Reimagining “Global Citizenship” Within Higher Education Institutions: Challenges and Possibilities

• In Event: Reimagining the “Global Citizenship" Discourses: A View From the Contexts of Developing Countries

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the possibilities of re-imagining the notion of ‘global citizenship’ within higher education institutions.

Theoretical Perspective

The paper is interdisciplinary in nature. The author uses critical sociological perspectives informed by poststructural and postcolonial discourses. The paper also draws on the political theory of Hannah Arendt (Hayden, 2009) from an international relations perspective to illuminate the dangerous effects of a globalizing neoliberalism.

Data

The data shared are the results of an ethically-approved research project (Macfadyen, Hewling, & Swanson, 2006; Swanson, 2011). The researchers examined ‘global citizenship’ education, understandings, and possibilities in a course that was designed with the intention of creating an international transdisciplinary forum for advancing critical thinking in undergraduate programs, while also boosting the competitive nature of the university within an era of increasing internationalization of universities.

Results

It was found that in spite of the neoliberal context a level of success was achieved through the strong focus on critical, reflexive perspectives, the openness and dialogicism encouraged through the course, the embrace of a pedagogy and philosophy of ‘glocalization’ (Robertson, 1992). Moreover, the internally reflective nature of the course and the participants' contribution to its curriculum and further development allowed those involved to begin to explore what can be done to prevent this self-and-other destructive scenario.

Significance of the paper

The discussion on how the course was used to present a critical global focus on some of the most important social, political and ecological issues of this era and the findings of the evaluation research will allow the audience to have a sense of the challenges faced in making global citizenship a central focus and the re-imagined possibilities of so doing. This opens the space for dialogue on other examples.

References
Hayden, P. (2009). Political Evil in a Global Age: Hannah Arendt and International Theory. London: Routledge.

Macfadyen, L., Hewling, A., & Swanson, D.M. (2006). A Report on Introduction to Global Citizenship, a course offered by The University of British Columbia, Canada, 2005-2006. Available online: https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/2429/1336/2/MacfadyenISSOTL2006.pdf

Robertson, R. (1992). Globalization: Social theory and global culture. London; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.

Swanson, D.M. (2011). Parallaxes and paradoxes of global citizenship: Critical reflections and possibilities of praxis in/through an international online course. In Lynnette Schulz, Ali Abdi & George Richardson (Eds.), Global Citizenship Education and Post Secondary Institutions: Policies, Practices and Possibilities, (pp.120-139). New York: Peter Lang

Author

• Dalene M. Swanson, The University of British Columbia