The need to prepare students for a fundamentally different world has come to play a central role in statements of educational priority around the world.

Building on strong foundations of numeracy and literacy, global competencies at the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) is a pan-Canadian effort to prepare students for a complex and unpredictable future with rapidly changing political, social, economic, technological, and ecological landscapes.

The ambiguity and uncertainty of these changes signal the urgency for educational institutions to provide younger generations with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that they will need to become lifelong learners, to understand issues of global interdependence and to be active global citizens. Global competencies will assist them in being able to meet the shifting and ongoing demands of life, work, and learning; being active and responsive to their communities at a range of levels from local to global; leveraging new technologies; engaging in meaningful relationships with people from countries and cultures around the world; acting responsibly to new challenges and issues; and embracing opportunities that do not yet exist.

The focus on global competencies stems from recognition that the role of education goes beyond graduating students who are academically prepared. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) stated that, in essence, teachers are trying to answer two key questions to prepare students for today’s world: (1) what competencies (skills), attitudes, knowledge, and values will students need to thrive and shape their world? and (2) how can educational systems ensure that every student develops these competencies effectively?[1] The work accomplished by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) on global competencies since 2016 has focused on answering the first question. This framework endeavours to answer the second.

[1] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “The future of education and skills: Education 2030.” Position paper, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/education/2030/learning-framework-2030.htm.

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