Teacher Education for Global Citizenship: Lessons From Cross-National Online Interactions

• In Event: Contemporary Issues in Social Studies Teacher Education

Abstract

Preparing future teachers to teach global democratic citizenship is a timely topic, with a growing need to clarify the relevance of global citizenship education (GCE) to controversial public issues. In response, this study questioned how pedagogical considerations influenced future teachers' global knowledge, values, and dispositions, preparing them to address such topics in the classrooms. We examined online interactions between teacher candidates from the U.S.A., Germany, and Israel. Participants were asked to relate to global issues, reflect on their conceptions of global citizenship and think about teaching practices. We claim that these online cross-national exchanges did not necessarily change participants' political views on global topics. Nevertheless, they did impact their pedagogical thinking, forcing them to consider their future roles as teachers.

Authors

• Aviv Cohen, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Micah Sapir

• Julia Resnik, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Yifat Ben-David Kolikant, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Timothy Patterson, Temple University

• Gregor Lang-Wojtasik