siegel, Liza

Contributors dc:contributor

• Witt, Allison
• Pak, Yoon
• Kalantzis, Mary
• Moton, Theopolies

• Global Competence Education
• Global Education Implementation Barriers
• Bronfenbrenner Ecological Systems Theory
• Teacher Global Competence Level
• Globally Competent Learning Continuum

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Liza Siegel

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124324

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124324