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Critical Global Citizenship Education

Globalization is here to stay and it is important that students have the skills to adapt and thrive in our globalized world and create a life of security and dignity for themselves. However, we believe, it is also essential that they develop an ethical and conscientious attitude whereby their pursuit of a better life does not impinge on the right to security and dignity of others. We believe that by using a critical approach to global citizenship education (GCE), we can instill a sense of social and ecological justice in each of our students, whereby they connect local issues within their communities to broader global issues and choose and act in ways to create a more just and sustainable global world.

The critical approach to GCE challenges the traditional world order that is a legacy of the long history of colonialism, decenters dominant narratives, and imagines a different world based on justice and pluriversality.

This project is inspired by the thoughts of several decolonial and critical GCE scholars and educators including Vanessa Andreotti, Enrique Dussel, Ramon Grosfoguel, Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Anibal Quijano, Walter Mignolo, Nelson Maldonado Torres, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Lynette Schulz, Sharon Stein, and others.

Critical Global Citizenship Education Project

What?

The critical Global Citizenship (CGCE) project seeks to engage students with social and ecological issues through a pluralistic and global lens. This project aims to transform and empower each of our students to become agents of change through civic engagement at local, national, and global levels.

Why?

Our students are living in a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous in light of the impending ecological crises, involuntary migrations, social and political volatility, rising inflation, broken information environments, and human rights regressions/denials. Yet, education often prepares students for a world where resources seem to be inexhaustible and where progress is perceived as linear. Even when social and environmental issues are addressed they can be disconnected from historical and political contexts and may perpetuate Westerncentrism, individualism, and competition. Our project aims to engage and bring people together to shift the focus of education from neoliberalism to equity, and social and ecological justice.

How?

This project will work to develop critical global consciousness through cross-community collaborations and transdisciplinary programming that encourage students to grasp the complex ways in which local, regional, national, and global forces interact and intersect with our individual worlds. Participants will include artists, academics, and activists along with Skyline College faculty who have redesigned their curricula and implemented cross-campus, transdisciplinary programming to create learning environments that engage students with global ethical issues.