Decolonizing Global Citizenship Education

The ideas for this reader came out of a conference organized through the Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Research (CGCER) at the University of Alberta in 2013. With the high expansion of global citizenship education scholarship in the past 15 or so years, and with most of this scholarship produced in the west and mostly focused on the citizenship lives of people in the so-called developing world, or selectively attempting to explain the contexts of marginalized populations in the west, the need for multidirectional and decolonizing knowledge and research perspectives should be clear. Indeed, the discursive as well as the practical constructions of current global citizenship education research cannot fulfill the general promise of learning and teaching programs as social development platforms unless the voices of all concerned are heard and validated. With these realities, this reader is topically comprehensive and timely, and should constitute an important intervention in our efforts to create and sustain more inclusive and liberating platforms of knowledge and learning. “This collection of cutting-edge theoretical contributions examines citizenship and neo-liberal globalization and their impacts on the nexus of the local and global learning, production of knowledge, and movements of people and their rights. Case studies in the collection also provide in-depth analysis of lived experiences that challenge the constructed borders, which derive from colonial and imperial re-structuring of the contemporary world and nation-states. The contributors articulate agency in terms of both resistance and proactive engagement toward the construction of an alternative world, which acknowledges equality, justice and common humanity of all in symbiosis with the social and natural environment. It is a valuable reader for students, scholars, practitioners, and activists interested in the empowering possibilities of decolonized global citizenship education.” – N’Dr

Norah Barongo-Muweke aims to reconstruct a theory of citizenship education for the postcolonial South. She works towards fostering scientific construction and mainstreaming of postcoloniality as analytical category, dimension of gender, policy, sustainable learning and societal transformation. A consistent conceptual framework for theorising together gender and postcoloniality is absent so far. In her analyses citizenship awareness and its bedrock institutions are eroded.

The essays in this edited collection open up a hopeful dialogue about the existing state of democratic education and the ways in which it could be re-imagined as an inclusive, democratized space of possibility and engagement.

This set of essays critically analyze global citizenship by bringing together leading ideas about citizenship and the commons in this time that both needs and resists a global perspective on issues and relations. Education plays a significant role in how we come to address these issues and this volume will contribute to ensuring that equity, global citizenship, and the common wealth provide platforms from which we might engage in transformational, collective work.

This volume bridges the gap between contemporary theoretical debates and educational policies and practices. It applies postcolonial theory as a framework of analysis that attempts to engage with and go beyond essentialism, ethno- and euro-centrisms through a critical examination of contemporary case studies and conceptual issues. From a transdisciplinary and post-colonial perspective, this book offers critiques of notions of development, progress, humanism, culture, representation, identity, and education. It also examines the implications of these critiques in terms of pedagogical approaches, social relations and possible future interventions.

This Handbook is a much needed international reference work, written by leading writers in the field of global citizenship and education. It is based on the most recent research and practice from across the world, with the 'Geographically-Based Overviews' section providing summaries of global citizenship and education provided for Southern Africa, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, Latin America, and East and South East Asia. The Handbook discusses, in the 'Key Ideologies' section, the philosophies that influence the meaning of global citizenship and education, including neo-liberalism and global capitalism; nationalism and internationalism; and issues of post-colonialism, indigeneity, and transnationalism. Next, the 'Key Concepts' section explores the ideas that underpin debates about global citizenship and education, with particular attention paid to issues of justice, equity, diversity, identity, and sustainable development. With these key concepts in place, the 'Principal Perspectives and Contexts' section turns to exploring global citizenship and education from a wide variety of viewpoints, including economic, political, cultural, moral, environmental, spiritual and religious, as well as taking into consideration issues of ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and social class. Finally, the 'Key Issues in the Teaching of Global Citizenship' section discusses how education can be provided through school subjects and study abroad programmes, as well as through other means including social media and online assessment, and political activism. This Handbook will be vital reading for academics, postgraduates and advanced undergraduates in the fields of sociology and education, particularly those with an interest in comparative studies.

This volume presents a critical discussion that brings contemporary academic debate about ‘southern theory’ to Global Citizenship Education (GCE). It situates the discussion on GCE in the Global South within a post-colonial paradigm informed by critical pedagogy ingrained in social justice.

Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education in Canada thinks boldly about how to make space for Indigenous knowledges and have an honest discourse on truth and reconciliation. By engaging with Indigenous epistemologies and strategies, the contributors navigate the complexities of the decolonization and indigenization of post-secondary institutions. What is needed in this field is less theorizing and more action: the contributors offer practical steps on how one might positively transform the Canadian academy. Through this lens of action-based solutions, each of the fifteen chapters advances critical scholarship on issues of pedagogy, curriculum, shifting power dynamics, and challenging Eurocentric perspectives in higher education. With contributions from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics from across Canada and in varying academic positions, Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education in Canada provides a unique perspective specific to the Canadian education system. Featuring discussion questions, further reading lists, and practical examples of how to engage in decolonization work within the academy, this text is an essential resource for students and scholars studying Indigenous knowledges, education and pedagogies, and curriculum studies.