Abstract
Developing students' global competence has become increasingly important in the face of social, economic, and environmental threats, natural disasters, and climate change. Educators who aspire to help students become globally competent change agents must first develop these attributes before fostering them in their students. This can be pedagogically challenging, and educators may lack the confidence to integrate global competence into disciplinary contexts or engage in classroom discussions about contested sustainability and social justice issues. In this chapter, the authors engage in pedagogical reflection to explore the challenges and opportunities presented by critical global citizenship education in higher education. The diverse cases draw from experiences of ethics and citizenship education at Australian universities in business schools and in enabling programs, outward mobility programs involving social work students from Australia engaging in study tours to Cambodia, and the development of a transnational global citizenship education program in Vietnam.
TopBackground
GCED supports students to develop a robust understanding of social and environmental problems and the systems that produce them as well as their role in both their reproduction and in effecting just and sustainable outcomes. A critically-oriented GCED is necessarily political and ethical in its orientation and directed toward the values of human rights, social justice and sustainability (Grobbauer & Wintersteiner, 2019). As such GCED is more than just teaching skills and knowledge; it “promotes enhancement of critical, humanistic, and transformative values incorporating inclusivity ethically, remaining closely intertwined with the information education has on students’ values and practical approaches to life” (Bosio, 2021, p.xx).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Course: Learning opportunities including lectures, tutorials or workshops and assessments which comprise a unit of study toward a degree. Referred to as a subject or unit in some higher education institutions.
International Student: In the Australian context, refers to a student who is not an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, New Zealand citizen, or a holder of an Australian permanent resident humanitarian visa.
Capstone Course: A culminating and usually integrative experience of an educational program (e.g., a course in the final year of an undergraduate degree program).
Critical Pedagogy: A philosophy of education that insists social justice is not distinct from teaching and learning and which aims to use education to combat issues such as racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression through the critique of power.
Global South: A concept used to describe a grouping of countries along socio-economic and political characteristics which typically includes regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
Global Citizenship: The umbrella term for social, political, environmental, and economic actions of globally-minded individuals and collectives based on the idea that identity transcends geography and that responsibilities and rights are derived from membership to humanity. Sometimes referred to as World Citizen/ship.
IELTS: International English Language Test System. An English language proficiency test for higher education and global migration.
Decolonizing Approach: The process of deconstructing colonial ideologies regarding the superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches.
Postcolonialism: The critical study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of imperialism and colonialism including the control and exploitation of colonized people and lands.