Scheinfeld Center holds event to encourage cultural awareness
City College’s Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation hosted its first Global Competence Summit from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, at the Narrative Loft in downtown Santa Barbara.
The event included panel discussions, self-assessments, networking opportunities, and the presentation of the 2016 Global Leadership Awards.
Foreign relations dominate the workforce because of many jobs involved with international trade, making it vital that the education system prepare future generations with skills to thrive in a global economy.
The term ‘global competence’ refers to the thorough understanding of international culture and the willingness to learn and adapt to other country’s customs, which studies show American students lack.
Julie Samson, director of the center, launched a new Global Competence Initiative at the summit.
The initiative is a fresh approach for community colleges and high schools to build on their curriculum by integrating the concept of global competence with general education through a continuum of programs.
“By the time you go away, if you are faculty you can have ideas on what to immediately implement, and counselors will learn how to guide students based on 21st century global conditions,” said Event Coordinator Charlene Sansone.
There are several pilot programs of the initiative underway.
Regional college and high school educators and career counselors were invited for the launch of the initiative.
Jennifer Manise of the Longview Foundation opened the summit with an interactive keynote. Attendees took part in an activity during the keynote that taught them how to understand the world through disciplinary and interdisciplinary study, giving them a chance to mingle with their tables and wake up their brains for the informative day ahead.
An industry panel of five local executives followed the keynote to give the summit their first-hand knowledge of globalization. Trygve Duryea, Miles Hartfeld, Jim Semick, Claire Wineman, and Tim Wright stressed the importance that students become globally competent given one in five jobs in California is tied to global trade.
The panel suggested that students experience cultural differences through travel and take part in internships.
Lauren Casperson, Jason Ham, Stellan Lange, Sebastian Rothstein, and Saturne Tchabong took the stage next as the student panel. The panel was chosen for their natural leadership and involvement.
Rothstein and Lange came to study in Santa Barbara all the way from Sweden. Their international perspective brought a quality insight to the summit.
This panel discussion gave educators and counselors a student point of view.
“Not everything is learned in the classroom,” said Rothstein. “Educators should foster curiosity in students to get out and learn in the real world. Be involved outside the classroom, go beyond!”
The students continued sharing their opinions at the innovation lab and made their rounds to most of the tables when their panel discussion time was up.
Samson presented two 2016 Global Leadership Awards- one for Outstanding Business and the other for Outstanding Educator.
Kristin Fraser Cotte won the Outstanding Business award for her involvement with the Schinfeld Interns program. Sarah LaCasse won the Outstanding Educator award for her role in writing the T-Shirt that Follows the World, a high school module that teaches global trade.
The remainder of the summit consisted of a provided lunch and interactive activities. Self-assessments, innovation labs, and wine tasting gave attendees a chance to network and apply their new ideas of global competence in legitimate conversations.
“What pleased me so much today is the level of engagement and interest in making sure that our students gain global competence,” Samson said. “I want to be a big support to teachers and counselors so we can make real change together.”
