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with respect for their rights and dignity, and takeaction towards building sustainable and thrivingcommunities. A fundamental goal of this workis to support evidence-based decisions on howto improve curricula, teaching, assessmentsand schools’ responses to cultural diversityin order to prepare young people to becomeglobal citizens.How do we assess globalcompetence?The global competence assessment in PISA2018 is composed of two parts: a cognitiveassessment and a background questionnaire.The cognitive assessment is designed to elicitstudents’ capacities to critically examineglobal issues; recognise outside influenceson perspectives and world views; understandhow to communicate with others in interculturalcontexts; and identify and compare differentcourses of action to address global andintercultural issues.In the background questionnaire, students willbe asked to report how familiar they are withglobal issues; how developed their linguisticand communication skills are; to what extentthey hold certain attitudes, such as respect forpeople from different cultural backgrounds;and what opportunities they have at schoolto develop global competence. Answers tothe school and teacher questionnaires willprovide a comparative picture of how educationsystems are integrating global, internationaland intercultural perspectives throughout thecurriculum and in classroom activities.Taken together, the cognitive assessment andthe background questionnaire address thefollowing educational policy questions: To what degree are students able to criticallyexamine contemporary issues of local, globaland intercultural significance?The concept ofglobal competenceand its implicationsfor education To what degree are students able tounderstand and appreciate multiple culturalperspectives (including their own) andmanage differences and conflicts? To what degree are students preparedto interact respectfully across culturaldifferences? To what degree do students care about theworld and take action to make a positivedifference in other peoples’ lives and tosafeguard the environment?The dimensions of global competenceEducation for global competence buildson the ideas of different models of globaleducation, such as intercultural education,global citizenship education and educationfor democratic citizenship (UNESCO, 2014a;Council of Europe, 2016a). Despite differencesin their focus and scope (cultural differences ordemocratic culture, rather than human rightsor environmental sustainability), these modelsshare a common goal to promote students’understanding of the world and empower themto express their views and participate in society. What inequalities exist in access to educationfor global competence between and withincountries? What approaches to multicultural,intercultural and global education are mostcommonly used in school systems aroundthe world? How are teachers being prepared to developstudents’ global competence?PISA contributes to the existing models byproposing a new perspective on the definitionand assessment of global competence. Theseconceptual foundations and assessmentguidelines will help policy makers and schoolleaders create learning resources and curriculathat approach global competence as amultifaceted cognitive, socio-emotional and civiclearning goal (Boix Mansilla, 2016). They will alsofacilitate governments’ ability to monitor progressand ensure systematic and long-term support.“Competence” is not merely a specific skill butis a combination of knowledge, skills, attitudesand values successfully applied to face-to-face,virtual or mediated1 encounters with peoplewho are perceived to be from a different culturalbackground, and to individuals’ experiencesof global issues (i.e. situations that requirean individual to reflect upon and engage withglobal problems that have deep implicationsfor current and future generations). Acquiringglobal competence is a life-long process –there is no single point at which an individualbecomes completely globally competent. PISAwill assess at what stage 15-year-old studentsare situated in this process, and whether theirschools effectively address the developmentof global competence.The PISA 2018 assessment uses the followingdefinition of global competence:Global competence is the capacity toexamine local, global and interculturalissues, to understand and appreciatethe perspectives and world views ofothers, to engage in open, appropriateand effective interactions with peoplefrom different cultures, and to act forcollective well-being and sustainabledevelopment.This definition outlines four target dimensionsof global competence that people need to applysuccessfully in their everyday life:1. the capacity to examine issues and situationsof local, global and cultural significanceMediated’ here refers to encounters that occur through images in the media (for example, on television, on the Internet, ina movie or book, in a newspaper, etc.).1 ‘6 OECD 2018 OECD 20187

(e.g. poverty, economic interdependence,migration, inequality, environmentalrisks, conflicts, cultural differences andstereotypes);2. the capacity to understand and appreciatedifferent perspectives and world views;3. the ability to establish positive interactionswith people of different national, ethnic,religious, social or cultural backgrounds orgender; and4. the capacity and disposition to takeconstructive action toward sustainabledevelopment and collective well-being.Dimension 1: Examine issues of local, global and cultural significance.These four dimensions are stronglyinterdependent and overlapping, justifying theuse of the singular term “global competence”.For example, students from two differentcultural backgrounds who work together for aschool project demonstrate global competenceas they: get to know each other better (examinetheir cultural differences); try to understand howeach perceives his or her role in the projectand the other's perspective (understandperspectives); negotiate misunderstandingsand clearly communicate expectations andfeelings (interact openly, appropriately andeffectively); and take stock of what they learnfrom each other to improve social relationshipsin their classroom and school (act for collectivewell-being).This dimension refers to globally competentpeople’s practices of effectively combiningknowledge about the world and criticalreasoning whenever they form their ownopinion about a global issue. People whoacquire a mature level of development in thisdimension use higher-order thinking skills,such as selecting and weighing appropriateevidence to reason