Developing Global

Citizenship
Presented by Wida Amir, Director and Libby Hill, Assistant Director,
Washington, DC Program at Global Kids, Inc.
Objectives

Describe and analyze the profile of a global citizen;

Examine how teachers can promote global competencies for

their students; and

Explore new learning tools and activities for classrooms.

What is a Global Citizen?
The Profile of a Global Citizen

A Global Citizen is a young person who demonstrates Global

Competence i.e. the capacity and disposition to understand
and act on issues of global significance. Such a student has
been guided in developing the knowledge and skills to:

Investigate the World;

Weigh Perspectives;

Communicate Ideas; and

Take Action.
Source: Asia Society
Investigating the World

Global Citizens have developed an awareness and curiosity

about the world around them. They learn how to conduct
research and think critically about globally significant issues.

Global Citizens develop the capacity to think globally and act

locally. They analyze how these significant issues manifest
themselves and impact people locally, nationally and
globally.

Global Citizens use a human rights framework for their

investigation of the world and their analysis of globally
significant issues
Discussion Board

Share some techniques and activities that you have used to

inspire students to be interested in global affairs
Teacher Planning for World Investigation

Interactive workshops on issue exploration: Activities that

allow students to reflect on, and think critically about,
problems facing the community, the city, the state, the
country and the world

Guiding students in conducting effective research on these

issues; including using reliable primary and secondary
sources

Explore with students and share examples of how young

people are working to address these problems
Examples: Convention on the Rights of
the Child Activity

Workshops at the start of the school year aid in world

investigation. These workshops set the tone for issue based
projects that students will work on throughout the year

Curriculum content includes familiarization with Human

Rights by looking at the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child

See handout for world investigation sample activity:

Childrens Rights Advocates
Weighing Perspectives

Students develop a sensitivity to different cultural contexts

Students are able to contextualize their analysis of issues

with an appreciation for differing perspectives and how
differential access to knowledge, technology, and resources
can affect people's views.

Students use their understanding of these differences, and

the historical and structural contexts that have led to them,
to inform the formation of their opinions and the action they
take to address the issues they observe
Discussion Board

How can you leverage student backgrounds to enhance their

understanding of the world around them?

How can you encourage students to look at all points of view

even those that may be unpopular when forming their
opinions on various issues?
Teacher Planning for Perspective
Weighing

Exposing students to a range of cultural perspectives

Exploring how histories and cultural contexts impact perspectives

Exploring how access to basic human rights and resources

influences peoples world view

Allowing for students to reflect on their own personal histories

Teachers help students weigh all sides of an argument and are able
to play devils advocate to help them hone their own perspective
Example: International Criminal Court
Debate Activity

Debate activities allow for students to look at multiple

angles or arguments in favor of or against a particular point
of view

They allow for participants to have an appreciation of points

of view that may differ from their own and this allows them
to hone their own arguments and perspectives

See handout for Debate on Challenges Faced by the

International Criminal Court sample activity
Communicating Ideas

Students develop the capacity and skills to clearly articulate

and defend their opinions on critical global issues

Students become peer educators and can facilitate the

process of other young people learning about world and
community issues

Students have the ability to speak to different constituencies

in a way that builds investment in the topic at hand

Students also learn how to use a variety of mediums to

communicate their ideas and opinions
Teacher Planning for Idea
Communication

The role of facilitator is one that allows students to take

active agency in their own learning process. The teacher
facilitates the process of students becoming globally
competent at each stage. Interactive and experiential
workshops are the ideal avenue for this to happen.

Facilitators also train students in how to become peer

educators and share, not only their learning, but also guide
the process of taking action to address issues
Examples: Communicating Ideas
Taking Action

Students see themselves as change makers in the

community, be it their local, national or global community

Students are able to navigate the transition of learning about

issues to taking creative action to have a tangible impact on
issues

Students become familiar with the importance of human

rights advocacy and using action as a tool to stand in
solidarity with other young people around the world facing
human rights challenges
Teacher Planning for Action Taking
Teachers develop the leadership capacity and confidence of
youth to see themselves as change makers. This is achieved
by focusing on all the assets they bring to the table, even
those they may not yet be aware of, and giving them a sense
of empowerment and belief in their ability to influence
outcomes on important issues.
Teachers facilitate interactions (meetings or other advocacy
tools) between students and policy makers/elected officials
Teachers make connections between community issues and
policy, making sure to address all the factors that go into
policy making and keeping a focus on human rights
Examples: Climate Justice Advocacy
Discussion Board

What obstacles do you think you may face as global

citizenship or global competence educators when guiding
young people to take action on issue they care about?
Applying Disciplinary and
Interdisciplinary Expertise

Students have a solid grasp on how their work identifying,

researching and taking action on important global issues is
relevant to their work in core academic classes as well

They are able to apply knowledge from their work as global

citizens to their work in their regular academic classes and
vice versa

They are comfortable articulating and defending how their

global citizenship work applies to their other classes
Teacher Planning for Disciplinary and
Interdisciplinary Expertise Application

Global citizenship teachers regularly find avenues to support

teachers in other classes by infusing global competence
content into their work

Teachers show students how their work as global citizens in

applicable and sometimes event worth some extra credit
in their other classes

Global citizenship teachers check in with teacher teams

across different disciplines to discuss how they can
contribute to and supplement their work with global
competence content
Examples: Applying Disciplinary and
Interdisciplinary Expertise

Teachers at the high school co-founded by Global Kids used

the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier as
required reading in their English class. This book addresses
significant human and childrens rights issues and was also
used as literary text by the English Department
Global Kids staff have routinely pushed into social studies
and history classes to supplement curriculum and infuse
interactive global competence content. Adding to a Global
History class for example by doing our Scramble for Africa
workshop that addresses curriculum content but also human
rights content in analyzing the historical subjugation of
peoples
Discussion Board

How have you or how do you think you might apply global
competence content to other fields of study like math or
science?