Global Competence Certificate

An innovative pre-departure and on-program course for study abroad, volunteering, internships, teach abroad, au pair, work and travel.

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What is the Global Competence Certificate?

Designed to support learners participating in an international experience, our Global Competence Certificate builds their global competence; the knowledge, skills, and understanding we believe are needed to create a more just and peaceful world. The content, now available in 7 languages, is designed to meet key educational goals that help learners develop intercultural competence and deal with cultural adjustment. These goals are organized into four core areas:

  • Self-awareness
  • Awareness about others
  • Emotional intelligence, and
  • Bridges across difference

This is what GCC is all about

“In what ways did this change the way I thought about my cultural identity? It made me think about my cultural identify –period. I had never thought of it before.”

Kevin Klein, Intern Finance and Budget Transatlantic Ruhr Fellowship Program

Prepare your participants interculturally and help them with cultural adjustment

Add the Global Competence Certificate to your inbound and outbound programs

Regardless of program type, intentional educational interventions are necessary for intercultural learning to happen.

That’s why we offer the Global Competence Training Program (GCTP) and the Global Competence Certificate (GCC). The GCTP is based online while the GCC combines online training and guided reflection with Qualified Facilitators. The GCC blended learning program is flipped to deliver content online, in multiple languages, and leverage offline facilitation for deep reflection about intercultural learning. The program is modular and developmental, helping learners grow at their own pace, with ample opportunities for peer-learning with other participants from around the globe.

Background

Research shows us, that of all the variables (including the use of host families, the length of the program, access to language learning, etc.), the one variable that has the biggest impact on people’s learning for intercultural competence is having intentional intercultural education surrounding one’s experience abroad. Even a short program can serve as a powerful catalyst and an effective ‘real lived experience’ as part of the Kolb Experiential learning cycle.

“In education abroad and in language learning, the professional’s task continues throughout the experience; in the Georgetown Consortium study, facilitation at key points of the semester led to greater increases in students’ Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) scores. In contrast, students participating in unmediated direct enrollment programs showed no such increases…”

"Very easy to use"

“We started implementing the GCC and just had our first returnee meeting. The GCC is very easy to use and all participants loved the experience. It is a great help for them to be prepared for the program and to guide them through intercultural challenges along the way. As a facilitator I enjoyed the experience and had no issues at all implementing the GCC.”

See a sample from one of the 18 online modules:

Learn more details about the program goals, content, and approach

Events & Conferences

The Global Competence Certificate will be at:

AEE & Gap Year Association International Conference
November 7-10, 2018 in Orlando, FL
High-touch, high-tech solutions for intercultural and cultural adjustment preparation while abroad: scalability, affordability, and accessibility.
Find out more

You might have also heard about the Global Competence Certificate at the following conferences/events:

AFS Webinar on Facilitating Global Competence Development through the GCC
November 2, 2018 (Online)
Webinar #3: Facilitating Global Competence Development through the GCC.

The 2018 NAFSA Region IV Conference
October 17-19, 2018 in Duluth, MN
Presentation: Build or Buy – Molly Stern & Linda Stuart, AFS Intercultural Programs/Sentio Global Education Network along with Amy Bartnick Blume, IFSA Butler.
Panel: Facilitating Intercultural Learning Online: Lessons Learned & Best Practices – Linda Stuart, AFS Intercultural Programs/Sentio Global Education Network along with Tara Harvey, TrueNorth and Christine Anderson, UMN Learning Abroad Center.
Poster: Exploring the Ways Higher Education Institutions Use Sentio’s Blended Learning Program.

2018 AFS Global Conference
September 26-28, 2018 in Budapest, Hungary
Global Competence: Our Future, Our Responsibility

Minnesota International Educators Annual Meeting
September 19, 2018 in Minneapolis, MN
Applying the Developmental Intercultural Paradigm to International Student and Institutional Learning: The Augsburg Experience and the AFS Global Competence Certificate

StudyWorld
September 3-5, 2018 in London, United Kingdom
Moving Beyond Borders: The Value of Global Competence for Language Learners

NZIEC 2018
August 8-10, 2018 in Wellington, New Zealand
Pre-conference: High-tech solutions for global competence programmes
From research to practice: Enhancing global competence through blended learning

Connect & Experience Map Launch Event for Erasmus+
June 20-21, 2018 at Karlshochschule International University, Karlsruhe, Germany
Intercultural blended learning in higher and non-formal education
Bert Vercamber, Sentio CEO as KEYNOTE Speaker

NAFSA
May 27-June 1, 2018 in Philadelphia, PA
Global Competence and Employment: Translating Student Experiences in Education Abroad (with Purdue University)

