Who Needs Global Citizenship Education? A Review of the Literature on Teacher Education

What is it about?

In this study, we examine the discourses that tacitly shape the meanings of Global Citizenship Education within the contemporary academic literature on teacher education. After analyzing the peer-reviewed scholarship published from 2003 to 2018, we found that the dominant trend is to frame Global Citizenship Education as a redemptive educational solution to global problems. This framing requires teachers to embrace a redemptive narrative following a model of rationality based on altruistic, hyperrationalized and overly romanticized ideals.

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Why is it important?

This article strongly criticizes the redemptive Global Citizenship Education discourse that inspires numerous scholars in the field of teacher education. Although unintentionally, this potent narrative: a) increases the risk of blaming educators for not achieving the goals of GCE; b) promotes an unrealistic idea of professional educators; c) overlooks the importance of emotion and lived experiences in civic learning; and d) minimizes the responsibilities of civic institutions and the public sphere

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