On the Teaching of Grammar

Abstract

Globalization significantly influences the very notion of citizenship that is no longer universally seen as only a nation-related concept. Therefore, the discourse of global citizenship is getting more attention in programmatic educational texts and curricula. This study investigates how teachers use the conceptual framework of global citizenship in the social studies classroom, and what curricular devices and pedagogies social studies teachers use to address aspects of global citizenship. The study demonstrated that social studies teachers frequently use information about international issues in their classrooms, and there is a tendency to incorporate global and international perspectives into citizenship education. However, educators need more rigorous assistance to teach emerging types of citizenship. The study demonstrates that despite the fact that participants rarely use the term global citizenship in their instruction, they provide rationales that correspond to the notion of global citizenship.     

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.     

Fostering Global Citizenship Education for Teachers Through Online Research

Abstract

This article is based on a study involving 126 International Baccalaureate (IB) teachers in more than 30 countries who, through the use of asynchronous online discussion forums, shared how they teach and simultaneously reflected upon how they conceptualize global citizenship. Data analysis revealed that participants developed new understandings about open-mindedness, interconnectedness, and cross-cultural learning experiences. Online data collection in educational research offers great opportunity for furthering professional development in global citizenship education.     

Preservice teachers’ views of global citizenship and implications for global citizenship education

Global citizenship (GC) is becoming increasingly significant as a desirable graduate attribute in the context of increasing globalisation and cultural diversity. However, both the means and ends of GC education are influenced by a divergent range of conceptualizations. The aim of this research project was to investigate preservice teachers’ understandings of global citizenship, with a particular focus on cultural diversity. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) participated in interviews, and findings indicated that they were uncertain about the idea of global citizenship, sought harmony and a desire for sameness in culturally diverse relationships, and held ethnocentric, paternalistic and salvationist views about the ‘Other’. Drawing on these findings, we present a framework incorporating technicist, humanistic and postcritical conceptions as a tool for analysis of GCE approaches, their means and ends.     

Citizenship education in England and Wales: theoretical critique and practical considerations

This paper presents a theoretical critique of citizenship education in England and Wales, as a means of raising pedagogical considerations for teachers, and policy issues for curriculum makers and planners. Drawing on a range of recent empirical studies, we construct an analysis of practice and suggest that differences between dominant models of citizenship in England and Wales owe much to their histories. We suggest that such differences create opportunities for new curriculum‐making practices as well as democratic possibilities in the context of citizenship education, at a time when curricula in both England and Wales are under revision. Considering school councils/forums as an exemplar of practice common to both contexts, we question the wisdom of schools employing a narrow conception of active citizenship, via forums, in order to demonstrate they are satisfying the relevant requirements of the Order for Citizenship in England, and aspects of the Personal and Social Education curriculum in Wales. While the exemplars are both from the UK context the arguments apply beyond these borders and to more general concerns regarding the development of global citizenship.     

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.     

Israeli teachers make sense of global citizenship education in a divided society- religion,marginalisation and economic globalisation

ABSTRACT

Global citizenship education (GCE) has recently been promoted by national education systems and supranational organisations as a means for facilitating social cohesion and peace education. We examined the perceptions of GCE held by teachers from the three main education sectors in Israel: secular-Jewish, religious-Jewish, and Palestinian Arab, and found stark differences in the way teachers from each sector interpreted the term. For marginalised groups (Palestinian Arab), GCE is seen as offering a way of securing a sense of belonging to a global society. For already well-resourced social groups (Jewish secular), GCE is viewed as a way of promoting global futures. Meanwhile, for the Jewish religious minority in Israel, GCE is seen as a threat to national identity and religious values. Our findings cast doubt on the unifying potential of GCE, and we conclude by calling upon scholars and policymakers to examine unique obstacles facing GCE in their various contexts.     

The cosmopolitan turn in Literature education and its resulting tensions in Singapore schools

ABSTRACT

In this article, I highlight the emergence of a cosmopolitan turn in Literature education as observed in teachers’ beliefs and practices in Singapore schools. Central to the cosmopolitan turn is the view that Literature education should not be disengaged from real-world connections to others particularly those who are marginalized and oppressed in the world. In the first part of this article, I describe core principles informing a cosmopolitan approach to teaching Literature that is distinct from previous movements. In the second part, I utilize case studies of Literature teachers from four secondary schools in Singapore to discuss key tensions resulting from teachers’ attempts to foster cosmopolitan sensitivities. These tensions point to the propensity for Literature education to prioritize a form of universalism that neglects the dynamic interconnections between national and global identity; to encourage a human capital approach to education where cosmopolitanism is co-opted to strategically benefit elites and to perpetuate passive rather than active cosmopolitan engagement with justice. I suggest that awareness of these tensions can enable educators to develop more holistic and ethically grounded cosmopolitan Literature education where all students can be equipped with critical and empathetic capacities to navigate diverse and conflicting values in our global age.     