about global developments.Globally competent students can draw onand combine the disciplinary knowledge andmodes of thinking acquired in schools to askExamining issues of global significance: an exampleIn her history course, a student learns about industrialisation and economic growth indeveloping countries, and how these have been influenced by foreign investments. Shelearns that many girls of her age work in poor conditions in factories for up to ten hours a day,instead of going to school. Her teacher encourages each student to bring one item of clothingto class and look at the label to see where it was manufactured. The student is surprised tonotice that most of her clothes were made in Bangladesh. The student wonders under whatconditions her clothes were made. She looks at the websites of various high-street brandshops to see if the websites can tell her about their manufacturing standards and policies.She discovers that some clothing brands are more concerned with human rights in theirfactories than others, and she also discovers that some clothing brands have a long historyof poor conditions in their factories. She reads different journalistic articles about the issueand watches a short documentary on YouTube. Based on what she discovers, she starts tobuy fair-trade clothing and becomes an advocate for ethically responsible manufacturing.Defining culture“Culture” is difficult to define because cultural groups are always internally heterogeneousand contain individuals who adhere to a range of diverse beliefs and practices. Furthermore,the core cultural beliefs and practices that are most typically associated with any given groupare also constantly changing and evolving over time. However, distinctions may be drawnbetween the material, social and subjective aspects of culture, that is, between the materialartefacts that are commonly used by the members of a cultural group (e.g. the tools, foods,clothing, etc.), the social institutions of the group (e.g. the language, the communicativeconventions, folklore, religion, etc.), and the beliefs, values, discourses and practices thatgroup members commonly use as a frame of reference for thinking about and relating tothe world. Culture is a composite formed from all three of these aspects, consisting of anetwork of material, social and subjective resources. The full set of cultural resources isdistributed across the entire group, but each individual member of the group only uses asubset of the full set of cultural resources that is potentially available to them (Barrett et al.,2014; Council of Europe, 2016a).Dimension 2: Understand and appreciate the perspectives and world views of others.Defining culture in this way means that any kind of social group can have its own distinctiveculture: national groups, ethnic groups, faith groups, linguistic groups, occupational groups,generational groups, family groups, etc. The definition also implies that all individualsbelong to multiple groups, and therefore have multiple cultural affiliations and identities(e.g. national, religious, linguistic, generational, familial, etc.). Although all people belong tomultiple cultures, each person participates in a different constellation of cultures, and theway in which they relate to any one culture depends, at least in part, on the perspectives thatare shaped by other cultures to which they also belong. In other words, cultural affiliationsintersect, and each individual has a unique cultural positioning.This dimension highlights that globallycompetent people are willing and capable ofconsidering global problems and other people’sperspectives and behaviours from multipleviewpoints. As individuals acquire knowledgeabout other cultures’ histories, values,communication styles, beliefs and practices,they acquire the means to recognise that theirperspectives and behaviours are shaped bymultiple influences, that they are not alwaysfully aware of these influences, and that othershave views of the world that are profoundlydifferent from their own (Hanvey, 1975).People’s cultural affiliations are dynamic and fluid; what they think defines them culturallyfluctuates as an individual moves from one situation to another. These fluctuations dependon the extent to which a social context focuses on a particular identity, and on the individual’sneeds, motivations, interests and expectations within that situation (Council of Europe,2016a).8questions, analyse data and arguments, explainphenomena, and develop a position concerninga local, global or cultural issue (Boix Mansillaand Jackson, 2011). Development in thisdimension also requires media literacy, definedas the ability to access, analyse and criticallyevaluate media messages, as well as to createnew media content (Buckingham, 2007;Kellner and Share, 2005). Globally competentpeople are effective users and creators of bothtraditional and digital media.Engaging with different perspectives and worldviews requires individuals to examine theorigins and implications of others’ and their own OECD 2018 OECD 2018assumptions. This in turn implies a profoundrespect for and interest in who the other is,their concept of reality and their emotions.Individuals with this competence also accountfor and appreciate the connections (e.g. basichuman rights and needs, common experiences)that enable them to bridge differences andcreate common ground. They retain theircultural identity but are simultaneously aware ofthe cultural values and beliefs of people aroundthem. Recognising another’s position or belief isnot necessarily to accept that position or belief.However, the ability to see through ‘anothercultural filter’ provides opportunities to deepenand question one’s own perspectives, and thusmake more mature decisions when dealing withothers (Fennes and Hapgood, 1997).9

