Construction of Global Competence in Higher Education: Discourse of Internationalization, Decolonization, and Social Justice

SEDLÁKOVÁ, Markéta and David KOŠATKA. Construction of Global Competence in Higher Education: Discourse of Internationalization, Decolonization, and Social Justice. In The Role of Universities in Addressing Societal Challenges and Fostering Democracy. 2021.

Basic information

• Original name: Construction of Global Competence in Higher Education: Discourse of Internationalization, Decolonization, and Social Justice
• Name in Czech: Konstrukce globálních kompetencí v terciárním vzdělávání: Diskurz internacionalizace, dekolonializace a sociální spravedlnosti
• Authors: SEDLÁKOVÁ, Markéta and David KOŠATKA.
• Edition: The Role of Universities in Addressing Societal Challenges and Fostering Democracy, 2021.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 50401 Sociology
• Country of publisher: Iceland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: International Virtual Conference URL
• Organization unit: Faculty of Education
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Globalization and migration in today's modernist discoursive framework create a convoluted process that can no longer be described by national terminology and investigate by practices that have been used when nation-states have shaped how migration is perceived and discussed. Global perspective needs to be applied to cope with global issues such as migration and social imbalances of power and resources. As a part of educational discourse, global competence can offer access to different knowledge sources of the diversified world we all share. Universities are taking an essential role in constructing knowledge and (re)producing colonial discourse, which has created forms of oppression and unequal opportunities. Internationalization of Higher Education accelerates social reality and mobility and creates opportunities for reflection on structural inequalities through global competencies education. In the presented contribution, the authors investigate the discourse of global competencies for social justice through stakeholders' perspectives from worldwide Higher Education. Ten semi-structured interviews were used and analyzed using situation analysis (Clarke et al., 2018). The main research question was how the professionals of Higher Education construct and deliver the global competencies in their curriculum. The results show that four essential topics based on global competencies are: the critical shift in internationalization, sustainability, decolonization of power, and pluralism in the cultural dominance. In-depth conceptualization and implementation of global competencies may support universities' role in education toward global citizenship and foster the compensation of structural inequalities caused by national territorialism.

Abstract (in Czech)

Příspěvek pojednával o výzkumu zaměřenému na sociální spravedlnost a globální kompetence v terciárním vzdělávání. Hlavní výzkumná otázka se věnovala konstrukci globálních kompetencí v kurikulu u vybraných expertů. Výsledky poukazovaly na čtyři hlavní identifikované diskurzy: kritický obrat v internacionalizaci, udržitelnost, dekolonializace vědění a pluralismus v kulturní dominanci. Reflexe konceptualizace a implementace globálních kompetencí v kurikulu univerzity, směřuje k podpoře světoobčanství a potírání strukturálních nerovností.