Global citizenship education preparing learners for the challenges of the twenty-first century

Abstract

Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is a framing paradigm which encapsulates how education can develop the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes learners need for securing a world which is more just, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable. It represents a conceptual shift in that it recognizes the relevance of education in understanding and resolving global issues in their social, political, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions. It also acknowledges the role of education in moving beyond the development of knowledge and cognitive skills to build values, soft skills and attitudes among learners that can facilitate international cooperation and promote social transformation. GCE applies a multifaceted approach, employing concepts, methodologies and theories already implemented in different fields and subjects, including human rights education, peace education, education for sustainable development and education for international understanding. As such, it aims to advance their overlapping agendas, which share a common objective to foster a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. The United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) has established education as a means to ‘foster global citizenship’ – one of its three priority areas. To support this, UNESCO organized two landmark meetings on GCE in 2013. This publication aims to define the parameters of GCE by using the collective expertise, experience and wisdom of those participants who gathered at these landmark events, and to plan for future action in line with emerging thinking and other ongoing work. The review establishes that GCE has a critical role to play in equipping learners with competencies to deal with the dynamic and interdependent world of the twenty-first century. While GCE has been applied in different ways in different contexts, regions and communities, it has a number of common elements, which include fostering in learners: an attitude supported by an understanding of multiple levels of identity, and the potential for a ‘collective identity’ which transcends individual cultural, religious, ethnic or other differences; a deep knowledge of global issues and universal values such as justice, equality, dignity and respect; cognitive skills to think critically, systemically and creatively, including adopting a multi perspective approach that recognizes the different dimensions, perspectives and angles of issues; non-cognitive skills including social skills such as empathy and conflict resolution, communication skills and aptitudes for networking and interacting with people of different backgrounds, origins, cultures and perspectives; and behavioural capacities to act collaboratively and responsibly to find global solutions for global challenges, and to strive for the collective good. Holistic approaches to GCE demand formal and informal approaches, curricular and extracurricular interventions and conventional and unconventional pathways to participation. In formal settings, GCE can be delivered as an integral part of an existing subject (such as civic or citizenship education, social studies, environmental studies, geography or culture), or as an independent subject area. Integrated models appear to be more common. Some less traditional, but at least as effective, pathways for GCE have included the following: the use of information and communication technologies and social media, sport competitions and the use of art and music, and youth-led initiatives employing a wide variety of approaches. Both traditional and new horizons for GCE are profiled in this review. This publication also explores a number of enabling conditions for the promotion and implementation of GCE. These include: the existence of an open environment for universal values, the implementation of transformative pedagogy and support for youth-led initiatives. The review acknowledges that there are a number of ongoing tensions with the concepts of global citizenship and global citizenship education. While these tensions vary, they all point to the fundamental question of how to promote universality (e.g. common and collective identity, interest, participation, duty), while respecting singularity (e.g. individual rights, self improvement). Some ways forward to resolve these tensions are suggested, whilst maintaining that challenges around theoretical elements of GCE should not undermine its practice. The processes documented in this publication have strengthened partnerships, built coalitions and contributed to improving the evidence base on the theory and practice of global citizenship education. While there are tasks that remain, this foundation bodes well for improving the enabling conditions and the practices highlighted in this review. By preparing learners to fulfil their potential in an increasingly globalized world, we are promoting transformed societies that are also better equipped to deal with the twenty-first century challenges and to seize twenty-first century opportunities