Dimension 4: Take action for collective well-being and sustainable development.Understanding perspectives and worldviews: an exampleThis dimension focuses on young people’s roleas active and responsible members of society,and refers to individuals’ readiness to respondto a given local, global or intercultural issueor situation. This dimension recognises thatyoung people have multiple realms of influenceranging from personal and local to digital andglobal. Competent people create opportunitiesto take informed, reflective action and have theirvoices heard. Taking action may imply standingup for a schoolmate whose human dignity is injeopardy, initiating a global media campaign atschool, or disseminating a personal view pointA student notices that certain members of his class have stopped eating lunch. When heenquires, they tell him that they are participating in a religious fast. The student is curiousand asks more about what that involves: for how long will they fast? When can they eat?What can they eat? What is the religious significance of the fast? The student learns thatfor his classmates fasting is something that they do every year, along with their familiesand religious community. He also learns that fasting is significant to his classmates as forthem it is a way of demonstrating control over their bodies. The student reflects on thissignificance. Although he does not fast he recognises that the themes of community,sacrifice and material transcendence are common to many different religions, including thatof his own religious heritage. He recognises that different groups can attribute the samemeaning to different practices. He furthermore asks his classmates whether he can fastwith them for a day, as a way of experiencing what fasting means for them. His classmateswarmly agree and invite him to join their families for dinner in the evening to break the fasttogether. Although the student does not attribute the same significance to fasting, throughthis experience he better understands the perspectives of his classmates and his respectfor religious diversity increases.A group of students decides to initiate an environmental awareness campaign on the ways inwhich their school contributes to local and global waste and pollution. With support from theirteachers, they arrange a series of talks on how to reduce waste and energy consumption.They also design and strategically distribute information posters that help guide studentsto make better choices when buying products and when disposing of waste. Furthermore,they collaborate with both student representatives and school administrators to introducerecycling bins and energy conservation strategies on the school premises.interact with others across differences in waysthat are open, appropriate and effective. Openinteractions mean relationships in which allparticipants demonstrate sensitivity towards,curiosity about and willingness to engage withothers and their perspectives. Appropriaterefers to interactions that respect the expectedcultural norms of both parties. In effectivecommunication, all participants are able tomake themselves understood and understandthe other (Barrett et al., 2014).Figure 1. The dimensions of global competenceleowKnInteracting openly, effectively and appropriately across cultural differences:an exampledgeUnderstandand appreciatethe perspectivesand world viewsof othersesValuExamine local,global andinterculturalissuesJo and Ai are collaborating on a school project with a student from another country, Mike. Thestudents set up a video chat on a web platform to brainstorm ideas, but at the convened timefor the meeting, they cannot find Mike online. When, a few hours later, the students manageto connect on the web platform, Jo complains that not showing up at the first meetingis not a good way to start, and gets angry when she receives no explanation at all fromMike, who remains silent at the other end of the line. At this point, Ai demonstrates globalcompetence as she successfully de-escalates the conflict. She knows that silence is usedin some cultures as a strategy to deal with perceived aggressions, and is not necessarily anadmission of guilt or indifference. She is also aware that some people refrain from speakingout directly for fear of a disagreement that may hurt the other person’s feeling and threatentheir relationship. Ai thus suspends her judgement about Mike’s behaviour and asks Mikepolitely why they could not find him online. Mike explains that this is probably due to amisunderstanding about the meeting time, as Jo and Ai’s country moved to daylight savingtime the night before while his country did not. Thanks to Ai’s intervention, the studentscould laugh about their little incident and successfully start to work on their project.SkillsGlobalcompetenceTake actionfor collectivewell-beingand sustainabledevelopmentEngage in open,appropriate andeffectiveinteractionsacross culturesdes OECD 2018 OECD 2018ituAtt10Figure 1 shows how global competenceis defined as the combination of the fourdimensions (examining issues, understandingperspectives, interacting across culturaldifferences and taking action), and how eachdimension builds on specific knowledge, skills,attitudes and values.Taking action for well-being and sustainable development: an exampleDimension 3: Engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions across cultures.This dimension describes what globallycompetent individuals are able to do whenthey interact with people from differentcultures. They understand the cultural norms,interactive styles and degrees of formality ofintercultural contexts, and they can flexiblyadapt their behaviour and communication tosuit. This dimension addresses appreciationfor respectful dialogue, desire to understandthe other and efforts to include marginalisedgroups. It emphasises individuals’ capacity toon the refugee crisis via social media. Globallycompetent people are engaged to improveliving conditions in their own communities andalso to build a more just, peaceful, inclusive andenvironmentally sustainable world.11

The building blocks of global competence – knowledge, skills, attitudesand values2The four dimensions of global competenceare supported by four inseparable factors:knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. Forexample, examining a global issue (dimension1) requires knowledge of a particular issue, theskills to transform this awareness into a deeperunderstanding, and the attitudes and valuesto reflect on the issue from multiple culturalperspectives, keeping in mind the interest ofall parties involved.Effective education for global competence givesstudents the opportunity to mobilise and usetheir knowledge, attitudes, skills and valuestogether while exchanging ideas on a globalissue in and outside of school or interactingwith people from different cultural backgrounds(for example, engaging in a debate, questioningviewpoints, asking for explanations or identifyingdirections for deeper exploration and action).A school community that wishes to nurtureglobal competence should focus on cle

Why do we need global competence? To live harmoniously in multicultural communities Education for global competence can promote cultural awareness and respectful interactions in increasingly diverse societies. Since the end of the Cold War, ethno-cultural conflicts have become the most common source of politi