A Critical Analysis of OECD's 'Global Competence' Framework
Abstract
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) proposes that improving students’ “multidimensional capacities” through ‘global competence’ education can result in a more ‘inclusive and sustainable’ world. The purpose of this study is to critically analyze OECD’s ‘global competence’ policy (2018) as incorporated in its Programme for International Student Assessment. This document analysis employs Bacchi and Goodwin’s (2016) poststructural policy analysis, “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” approach, which unearths the assumptions, presuppositions, and potential effects of policy through a solution-problem articulation. This study finds that OECD’s solution of ‘globally competent’ learners constructs a problem that suggests national education systems are failing to produce graduates who are equipped for the needs and issues associated with the evolving global economy. Ultimately, the problem constructed in OECD’s ‘global competence’ policy comes with potential opportunities; however, it also associated with blind spots that may impede OECD’s mission of nurturing an ‘inclusive and sustainable’ world.