Education the Handmaid of Philosophy

Abstract

This article addresses how we might teach for global citizenship in world history classrooms. Despite the name, secondary world history courses in the United States have not consistently focused on global interconnections, multiple perspectives, and inquiry into global issues. We explore why this might be, as well as suggest specific learning activities and curricular topics in world history that could help meet global citizenship goals.     

Opinions of Teachers and School Administrators about Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and Disability Services

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to determine primary school administrators’ and teachers’ views about the organisational citizenship behaviours in their schools. Qualitative research method was employed. The participants consisted of 15 teachers and 5 school administrators working in primary schools in North Cyprus, which were selected through maximum sampling method. Content analysis was done to analyse the data. The findings indicate that the majority of teachers report that the number of teachers who are eager to help is unsatisfactory, and that the participants do not have positive opinions about the reactions they face when they encounter a problem in school. Attention was paid to issues pertaining to disabled students. Since disabled students need extra attention and care, teachers and school administrators expressed the view that to interact with disabled students, organisational citizenship behaviour is necessary. Results further show that organisational citizens are eager to guide, to make extra effort and to empower themselves in order to be more useful and efficient. This study recommends that organising in-service training to improve organisational citizenship behaviour may be effective in improving schools and contribute to the awareness of the importance of the organisational citizenship in terms of disabled students.     

Inspecting Spiritual,Moral, Social and Cultural Development

The concept of citizenship is open to a wide range of interpretations and, although it has a long history at the margins of education in the UK, it has never had an established tradition. Arguably, citizenship should occupy a central position in the curriculum since a broad interpretation of it underpins many of the skills, values and attitudes which we would want to promote. As part of Oxfam’s promotion of global citizenship, a pack of teaching materials was commissioned and developed by teachers, with the aim of promoting basic rights from local, national and global perspectives. This paper describes this pack and the rationale for it.     

‘I know what you are about to enter’: lived experiences as the curricular foundation for teaching citizenship

ABSTRACT

This qualitative multiple case study documents how two African American women social studies teachers utilise their lived experiences as the curricular foundation for teaching differing notions of citizenship to African-American students. Particular events, experiences, and relationships helped shape their perception of their roles as teachers and how they approached crafting a curriculum that was representative of their lived experiences as well as those of their students and community. This study hopes to shed light on how experiences may be used as valuable sources of knowledge in creating a more inclusive curriculum that mirrors the diversity seen in classrooms.     

Inclusive and democratic practices in primary school classrooms: A multiple case study in Spain

ABSTRACT

Background: In order to offer all students the opportunity to progress and grow to their full potential, teachers must positively recognise and value the different expressions of diversity of all the class members. One of the biggest educational challenges that teachers face today is how to address classroom practices from a truly inclusive and democratic perspective.

Purpose: The main aim of this study was to explore, in a Spanish context, how primary school teachers articulate and implement inclusive and democratic practices in their classrooms.

Design, sample and methods: The methodological design of this study was situated within a qualitative research approach. A multiple case study structure, comprising three case studies, was utilised. Data collection was carried out via interviews, classroom practices inventories, scientific observation and analysis of documentation. The study was carried out over three academic years and had three phases. Data were analysed thematically.

Findings: In the three cases analysed, the analysis identified different possibilities in terms of the implementation and articulation of pedagogical differentiation (the structures, content, process and product) and democratic classroom management (collaborative culture, a shared leadership, democratic participation and school linked to environs).

Conclusions: The analysis highlights the need to support the formation of a critical citizenship within inclusive contexts, as well as the need to develop a sense of belonging to the educational community.     

Useful citizens,useful citizenship: cultural contexts of Sámi education in early twentieth-century Norway,Sweden, and Finland

Abstract

This article investigates Sámi elementary education in early twentieth-century Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The main focus lies on cultural contexts that frame and limit language use. The key analytical concepts are useful citizen and useful citizenship. Through these concepts the article probes the ways in which governmental educational authorities and Sámi teachers talked about education and citizenship. Studying these concepts and the cultural contexts behind them sheds light on the formation phase of Nordic citizenship. Full-scale citizenship was not offered to all individuals inside the nation state. Where it was, it had certain conditions that excluded cultural elements of minority populations. Sámi teachers defined citizenship mainly within the Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish nation states. However, some tendencies towards a more cross-national notion of Sámi identity can be discerned.     

