A "Magical Sign" in Education: Case Study of Global Citizenship Education Discourses in Vietnam

• In Event: Global Challenges and Policy Issues in Education

Abstract

In recent years, Global Citizenship Education has become a hegemonic discourse in educational policies around the world. This qualitative case study examines how this global discourse has been mediated and reconstructed in Vietnam. Despite the taken-for-grantedness of global citizenship education in Vietnam today, closer examination reveals no consensus on what it actually means. The paper argues that the discursive idea of ‘global citizenship’ is a ‘magical sign’ that serves to erase the complexities behind this concept and instead construct a single universal story. The fluidity of global citizenship as a concept allows for its abuse by a diverse range of actors to promote their own agendas, from policy-makers to private educational entrepreneurs.

Author

• Hang Minh Le, University of Maryland - College Park