Forming Kind Global Citizens of the Digital Age

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: Interrogating Digital Citizenship Research in Pursuit of Truth: Changing Technological Agency for Teaching and Learning (Table 6)

Abstract

Philosophers of education have grappled throughout history to answer the question, “What is education for?” While many would propose an answer related to transmitting knowledge and mastering facts (Gutek, 2013), philosopher James K. A. Smith provocatively suggests: “What if education…is not primarily about the absorption of ideas and information, but about the formation of hearts and desires?” (Smith, 2009, pp. 17-18). This is a profoundly different way of thinking about what it means to become “educated.” Education as formation is expressed emotionally, morally, socially, and physically as much as cognitively. This emphasis on formation through practices echoes Foucault, who argued that educational systems are “a set of rituals and a collection of established procedures laden with traditional if not also spiritual connotations” (Friesen, 2017, pp. 139-140). But toward what ends are these practices and procedures aimed?

Roosevelt (2008) argues that the formative aspects of education must be directed towards producing good citizens. Civic education—that is, education aimed at forming “good citizens”—has roots in American education stretching back until at least the common schools that arose in the mid-1850s (Gutek, 2013). Civic education is certainly still a key aspect of education at all levels today. Over the past few decades, however, education has taken a shift towards the digital (Starkey, 2012). This shift towards the digital has prompted a host of new terminology to describe teaching with technology, in technology-rich environments, to students who can scarcely imagine a world not saturated with technology. Cortesi and colleagues (2020) outline some of this variety, noting digital creativity, digital competence, digital fluency, information literacy, media literacy, and digital citizenship. Digital citizenship, in particular, seems to have taken hold as a descriptive term for framing educational goals related to civic education (see Atif & Chou, 2018; Common Sense Education, n.d.; Cortesi et al., 2020; International Society for Technology in Education, 2022). Jones & Mitchell (2016) propose a definition for digital citizenship: “using Internet resources to have youth (1) practice respectful and tolerant behaviors toward others and (2) increase civic engagement activities” (p. 2065). Perhaps we could consider this “civic education for the digital age?”

Questions remain, however, about how digital citizenship should be taught. Transmitting knowledge about civics is valuable, but will it result in students behaving kindly to others? The way we answer this question illustrates not only what we believe, but how we embody these beliefs in our educational practices. Smith (2016) suggests that human beings are more than “brains-on-a-stick” (p. 3), and as such, education that is only cognitive does not result in actual formation. Our practices must be richer and fuller if we are intent on truly forming digital citizens who do not just “know the right answers,” but rather act in ways that demonstrate citizenship. A goal of contemporary civic education should be the formation of kind global citizens in the digital age. Thus, I argue that today’s students need opportunities to practice digital citizenship in ways that bear the fruit of kindness in action.

Author

• David J Mulder, Dordt University
  Presenting Author