Exploring global citizenship learning and ecological Behaviour change through extracurricular activities

ABSTRACT

This research paper aims to examine the effects of extracurricular activities in building knowledge, skills and attitudes that attempt to develop ecological citizenship as a subset of global citizenship among middle school students. I focus on one extracurricular programme entitled ‘The Friends of Nature’ that was provided in a Moroccan private middle school. Adopting a qualitative research method approach, data consisted of interviews with thirty students from 7th, 8th and 9th grades and two teachers (social studies and life and earth science teacher), and were collected over the course of three months through multiple data collection tools, namely observation, student focus group discussions and teacher interviews. A series of environmental activities offered students opportunities to: identify environmental problems, promote education for sustainable development and improve their environmentally conscious behaviour, develop creative solutions, and take actions for preserving nature in their community. The data were analysed using a content analysis method. The results reveal that students demonstrated cognitive development in terms of human rights, citizenship rights and responsibilities, environmental sustainability. While the program developed attitudes of empathy, respect, solidarity, it failed to instil a sense of responsibility to act for the betterment of the world, thus being a global citizen.     

Education for future-oriented citizenship: implications for the education of twenty-first century competencies

Globalization and the knowledge economy have opened up worldwide agendas for national development. Following this is the emphasis on the social dimension, otherwise known as social capital. Much of social capital includes “soft skills” and “twenty-first century skills”, which broadly cover critical, creative and inventive thinking; information, interactive and communication skills; civic literacy, global awareness and cross-cultural skills. Proactively, the Singapore government is preparing for Curriculum 2015, a new curriculum that would develop student attributes, embedded in the “confident person”, “self-directed learner”, “active contributor”, and “concerned citizen”. Significantly, a new curricular initiative, Character and Citizenship Education, emphasizes the integrative nature of citizenship and twenty-first century competencies and has been implemented in all schools in Singapore from 2011. This future-oriented approach to citizenship education emphasizes the significance of individual initiatives and the intellectual capital of citizens. This paper analyses features of this particular approach to citizenship education, and its strengths and significance, which may be viewed as an integrative “total curriculum approach” with a “whole-society” perspective. In addition, the challenges of teaching twenty-first century skills will also be highlighted. This departs from the conventional paradigm of socialization, but to help students develop attributes for a future society to come.     

Citizenship education ‘goes global’: extra-curricular learning in an overseas campus of a British civic university

Active citizenship is increasingly being framed in the context of lifelong and life-wide learning. However, research on young people’s participation in and experience of different forms of civic practice, particularly in informal settings in different sociocultural contexts, is scarce. Consequently, little is known about how these experiences shape their learning about active citizenship, their understanding of the self and their relationship to society. This paper reports findings from a small-scale qualitative research on students’ experiences of participation in extra-curricular activities (ECAs) in a UK Transnational Higher Education institution in China, in relation to the development of active citizenship and lifelong learning capacity. The findings suggest ECAs can provide opportunities for students to accumulate knowledge and develop skills, attitudes and values that underpin the promotion of active citizenship, while developing habits and skills essential for lifelong learning.     

MULTIPLE IDENTITIES AND EDUCATION FOR ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP

ABSTRACT:  This paper explores concepts of multiple and nested identities and how these relate to citizenship and rights, and the implications of identities and rights for active citizenship education. Various theoretical conceptions of identity are analysed, and in particular ideas concerning multiple identities that are used contingently, and about identities that do not necessarily include feeling a strong affinity with others in the group. The argument then moves to the relationship between identity and citizenship, and particularly citizenship and rights. Citizenship is treated non-legalistically, as one of the locations of belonging. The paper draws on three successive categorisations of citizenship rights: by T.H. Marshall in the 1950s, Karel Vasak in the late 1970s and John Urry in the 1990s, and is illustrated in part by the development of European citizenship in parallel to national identity. This is then linked to how contemporary citizenship education might use the exploration of contested rights as a way of developing practical enactive skills of citizenship.     

