Global Citizenship Education: A Systematic Review of Studies in the MENA Region

• In Event: Gender and Global Citizenship Education in the Middle East and North Africa Region

Proposal

Global citizenship (GC) is an emerging educational theory that promotes a way of acting in a society that is community-centered, ecologically balanced, and culturally sensitive, in the ongoing construction of a more just and peaceful world (Bosio & Torres, 2019). GC has become increasingly significant in today’s modern and interconnected world (Fang et al., 2023). However, in spite of growing awareness of the concept, debates regarding its precise meaning and purpose continue (Hicks, 2003; Goren & Yemini, 2017). Driven largely by the efforts of the United Nations, GC has emerged as a priority topic on the agenda of educational policymakers. However, a shared understanding of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) has not yet been achieved. Some scholars suggest that the term implicitly and explicitly reflects Western-centric assumptions (Drerup, 2020; Howard et al., 2018). Postcolonial studies, in particular, have criticized the hidden assumptions underlying GCE (Wang & Hoffman, 2020). As an alternative framework, they propose “critical/anti-colonial GCE,” which aims to challenge the normative and universalist vision of GCE and ultimately advocate for a social justice–oriented approach (Hadjeris, 2025). Even today, discussions regarding what GCE should encompass continue to intensify. Based on the assumption that global citizenship—largely framed as a Western (U.S.-European) concept—should be examined from a non-Western perspective, this study offers a systematic literature review of publications on GCE in the MENA region. It seeks to identify the prominent aspects of GCE in each MENA country, including the dominant assumptions, biases, and general conceptual orientations. In this context, it is specifically designed to investigate the following questions: What studies have been conducted in this field? What methodologies have been used in these studies? What are the prominent aspects of GCE in these studies (assumptions, biases, and orientations)? And lastly, what are the main challenges and recommendations identified regarding the effective implementation of GCE in the MENA region?
To achieve this goal, the study adopts a systematic review methodology focusing on peer-reviewed, English-language publications on Global Citizenship Education indexed in the Web of Science database that are linked to the MENA region. The main keywords used in the literature search included “Global Citizenship” AND “MENA” OR “Algeria” OR “Egypt” OR “Libya” OR “Morocco” OR “Tunisia” OR “Turkey” OR “Bahrain” OR “Iran” OR “Iraq” OR “Israel” OR “Jordan” OR “Kuwait” OR “Lebanon” OR “Oman” OR “Palestine” OR “Qatar” OR “Saudi Arabia” OR “Syria” OR “United Arab Emirates” OR “Yemen.” The initial search prior to detailed filtering identified a total of 74 relevant publications. Prior to the detailed analysis, a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria was applied to identify the studies most relevant to the research. By applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we read the abstracts, keywords, introductions, and conclusions of the selected articles in order to gain a detailed understanding of their alignment with the study. To conduct the analysis, the selected studies were systematically coded and categorized according to their research focus, methodological approach, and conceptual framing of GCE. The coding process was guided by both inductive and deductive strategies: while deductive codes were derived from existing theoretical debates on global citizenship (e.g., neoliberal vs. critical/anti-colonial perspectives), inductive coding allowed for the identification of themes unique to the MENA context. By triangulating these approaches, the review not only mapped the scope of existing scholarship but also critically examined the assumptions and narratives underpinning GCE in the region.
Preliminary findings indicate that, despite its contested nature, GCE is regarded as an important pathway for addressing complex global challenges. Moreover, while postcolonial reflexes toward GCE are more pronounced in countries with a colonial experience, countries such as Turkey tend to approach global citizenship through a shared responsibility toward our common home, the planet. Finally, although there is a conviviality toward GCE in MENA countries, a curriculum and a comprehensive educational framework that is capable of achieving the goals associated with the GCE are missing.
This study is significant for two reasons. First, it fills an important research gap on GCE in the Global South since it encompasses publications in countries within the MENA region. Second, it sheds light on how the concept of GCE is interpreted from non-Western perspectives, outlines a framework of GCE, and provides an opportunity to explore alternative viewpoints.

Authors

• Birol Bulut, Firat University

• Fadhila Hadjeris, UCLA