How to Become a Global Citizen
The last competency that my Introduction to Honors class taught me was global citizenship. We discussed as a class what we think it means to be a global citizen, and why it is so important. We also did our own research to develop our own personal philosophies. We learned that global citizenship is composed of three main skill areas: self-awareness, knowledge and understanding, and communication.
The first skill area we learned about was self-awareness. Self-awareness is the idea that we can identify ourselves as a member of a culture and reflect on the biases or ways of thinking that we have because of it. Discussing this topic in class was strange to me at first, because I honestly had never thought of myself as a part of a culture. I realized, however, that I am a part of the American culture and that comes with its own set of societal norms and biases.
The second thing we learned about was knowledge and understanding. This pertains to other cultures and our understanding of them. We compared and contrasted our own cultural norms to others, and discussed simple surface questions about these societies. We were also taught that brief interactions with people different from ourselves, like at culture nights, would further progress our understanding.
The last topic of global citizenship is communication. We learned that as honors students we were required to choose a language we were interested in and take several courses in order to complete our competency. My Introduction to Honors class taught me that this was because learning another culture’s verbal and nonverbal communication can give us a deeper understanding of their way of life.
My Introduction to Honors class taught me many new things about what it means to be a global citizen. Before college, I never thought about the importance of this competency, but this class really got me thinking about why it is so vital. Being a global citizen means understanding yourself as a member of a culture in order to understand other cultures and how they compare to our own.
The first skill area we learned about was self-awareness. Self-awareness is the idea that we can identify ourselves as a member of a culture and reflect on the biases or ways of thinking that we have because of it. Discussing this topic in class was strange to me at first, because I honestly had never thought of myself as a part of a culture. I realized, however, that I am a part of the American culture and that comes with its own set of societal norms and biases.
The second thing we learned about was knowledge and understanding. This pertains to other cultures and our understanding of them. We compared and contrasted our own cultural norms to others, and discussed simple surface questions about these societies. We were also taught that brief interactions with people different from ourselves, like at culture nights, would further progress our understanding.
The last topic of global citizenship is communication. We learned that as honors students we were required to choose a language we were interested in and take several courses in order to complete our competency. My Introduction to Honors class taught me that this was because learning another culture’s verbal and nonverbal communication can give us a deeper understanding of their way of life.
My Introduction to Honors class taught me many new things about what it means to be a global citizen. Before college, I never thought about the importance of this competency, but this class really got me thinking about why it is so vital. Being a global citizen means understanding yourself as a member of a culture in order to understand other cultures and how they compare to our own.