MACMILLAN Understanding Global Skills for 21st Century Professions

This book highlights the increasing need for people who will be working in professions such as teaching, health, engineering and business management to have the skills for living and working in a global society. Globalisation and the challenges resulting from recent political events in Europe and North America have given rise to a need for training and further and higher education programmes to address the skills young people all need to effectively engage in the current global society. Reviewing the range of theories and debates surrounding skills for the twenty-first century, the author suggests there is a need to directly address the real-world issues of today and move beyond abstract concepts such as team work, critical thinking and problem solving, as important as these concepts are. The author proposes a new framework for global skills using examples from international and national policy-makers and evidence from further and higher educational programmes and training courses. This pioneering yet practical book will be of value to students and scholars of global education as well as practitioners and policy makers. Review “Understanding Global Skills for 21st Century Professions is a well-researched study that will assist anyone interested in the origins, dimensions and potential directions of the 21st Century skills debate, particularly as concerns the needs and challenges of the market place. I would recommend it for policy makers and for those responsible for workplace training programmes.” (Conrad Hughes, Journal of Research in International Education, July 18, 2019) Review “This book presents a comprehensive study of the need of global skills to meet the challenges of globalisation. It moves the discussion forward from ‘lumping’ global skills in with 21st Century skills and makes the case for why this is a critical issue for universities and colleges.” (John Mountford, Head of International Development, Semta UK) “As someone who works in a widening participation university with collaborative partners across the world, I am interested in equipping all students with global skills to effect global social change, not just pay lip service to marketable skills on paper. Professor Bourn’s readable but scholarly book inspires me to challenge my own perception of what constitutes a 21st century skills agenda, so that I can apply this to curriculum design and partnership operation; my students will have a better chance of being skilled, critical and transformative.” (Claire Aindow, Academic Co-ordinator - Standards, Enhancement and the Learner Experience, University of Bolton, UK) “This book is a successful attempt to systemise various approaches to definition and classification of the one of the most demanded and valuable skills, so called 21st century skills. This book also specifies differences and similarities between often substituted and confused terms such as soft skills, employability skills, global skills and 21st century skills. What I found especially valuable from practical point of view is that the author goes even beyond generic examples of those skills and gives suggestions on what are those skills in four professional areas: teaching, engineering, medicine and business.” (Dr. Miroslava Dmitrieva, German Chancellor Fellow for Prospective Leaders) About the Author Douglas Bourn is Professor of Development Education and Co-Director of the Development Education Research Centre at UCL, UK. His research interests include the theme of global perspectives for global professions, global learning and learning about development issues.