Education
in a
Global
Space:
possible framings & responses to
‘education for global citizenship’
Greg Mannion University of Stirling
&
Hamish Ross University of Edinburgh
[Pupils need to be] well
informed about ..
challenging our
ambitions against the
achievement of other
countries and aiming
to have a confident
sense of self (LTS)
the environment, civil rights,
genetic technology,
information and
communication
developments, and world
supplies of food, water and
energy
. … they will also have to be
well aware of the cultural
and religious dimensions of
the pace of world change
J McConnell 2001
1
Policy Synergy?
UN Decade
Securing the Future
Developing a Global Dimension
Putting the World into ..
International School Award
Eco Schools
NGOs …Oxfam
ITE, FE, HE, Schools,
Education in a Global Space:
Argument: EfGC - A nodal point in discourses
Evidence: 3 lineages … convergence?
Analysis:
Level One (a) A curricular turn - policy slogan
(b) A response to threats
Level Two (a) Part of wider global turn in education
(b) A perspective from the west
Consequences?
2
Curricular Global Turn:
3 lineages
Curricular Global Turn:
3 lineages
3
Analysis Level One: ‘node’ & ‘umbrella’
Graduates as global citizens life in a global society and work in
a global economy
EFGC as responding to global threats …
Economic …. We must earn a living within an increasingly
global economy […]
Cultural …. There are major issues of race, citizenship,
cultural diversity, religious differences,
Security … environmental protection, sustainable food
supplies, deprivation, human rights, technological
advance and many others […]
Competencies…. but we largely still lack the knowledge,
understanding and skills that would enable us to think
critically about them, make truly informed decisions and
take appropriate action at a personal, local, national or
international level.
4
Analysis Level Two:
Wider Global Turn in Education
!Curricular changes
!multi-cultural approaches & languages ed & ICT
!enterprise education, exchanges,
!education for sustainability, Eco Schools, global
citizenship
!Governance
!internationalization, (markets, travel)
!privatization,
!Operation
!corporatization
!decentralization
!standardization (Bologna, TIMMS, PISA, OECD)
‘Hidden’ driver of Global
Citizenship Education ?
“Is America’s place
at the top assured?
Can we afford NOT
to infuse global
content?”
Source: Oklahoma
Associations Supporting
International Studies
5
CONSEQUENCES OF EfGC
Individualises: a flexible self who is market-aware,
culturally sensitised, will participate on global stage
Production of new kinds of citizens with duties
(economic and cultural)
Converges, homogenises, excludes, remoulds,
NGO, Transnational orgs, practitioners, business
Education takes globalisation as a starting point
Complicity: neo-liberal agendas, western worldview
Teaching them to
‘be global citizens’
in the global
market economy ..
Teachers
& pupils …
Ignore,
Support,
Adapt to,
Comply with,
Become Suspicious of,
Generate Resistance to?
6
EfGC - a train on what tracks?
…. a bandwagon we board?
7