What is Global Citizenship Education?

Global citizenship refers to a sense of belonging to a broader community and common humanity. It emphasises political, economic, social and cultural interdependency and interconnectedness between the local, the national and the global. Global citizenship education entails three core conceptual dimensions: cognitive, socio-economical and behavioural.

Global citizenship education aims to be transformative, building the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that learners need to be able to contribute to a more inclusive, just and peaceful world.

Global citizenship education aims to enable learners to:

• develop an understanding of global governance structures, rights and responsibilities, global issues and connections between global, national and local systems and processes;
• recognise and appreciate difference and multiple identities, e.g. culture, language, religion, gender and our common humanity, and develop skills for living in an increasingly diverse world;
• develop and apply critical skills for civic literacy, e.g. critical inquiry, information technology, media literacy, critical thinking, decision-making, problem solving, negotiation, peace building and personal and social responsibility;
•  recognise and examine beliefs and values and how they influence political and social decision-making, perceptions about social justice and civic engagement;
• develop attitudes of care and empathy for others and the environment and respect for diversity;
• develop values of fairness and social justice, and skills to critically analyse inequalities based on gender, socio-economic status, culture, religion, age and other issues;
• participate in, and contribute to, contemporary global issues at local, national and global levels as informed, engaged, responsible and responsive global citizens.

Extracted from: Global Citizenship Education: Topics and Learning Objectives. (Paris: UNESCO, 2015).