Citizenship education in civics textbooks in the Japanese junior high school curriculum

This article discusses the types of citizenship education that are included in a sample of Japanese junior high school civics textbooks. Seven civics textbooks that have been authorized by the Ministry of Education for use in junior high school from the 2012 academic year were analysed in the context of fundamental issues in citizenship education and the national curriculum guidelines in Japan. In contrast to some previously published research, it is argued that the textbooks encourage, to a limited extent, active, participatory approaches by students with exercises and practical tasks to help students develop skills and gain the understanding required to live in contemporary society. It is suggested that the textbooks place some limitations on active learning especially in relation to students' political participation and that they reflect the struggle Japan is experiencing in the search for an inclusive national identity. Further work may serve to clarify the nature of potential contributions to citizenship education including that associated with students' involvement in whole school issues.     

Interpersonal communication competence and digital citizenship among pre-service teachers in China’s teacher preparation programs

Abstract

The Internet, new media and social change have created issues requiring digital citizenship education, particularly within the socio-cultural context of Chinese education. Recent digital citizenship standards for education developed by organizations such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) highlight the importance of this issue. Researchers have explored digital citizenship with some mediated behavioral determinants; however, the critical influence of interpersonal communication competence (ICC) has not yet been explored. To expand understanding of the components needed for improving the appropriateness of digital citizenship among future role models of society, this study investigates the relationship between ICC skills and digital citizenship with a sample of 905 pre-service teachers. The results showed that 10 ICC skills were positively predictive of digital citizenship. Environmental control and immediacy were found to be the strongest predictors of digital citizenship among the skills examined. These results theoretically emphasize the importance of ICC skills in mediated behavior and provide practical direction for improving pre-service teachers’ digital citizenship, which can positively enable the behavior instructors display and convey to their future students.     

“治理”视域下的学校公民教育

“治理”作为一种新型的管理理念和实践方式,在当前获得了人们愈来愈多的重视。“治理”理念倡导教师和学生对学校治理权利的共享,引导教师与学生通过协商、对话、合作以及公民伙伴关系等方式积极参与学校公共事务的管理,从而扩大和提升学校的公共利益,培育学生的更为健全的公民品质。因此,学校“治理”与公民教育之间所形成的是一种有机联结的关系,学校组织的治理型建构可以为公民教育提供坚实的生活基础和制度保障,而公民教育则可以通过唤醒学生的公民意识和治理意识,提升他们的治理意愿和治理能力,从而推动学校治理的发展。基于“治理”理念而建构起来的公民教育,不再是灌输式、概念式的公民教育,而是一种主体性、实践性的公民教育,它可以更好地培育学生的公民权利与责任意识,使学生成长为治理型的公民。     

教育转型·人的转型·公民教育

社会转型必然伴随着教育的转型。教育的自觉转型以人的转型为核心。公民是当代中国人之转型所在,公民教育也因此成为当代中国教育转型之所在。公民教育不是政治教化,也不只是公民意识教育,而是一种以培养公民完整素质为宗旨的新的教育形态。个人主体性和公共性是公民的两个基本品质。当代公民的公共性已从传统的国家公民延伸到社会公民和世界公民。因此,当代公民需要具备个人公民、社会公民、国家公民、世界公民等多重身份,我们也必须以具备多重身份的复合型公民的要求来设计公民教育的层次与目标。     

A tale of two countries: comparing civic education in the Philippines and Singapore

This article provides a comparative analysis of citizenship education in the Philippines and Singapore. Through an analysis of historical contexts, citizenship education policy and curriculum, it examines Makabayan in the Philippines and National Education in Singapore. It identifies particular policy and curriculum trajectories as responses to national and global imperatives to demonstrate how countries are redefining the kinds of knowledge, skills and values deemed necessary for national citizenship in global contexts. This comparative case study illustrates some of the tensions and contradictions facing citizenship education in new global contexts and highlights the different ways countries try to manage these tensions through citizenship education policies and curricula. Findings point to different factors that shape and constrain the implementation of citizenship education programmes in both countries.     