Global citizenship education in context: teacher perceptions at an international school and a local Israeli school

We apply semi-structured interviews to conceptualise perceptions of global citizenship among teachers at an international school and teachers at a local public school in Israel, revealing discrepancies between theory and practice in global citizenship education (GCE). We find that teachers perceive global citizenship differently along three major axes: boundaries of global citizenship, practical aspects of GCE, and through the effect of Israel’s context. This study offers a comparative perspective that discerns the differing impacts of school context and student background on teacher perceptions at different kinds of schools and highlights the importance of teacher agency in GCE.     

Global citizens or global workers? Comparing university programmes for global citizenship education in Japan and the UK

Abstract

The implementation of global citizenship programmes at universities has been taking place against a backdrop of growing internationalisation and marketisation in higher education, leading some to conclude that universities are cultivating global workers rather than global citizens. This small-scale exploratory study aimed to investigate these claims through the comparison of global citizenship education (GCE) programmes in two contrasting contexts – the UK and Japan. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative content analysis, our findings suggest that the universities in both the UK and Japanese contexts demonstrate examples of adaptation and localisation of GCE to fit with institutional commitments, and both universities have significant elements of employability agendas infused into their programmes. We argue that while different in many respects, the two programmes both demonstrate an adaptation of GCE to fit within broader internationalisation strategies aimed at maximising global competitiveness and an alignment with the neoliberal trends shaping the global higher education sector.     

Educators’ Perceptions of Student Digital Citizenship Practices

Abstract

Digital citizenship, defined as exhibiting appropriate and responsible behavior with digital technology use, is an essential component of technology education. The purpose of this study was to examine K-12 educators’ perceptions of their students' digital citizenship knowledge and practices as they relate to cyberbullying, digital footprint, digital privacy, digital netiquette, and digital identity. One hundred and seven educators responded to a survey on digital citizenship practices. Based on the educators' perceptions, student understanding and practice of digital citizenship were rated as not well for most of the items on the survey. While educators' perceptions of their students' digital citizenship practices did not vary among school levels or based on their roles as teachers or technology coaches, educators who taught digital citizenship had higher perceptions of their students' digital citizenship practices.     

Global citizenship education in South Korea: ideologies,inequalities, and teacher voices

Guided by neoliberalism and post-colonialism, this article takes the case of global citizenship education (GCE) in South Korea to explore social studies teachers’ experiences and their everyday voices in teaching GCE. The findings demonstrated a number of barriers that teachers confront and the entrenched ideologies behind these hurdles, which contributes to the marginalisation of GCE. By drawing scholarly and policy implications that consider the complicated global/local nexus of GCE within dominant Eurocentric and neoliberal discourses, the study adds to existing research on teachers’ GCE practices from different societies and expands upon the critique of Western-centric, neoliberal perspectives embedded in GCE.     

Global citizenship education,technology, and being

ABSTRACT

Despite the widespread promotion of the global school, it remains unclear as to how citizenship education (global citizenship education, GCE) is developed. Educational bodies such as UNESCO, Oxfam, and the International Baccalaureate are in the full throws of developing models for GCE yet questions remain as to how such a sweeping notion might take effect. Educational frameworks replete with theoretical, political, pedagogical, and methodological conundrums permeate much global education discourse. Modes of GCE thinking range from post-colonial perspective, critical perspectives, postmodernism as well as an oratory utopianism. This article presents an alternate model of GCE promoting both technology and art as complicit in the exacting of a multifaceted GCE. The balancing of art and technology, as demonstrated, presents an ontological stance that acts as a foundation for the Proto-Global Citizen or ‘Weltburger’. This article aims to support educators seeking a further means of conceptualising GCE embodying diversification while embracing a GCE consciousness. Furthermore, the development of GCE through art and technology creates an opportunity for educators to realign disciplinary focus in light of the increasing incentive for schools to ‘go global’.     

Teaching for citizenship in Lebanon: Teachers talk about the civics classroom

National and Civic Education is a program of study compulsory across all grade levels in Lebanon aimed at promoting social cohesion and active citizenship. A sample of 19 civics teachers in Lebanon across four of the six governorates participated in semi-structured interviews. The conversations delved into their conceptions of citizenship and citizenship education and their reflections of classroom teaching experiences. Their responses revealed complex inter-relations among nationalist conceptions of citizenship, pedagogies of rote learning, emotional repercussions from controversial topics and limited opportunities to think critically and engage in dialogue in the classroom.