The vital role of education in creating Global Citizens

On this journey to discovering global citizenship, I have come to realise that education is the biggest driving factor behind this notion and is necessary to overcome any problems individuals may have while trying to become global citizens.  Problems include inequality, mass media manipulation and cross cultural differences that arise from a rapidly expanding world where travelling between borders is becoming easier.

From my perspective, one of the biggest issues of becoming global citizens can be summarised by Stromquist “it is clear that there is an immense disjuncture between the recognition of ideas and their actual practices regarding global citizenship”₁.  I think this is a result of a diverse education system that is affected by what society deems a global citizen and so the definition of a global citizen will vary across the globe.  The environment that consists of mass media, culture and beliefs heavily influences the perspectives of individual’s definition of global citizen.

While watching a question and answer show on ABC, it further highlighted the importance of education in the development of global citizens. It emphasises the initial perspective of ‘Angry’ Anderson being against asylum seekers and through his journey of staying in a developing country, attributes the change in perspective to experiences and starts developing more empathy and understanding towards these people, which is apart of the learning process. The link to the video will be provided below₂.

Acknowledging the challenges, my proposal is to come up with a global definition of what makes a global citizen, a definition that is accepted and taught globally such as the one offered by the academic Cogan who lists a set of characteristics₃. This ensures that each individual will have the same understanding and can work towards being a global citizen.

Global Citizens Characteristics3

1. The ability to look at and approach problems as a member of a global society;
2. The ability to work with others in a cooperative way and take responsibility for one's roles and duties;
3. The ability to understand, accept and tolerate culture differences;
4. The capacity to thinking a critical and systematic way;
5. The willingness to resolve conflict in a nonviolent manner;
6. The willingness to change one's style and consumption habits to protect the environment;
7. The ability to be sensitive toward and defend human rights;
8. The Willingness and ability to participate in politics at local, national and international levels.

1. Stromquist, NS, 2009. Theorising Global Citizenship: Discourses, Challenges, and Implications for Education. Interamerican Journal of Education for Democracy, [Online]. 2/1, 6-29. Available at: http://www.flacsoandes.edu.ec/web/imagesFTP/1266600645.global_citizenship.pdf [Accessed 23 December 2014].

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5JGyAxJ0AU

3.Cogan,J. & Kubow P.(1997). Multidimensional citizenship: Educational policy for the 21^st century. Tokyo: Sasakawa Peace Foundation