Global Competence and Sustainable Development in Teacher Training: Preparing for a Changing World

This cross-cultural study examines the inclusion of global competences (GCs) in the curriculum of teacher education programs across three Baltic Sea countries: Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Using van den Akker’s (2003) substantive approach to curriculum analysis, the researchers analyzed official documents and course descriptions of Daugavpils University (Latvia), Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy (Lithuania), and Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce (Poland). Employing Rapley’s (2007) document analysis method, the study focused on both explicit content and implicit gaps to assess how well GCs are integrated into teacher training programs for primary and preschool education. The research involved a detailed examination of 262 syllabi, comprising 63 from Latvia, 61 from Lithuania, and 138 from Poland. The researchers used a template based on the PISA 2018 Global Competence Framework to identify which competences and sub-competences were included in the syllabi. The study aimed to answer the question: How are all the dimensions of global competences included in the syllabi of courses taught at the primary and preschool education levels in three Baltic Sea countries? The findings reveal that the Lithuanian curriculum includes the most GC-focused courses (92 courses, 276 ECTS), followed by Poland (44 courses, 99 ECTS), and Latvia (30 courses, 161 ECTS). The analysis was conducted in four steps: comparing the total number of courses and ECTS credits, ranking the development level of each GC dimension, characterizing the development of each dimension, and analyzing the general approach towards incorporating GCs into the curricula. The results indicate a significant variation in how GCs are integrated across the three countries, with Lithuania demonstrating the most comprehensive incorporation. The study highlights the need for a more sustainable, systematic and consistent inclusion of global competences in teacher education to better prepare educators for a globalized world.