Active citizenship through sport education

Sport education (SE) is an instruction model developed amid concerns about the lack of authentic, legitimate opportunities for young people to experience sport through physical education and was designed to facilitate enhanced links between experiences in physical education and those in the wider world of sport. The paper discusses how one UK primary school delivered key citizenship education learning through the use of SE. The research reported here is based on interviews with teachers and students in Year 6 at one co-education, state-run primary school. The paper highlights the possibilities for teaching citizenship through the medium of sport while recognising the central importance of the creative teaching approach rather than the subject matter of sport in facilitating the development of active citizenship. The possibilities for citizenship education through sport to be celebratory and supportive of real-world discourses are highlighted. As a solution to the overcrowded curriculum in primary schools, SE has been embraced and developed by the teachers in ‘Forest Gate School’.     

法国公民教育述评

法国是公民教育起步比较早的国家。法国学校通过教学活动、课外活动、与校外教育机构合作和互联网等多种途径和形式向学生传授诸如平等、民主、权利和义务之类的“共和国价值观”,旨在培养能够积极参与社会生活的合格公民。法国公民教育在凸显民族意识、重视社会整合,多种途径综合施教以及重视实践能力的培养等方面表现出明显的特征。     

Teachers' views on citizenship education in secondary education in The Netherlands

In 2005 the Dutch Minister of Education proposed making it compulsory for all schools in The Netherlands to stimulate active citizenship and social integration. Teachers must give these educational goals a tangible form in their practice. What are the teachers' views on citizenship education? Concepts of citizenship education and the teacher's role in it may differ widely, and very different perspectives on values and value development are possible. This article addresses how teachers view citizenship education. We present the results of a survey conducted among a representative sample of Dutch secondary schools. The results show that teachers make clear choices in the importance they attach to certain values. Teachers want students to acquire skills to analyse, communicate and reflect on values, and they want to stimulate the development of certain values. The chosen values relate to different types of citizenship. School level, school subject and the age of the teachers make a difference to the importance teachers attach to different values.     

论2O世纪2O年代余日章领导的成人公民教育运动

党的“十七大”报告强调加强公民意识培育,而公民意识的形成有赖于系统的公民教育。在我国积极推行公民教育,使之成为全国社会性运动,始于20世纪20年代余日章领导的青年会开展的成人公民教育运动。这项公民教育运动对于提高国民公民意识和公民观念及催生现代民主产生了深刻的影响,因此,认识与分析余日章领导的成人公民教育运动,在我国加强公民意识教育的今天,无疑具有重要的理论意义和实践价值。     

Citizenship discourses: production and curriculum

This paper explores citizenship discourses empirically through upper secondary school student’s understandings, as these emerge in and through their everyday experiences. Drawing on a post-structuralist theorisation inspired by the work of Michel Foucault, a discourse analysis of data from interviews with students is carried out. This analysis characterises three discourses of the active citizen – a knowledgeable citizen, a responsive and holistic citizen, and a self-responsible ‘free’ citizen. The analysis raises questions over the implications of contemporary efforts for the intensification of standardising forces through citizenship education. It also stresses the notion that engaging students actively does always also involve discourses other than those stressed through the curriculum, which nurtures the body and nerve of democracy itself.     

‘We did see the lapwing’ – practising environmental citizenship in upper-secondary science education

This article explores factors that promote the practice of environmental citizenship in science education and aims to contribute to the development of the concept of practising environmental citizenship. We follow six Norwegian secondary students (aged 16–17) participating in a small-scale intervention study conducting an assignment on a socioscientific issue (SSI) in their local district. Our findings reveal that dealing with an SSI in real-world settings through out-of-school activities set in the students’ local district is important for practising environmental citizenship. This article also addresses the tensions between the practice of environmental citizenship and the cultural issues related to school science. Our findings reveal that tensions exist between working with ready-made-science, as students normally do, to deal with science-in-the-making through an SSI. This research discuss the practical implications of the concept of practising environmental citizenship in science.     

