A Global Citizen

As the trend of globalization, more and more people are joining together in the global community to work, study and solve global issues together. These people heavily involved in the global collaboration can be considered as global citizens. The global citizen is defined as someone who identifies with being part of an emerging world community and whose actions contribute to building this community’s values and practices (Israel, 2012). Global citizenship is defined as the awareness of other cultures and contributing and working towards community improvements (Rachel, 2013). As a global citizen, the person should possess multiple skills to succeed in this global emerging community also understand the different cultures in different dimensions. These skills and dimensions will be discussed in this essay.

The first skill to be acquired is critical thinking and problem solving skill. It is an imperative skill to analyse complex issues and develop solutions when participating in the global collaboration and aiming to achieve global awareness. The second skill is communication and collaboration. Communication skill is crucial for the global citizen to work with people from different background efficiently. Collaboration is vital in order to gather these people, align them with a common goal and develop solutions based on their unique skills. Technology skill is the third important skill, especially the use of information technologies. With this skill, the global citizens can develop their own perspectives on the world and be active in media. They can use the critical thinking skills to analyse the information and develop new ideas. Furthermore, the global citizen should also learn adaptability to adjust themselves into the changing circumstances and deal with obstacles in different situations. The last skill is the cross-cultural awareness. It enables the global citizens to understand more about the different human behaviours from the cultural perspective, so they can be more tolerant and empathetic with varying groups of people (Rachel, 2013).

Other than the skills discussed above, the global citizens should also understand the culture differences in the following dimensions. First dimension is equality vs. hierarchy. Equality emphasizes to treat all people equally. Hierarchy often happens in Asia, where there are different levels for different people. The higher levels set the rules while the lower levels need to follow. The second dimension is the direct vs. indirect communication. People communicate in the direct way will deliver message clearly. The indirect communication reflects on what and how these people say and the message is unclear. The third dimension is individual vs. group orientation. The individual-oriented people focus on themselves and work independently. The group-oriented people think about the impact on the group first when making decisions. These two types of people often feel difficult when working together as they are always doing things at different speeds. Furthermore, the global citizens should understand different attentions paid by different groups to task vs. relationship. Some focus on the task in the professional way, while others care more about the relationship. Finally, dimension of risk vs. caution should be realized. Risk-oriented people are willing to take risk when making decisions while the caution-oriented people are very careful and trying to minimize any risk. This dimension also contributes to the different working paces.

As the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, global citizens are taking more important responsibilities to solve problems with global impact. With the five essential skills in problem solving, communication and collaboration, technology, adaptability and cross-cultural awareness, and the understanding of different dimensions of varying cultures, they are able to contribute to the global community in a more effective, innovative and productive way.

References

Israel, R. (2012). What Does it Mean to be a Global Citizen? Retrieved from KOSMOS: http://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-global-citizen/

Rachel. (2013). THE 21ST CENTURY SKILLS OF GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP. Retrieved from The EF Educational Tours travel blog.: http://equator.eftours.com/global-citizenship/21st-century-skills-of-global-citizenship