Education for Global Citizenship

Education Above All (EAA) is pleased to present this study to education policymakers at international and national level, at a time when the UN Secretary General in his Global Education Initiative is calling for education that fosters “Global Citizenship”. Learning experiences that prepare students for responsible citizenship at local, national and global levels are an essential part of quality education. The programmatic and thematic “briefs” collected here will likewise contribute to the ongoing policy dialogue on how education can better support social cohesion, peacebuilding and state-building. They are thus relevant to implementing the Secretary General’s Initiative, and to ongoing programmes supportive of “education and peacebuilding” (including the new UNICEF programme) and education development in fragile states (including the new approaches being adopted by the Global Partnership for Education). This book shows that transformative education for local, national and global citizenship and peace CAN be implemented even under difficult conditions if there is a policy commitment to do so. Authors have provided examples and lessons learned from their own experiences as eminent practitioners in the field.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One provides a brief overview of education for global citizenship, including in chapter 1 the subject matter and sub-themes, in chapter 2 the challenges of teaching for personal values and behaviour development, and in chapter 3 the importance of having a clearly defined and holistic policy accepted by key stakeholders, and effective implementation. Part Two comprises chapters contributed by practitioners and specialists. Finally, Part Three offers some recommendations for future action.