From Development Education to Competences of Global Citizens - Global Citizenship Education in Estonian Formal (K-12) Education Policy and Practice

• In Event: Global Education Policy: Evidence, Competencies and Interpretations

Proposal

Initially born within the realm of North-South development discourse, global citizenship education (GCED) has recently been referred to as an umbrella term for various educational approaches that aim at transformative learning towards global citizenship, greater global justice and sustainability. International organisations and civil society actors advocate GCED as a way to address through education the many wicked global ecological and social challenges (climate change, ecological degradation, conflicts, migration etc.) facing the world. Many organizations (e.g. OECD, UNESCO) increasingly link GCED with a certain set of individual competences (knowledge, skills, attitudes) which the learning process should foster. The concept has, however, been increasingly contested within the academic discourse while empirical studies have shown that its understanding and implementation is context dependent.

This study provides a historical policy analysis of the introduction, implementation and gradual institutionalization of GCED in Estonian education policy and practice. Estonia provides an interesting context for a historical analysis with its dynamic policy change from socialist planned economy and authoritarian rule to a successful market economy and liberal democracy while navigating different post-Soviet legacies, national-conservative values and challenging geopolitics at the Eastern borderline of Europe. The education sector has also undergone a vast shift from a centralized and authoritarian system towards a decentralized model that emphasizes freedom and agency of schools and teachers and fosters a growth mentality in learners (Mehisto & Kitsing, 2023; Loogma et al, 2018). However, the post-Soviet contexts presents both opportunities and challenges for implementing and institutionalizing GCED. For example, there is existential worry about the future of Estonian language and culture in the context of economic globalization and increasing migration, heightened tensions between the Estonian majority and Russian minority after the Russian war on Ukraine, and increased support to extreme right populist parties expressing anger and resentment towards many of the values GCED promotes. On the other hand, Estonian teachers are well-educated, autonomous and getting more accustomed in managing pluralism in their classrooms, as well as working with NGOs, and GCED has become more popular among educators.

The organisation of the research has been inspired by the vertical case study (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2014) and uses Fullan’s (2003) triple I theory of policy change as its theoretical base (initiation, implementation and institutionalization). GCED is understood as social innovation (Loogma et al, 2014) to the otherwise neoliberal and nationalist conservative reform agenda. It is promoted by top-down actors (international organisations, national policy makers) and bottom-up policy entrepreneurs (civil society actors and educators) with somewhat different aims, visions, mechanisms. The understanding of GCED is analysed on three levels: 1) ministries, 2) schools and 3) individual teachers whose understanding of GCED is influenced by their general attitudes towards globalization, sustainability and social justice (Pike, 2000). These understandings are categorized into neoliberal, humanist, planetary and critical types of GCED. The study has used document analysis, survey questionnaire, as well as individual and group interviews for data collection that extended from 2021 to 2024. Altogether 33 interviews were conducted (19 teachers, 5 civil society actors, 9 policy makers), 47 teachers took part in questionnaires, and 12 in group interview. Data analysis was conducted using mixed methods.


The study is exploratory as GCED has not been studied in the Estonian context before. It contributes to the academic discussions around policy transfer, borrowing and adoption. How the international ideas about global citizenship are adopted and modified in the Estonian national and school context and how the post-Soviet legacies, transformation experience, and small state existential fears influence those.

Author

• Johanna HELIN, OISE, University of Toronto