APAIE
March 25-29, 2018 in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Blended learning in mobility: effective program delivery, support and assessment. New modalities in global engagement and mobility

SUNY COIL 2018
March 16-17, 2018 in in New York, US
High-touch and high-tech solutions for intercultural and cultural adjustment preparation for study abroad: scalability, affordability, and accessibility

Languages Canada’s 10th Anniversary Conference: Reflection, celebration, vision
February 19-22, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario
Global Competence Certificate: adding value for English language students – A Global Village case study

WISE: Enhancing Intercultural Learning at Home and Abroad
February 7-9, 2018 in Winston-Salem, NC
Overcoming Institutional Resistance to Intentional Intercultural Skills Enhancement

CIEE Annual Conference 2017  
November 8-11, 2017 in Austin, Texas
Online Pre-Departure Courses – Maximizing Student Learning and Support

8th ANIE Annual Conference 2017
October 4-6, 2017 in Kigali, Rwanda
Higher Education in Africa: New Regional and Global Dynamics

Navigating a Changing World: Building Talent with Global Experience
October 1-3, 2017 in Washington, DC
Power Skills: Developing and Certifying Global Competence for Employment  

Global Internship Conference 2017
June 13-17, 2017 at La Pontifica Universidad Catolica Santiago de Chile
Building the bridge: Fostering engaged and continuous learning through purposeful holistic programming in international internships

Integrating Global Learning with the University Experience
June 11-12, 2017 Elon University, Elon, North Carolina
From research to practice: How educator-led blended learning programs can enhance global competence and intercultural learning in study abroad and off-campus domestic study programs

Language Canada 10th Annual Conference
February 26 – March 1, 2017 in Quebec, Canada
Language acquisition aided by global competence (and vice versa): Research and tools

The Forum on Education Abroad
March 29-31, 2017 in Seattle, WA USA
Enhancing the Study Abroad Experience With Online Intercultural Learning

SIETAR Brazil 2016
October 20-21, 2016 in São Paulo Brazil
Programa online de Competências Interculturais

12th QS Asia-Pacific Professional Leaders in Education (QS-APPLE)
November 22-24, 2016 in Putrajaya, Malaysia
Beyond pre-departure orientation towards Global Competence Development

45th NSEE Annual Conference
September 26-28, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas, USA
Introducing an Innovating Blended Learning Model for Intercultural and Experiential -Learning: Lessons Learned from A First Year Pilot

Generation Study Abroad IIE Summit
October 23, 2016 in Washington, D.C. USA
Fostering Global Competency and Creating Pathways to Study Abroad

FAUBAI Conference 2016
April 17-20, 2016 in Fortaleza Brazil
Beyond pre-departure orientation towards Global Competence Development

The GCC asks learners to follow a different path...

“Nearly all organizations continue to design and deliver programs abroad on the assumption that participants learn simply through reading some things about culture before they depart, and then by coming into contact with the new and different after they arrive. The GCC asks learners to follow a different path, practicing core global competencies that allow them, over time, to learn to interact more effectively and appropriately with culturally different others. Kudos to AFS and Sentio for offering a certificate program that prepares people to live and flourish in an increasingly diverse and complex world.”

-Michael Vande Berg PhD, award-winning researcher, author, and speaker

Meet our Partners

What CEA appreciates most about the GCC:

  • The flipped learning model makes it accessible to our students, with watching the videos to learn the online content before coming together in discussion sessions.
  • The opportunity for our students to improve their chances of integration and cultural adjustment during their study stay.
  • The focus on reflection and sharing of the individuals’ own experience in the discussion session and how the theory relates to the students’ actual experiences.

Emelyne Burkhard
Celtic English Academy, UK English language provider serving approximately 1000 students from up to 50 different nationalities annually

What Purdue University thinks about the GCC:

“My group who went abroad had impressive quantitative and qualitative results in terms of intercultural development.. Both the IDI and the qualitative data showed that the group had a shift from a predominantly monocultural mindset to a more intercultural (global) mindset. Given these results and considering learners’ feedback about the program, I highly recommend the GCC.”

H. E. Parker, Ph.D.
Assistant Director, Latin America/Spain Program,
Global Engineering Programs
Purdue University

Global Skills Development

We invite you to watch this insightful webinar with Dr. Mick Vande Berg and Sentio’s CEO Bert Vercamer on Global Skills Development for the Workforce, how facilitated learning both home and away grows global competence.

Learn more about the theory, application, and the development of the Sentio Global Competence Certificate— a blended, personalized educational program that prepares individuals with the global skills that employers and communities need.

Demo’s now available. Contact us for more details.

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