全球公民教育思潮的兴起与发展

自20世纪80年代尤其是90年代以来,随着全球化趋势的增强以及全球相互依存理论的兴起,原有的以民族国家为背景的现代公民教育理论不断受到挑战。全球公民教育思想在这样的背景下受到了广泛的关注。这一思想在发达国家的教育实践中已经有所体现,许多学者投入对其研究中,从而逐渐形成一股思潮。全球公民教育思潮的确立,并非一蹴而就,而是由最初的世界公民教育的思想因子逐渐地萌发和成长,经历了萌芽、确立和发展三个时期。     

The impact of development education and education for sustainable development interventions: a synthesis of the research

The Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations advocate that all learners will have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. Development education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education are deliberate educational interventions, which all address global justice and sustainability issues. Current research continues to expand our understanding of the field, but there are no recent reviews of the literature addressing the impact of these educational interventions. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to examine the impact of intentional development education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education. We reviewed 243 abstracts against specific inclusion criteria: 127 from Scopus, 101 from ERIC, and 15 from EBSCO. Of those abstracts, 99 met inclusion criteria and underwent double review, which excluded further studies. Of the final 44 papers included for review, 26 focused on education for sustainable development or environmental educational themes, 12 were global orientated in content, either through development education or global citizenship, and six were intercultural educational interventions. In this paper, we provide an overview of measures of assessment of learning used, review the evidence of the impact on learners, and address some methodological and pedagogical questions arising from the review.     

论公民教育

培养公民是一切教育目标表述的基础 ,也是国家对教育的基本要求。公民教育已成为当代西方政治哲学、教育理论关注的热点问题 ,其具有代表性的理论主要有自由主义公民教育、社群主义公民教育和多元文化主义公民教育。社会主义政治文明建设不仅是社会主义民主制度的设计和完善问题 ,更重要的是培养一代认同、积极参与并具有实践能力的公民。因此公民教育的目标一定要明确地包含在基础教育的目标中 ,公民教育的内容也一定要渗透在相关的课程之中 ,并通过公民教育目标整合基础教育中的道德教育、思想政治教育和社会教育以及相关的教育活动。     

外语教师公民意识现状分析与研究

一项关于福建省中学英语教师公民意识现状的研究表明：外语教师公民意识表现在其认识不清和知识不足,特别是其权责意识、民主意识和法律较为薄弱。外语教师普通公民意识薄弱的原因在于教师教育与公民意识教育没有相互兼容,即其知识基础和职前教育课程设置中缺乏公民意识教育的相关内容。     

Education for citizenship in South Australian public schools: a pilot study of senior leader and teacher perceptions

Preparing students for informed and active citizenship is a core goal of education and schooling in Australia. The ways schools educate and prepare young Australians for citizenship involves a range of processes and initiatives central to the work of schools, including school ethos, mission, extracurricular activities and community-based participation. With regard to the formal curriculum, the recent introduction and implementation of the first ever Federal Australian Curriculum includes provision for a new subject – Civics and Citizenship. Research evidence from other nations suggests that schools understand, approach and enact education for citizenship in a multitude of ways, yet how Australian schools construct this aspect of their work is currently under-researched. In this context, and drawing on data from interviews with school leaders and teachers of Years 6–8 (11–14 year olds) students in a small sample of South Australian primary and secondary schools, we explore perceptions and current approaches to education for citizenship. Our findings suggest (1) that while school leaders and teachers value education for citizenship, they do so for different reasons; (2) that schools place values as central to education for citizenship; and (3) that community involvement is typically understood as occurring within rather than beyond the school.