Chattanooga International Summit

Education

Proposed Topic: Education: the New Form of Wealth
Speaker: Mary Knaff
Facilitator: Jeff Olingy

Background:
There is no issue more critical to our country’s global economy and global competitiveness than the quality of our educational system. The world is changing, business is changing, and our society is changing:

Today, almost one in three Americans identifies as racial or ethnic minority.
18.7% of the U.S population speaks a language other than English at home.
By the year 2050, the White, non-Hispanic population will comprise only 50% of the population. Hispanic/Latinos will make up 25% of the U.S. population, followed by African Americans with 14.5%, Asian American 8% and all other races at 5%.
Only about one-half of today’s high school students study a foreign language, with the vast majority at the introductory level.
1 million U.S. students study French, a language spoken by 80 million people worldwide, while fewer than 40,000 study Chinese, a language spoken by over 1.3 billion people.
One in six American jobs is tied to International trade.
U.S. trade with Asia now equals more than $800 billion per year.

Needless to say, the way we teach and prepare our future leaders must also change.

A literature review on internationalism and globalization states that in the 21st century young people who understand the dynamics of global economic and intercultural relations will have a distinct advantage in a globally competitive workforce. Those with knowledge of world history, languages, global health, and international affairs will be able to make informed decisions as voters about domestic issues influenced by global circumstances. By the same token, with an entire generation lacking in that knowledge, the United States is in danger of putting itself at a competitive disadvantage.

Globalization is causing policy and business leaders to call for new competencies to advance U.S. competitiveness, to provide leadership in global markets, develop scientific innovation, create security, and proactively improve international relations. These emerging realities of the globally interconnected world have been documented in both national and state-specific reports.

In addition, solving new national security and humanitarian challenges, such as terrorism, AIDS, environmental degradation, and poverty, will require increased knowledge of other world regions, cultures, and languages. Increased diversity in our nation’s classrooms, workplaces, and communities, including new immigrants from many different parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, requires greater understanding of the myriad cultures and histories students bring to school. These new realities demonstrate that future workers seeking careers in business, government, health care, law enforcement, and a wide variety of other jobs will all require global knowledge and skills.

Most U.S. students lack sufficient knowledge about other world regions, languages, and cultures, and will not be able, if current educational practices continue, to be effective employees of globally-oriented organizations. Members of minority groups are especially underrepresented in international courses and careers. And, let’s not forget, in order to have globally competent students, we must have globally competent educators. As the United States’ economy has become knowledge-based, our expectations regarding education and our education policies, practices, and structures have changed little.

How will the U.S. compete in this new fast approaching global environment? Without improvements to our educational system, we are in danger of losing our preeminent position to nations with better academically prepared youth, whose rapidly increasing rates of college participation and graduation already outpace our own.

Coordinated efforts among business leaders, policy makers, and educators that result in a more accessible and affordable system of higher education and a better prepared secondary education will help ensure that United Sates has a skilled workforce that can adapt to the competitive pressures of a global economy.

Goals:

In this session, Chattanoogans will:

Define Global Competency
Discuss the potential impact of internationalism and globalization on our educational system
Identify ways to address internationalism and globalization in our PreK-16 curriculum while expanding the PreK-16 system to include lifelong learning
Brainstorm ways to increase international experiences through our educational systems and community activities
Propose action plans to be presented to community leaders in academia, government, and business



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