Education for Global Citizenship: What, Why and How?

Abstract

Colleges and universities are vital institutions for addressing political, social, and economic concerns, be they at a local, national, or global level. While embedded in their communities, they contribute substantially to a nation's competitiveness and operate within an increasingly international environment that links people and institutions together across borders. Colleges and universities are arguably the most resilient and the most sustainable institutions not only for advancing modernization and prosperity but also for ensuring the foundation and continuance of civil society. As such, they are gateways to a future that is in our own hands.

Globalization poses new educational challenges. Higher education institutions are obliged by their missions to prepare people for life in the 21st century - people who are consciously prepared to live and work in the complex interdependent society and contribute to improving the common global welfare of our planet and its inhabitants.

This session will convene professors, administrators, and staff from higher education institutions seeking to place global education at the core of student learning. They will explore factors that support or restrain comprehensive approaches to global education at colleges and universities. Key questions to be addressed include:

What role do colleges and universities have in preparing their students as leaders in the 21st century?
What knowledge, skills, and values do students need to be active global citizens?
What are the most effective ways of teaching and learning for global citizenship?
How can those committed to global education learn from and support one another?

As they address these questions, participants will develop strategies and action plans for projects to implement at their respective colleges and universities. The projects are intended to strengthen existing institutional activities or to develop new and innovative approaches to education for global citizenship.

Session Themes and Format

The goal of the Global Citizenship Program is to foster deep and sustainable institutional change that will allow our partners to become "sites of global citizenship." During the session, participants will address questions related to what global citizenship education means by examining some of the current challenges and opportunities that globalization presents for college students and graduates. Participants will also develop a better understanding for why global citizenship education is so important and how to effectively articulate this to a variety of institutional stakeholders. Finally, attention will be focused on how individuals and institutions can more effectively promote global citizenship education with particular attention to topics such as:

institutional policies and practice
curriculum enhancement
effective pedagogy
co-curricular initiatives
faculty development

The session will be structured around the following formats:

a series of plenary lectures delivered by an international Session Faculty who will speak about both the broad issues of globalization (such as sustainable development, global security issues, the image and role of the US, etc.) as well as specific perspectives, strategies and examples of global citizenship education at colleges and universities.
Plenary discussions provide an opportunity for participants to ask specific questions and share their thoughts related to their own interests, experience and work.
Thematic group meetings will allow participants to meet in smaller groups throughout the week to discuss issues related to global citizenship education and articulate practical strategies for addressing and incorporating those issues at colleges and universities.
Institutional meetings will allow participants from the same institutions to develop design strategies and develop plans for bringing the ideas and perspectives back to their home colleges and universities

Additional information about the session themes and format can be found here:

Expanded Session Description

Schedule and Lecture Topics

Plenary lecture topics as well as a detailed schedule are being finalized and will be available soon.

Pre-session Information for Participants

All participants must complete this Pre-session Participant Information Form no later than June 22.

Logistical and general information about the session and participants' stay at Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron can be found here:

General Information Document

Pre-session Readings and Viewings

Participants should read several articles in advance of the session related to global citizenship and global citizenship education. Links to the articles can be found here:

Pre-session Readings

Participants should also view the following videos which relate to the conversations that will take place during the session:

Changing Education Paradigms
This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award.
21st Century Enlightenment
Matthew Taylor explores the meaning of 21st century enlightenment, how the idea might help us meet the challenges we face today, and the role that can be played by organisations such as the RSA.
Hans Rosling on global Population Growth
This TED Talk examines the implications of the fact that the world’s population will reach 9 billion over the next 50 years and that only by raising the living standards of the poorest can we check population growth.