The impact of education on global citizenship and coexistence

Written by: Basma Al-Lahham

Citizenship can be defined as the right of the individual to belong to the country in which he was born, or whose nationality he obtained, and to enjoy its rights and abide by its duties towards this country. Sound citizenship leads to the individual's self-realization and the attainment of a healthy, integrated and cooperative society. In light of the changing political and social conditions, the concept of citizenship has witnessed several developments and changes; it has come to mean, in short, broad belonging, acceptance of different international systems, and the individual's feeling that he does not belong to one country only, but to different countries. This of course applies to all aspects, whether economic, social or cultural. In order to achieve global citizenship, individuals must be trained to quickly adapt to the changes surrounding them, and the ability to coexist with different cultures while preserving the individual's own cultural identity.

What are the types of global citizenship? The types of global citizenship are as follows:

• Ethical global citizenship, which is concerned with the moral aspect and respect for individuals for each other, and may include parts that talk about human rights.

• Cultural global citizenship, which is concerned with the global aspect of arts, languages, media and many cultural matters.

• Economic global citizenship, which focuses on work, employment and international development.

• Political global citizenship, which focuses on political issues, especially relations between individuals and countries.

What are the goals of global citizenship education? Global citizenship education aims to:

• Enhance community awareness among citizens of the concept of social justice and participatory life.

• Give individuals global responsibility towards many aspects, which in turn enables individuals to understand and confront global changes.

• Increase cultural awareness among individuals, discourage closed thinking, and stay away from violence and conflicts between different peoples.

• Train citizens to accept other people, accept cultural, religious and ethnic differences, and coexist with all societies.

• Achieving a more just world and equal rights for individuals regardless of their backgrounds, so that world peace prevails. Developing the ability to care for others, understand their feelings and cooperate with them. Participating in solving global issues.

What are the criteria for developing educational curricula to achieve global citizenship?

Some important aspects should be focused on when developing educational curricula aimed at educating for global citizenship, and some of these aspects are:

• Highlighting the problem of violence and conflicts between peoples, to achieve global peace at the individual and societal levels.

• Focusing on values ​​and knowledge that strengthen ties between peoples, and following a methodology that reduces societal marginalization and hatred.

• Increasing knowledge of the causes of differences between people, and how this difference can be benefited from without conflicts and skirmishes.

• Supporting strategies that contribute to sharing different viewpoints, and increasing global cultural awareness. Providing a wide space for non-curricular activities, which aim to educate for global citizenship.

• Providing various and multiple resources.

What are the basic areas of education for global citizenship? The areas of education for global citizenship are as follows:

• The field of knowledge: acquiring knowledge of global and local matters, and developing the thinking of teachers and learners.

• The social and emotional field: acquiring a sense of belonging to human societies.

• The field of behavior: the ability to act more responsibly towards local and global communities.

What are the challenges facing global citizenship education? countries experiencing crises may face major difficulties and challenges that limit global citizenship education, including:

• Weak education system.

• Increased human rights violations, especially against children.

• Negative political influence on the education system, which sometimes hinders the operation of schools.

• Difficulty reaching all societal groups that need to receive education. Weak and scarce educational and economic resources, and difficulty accessing them.

• Inability of schools to receive students, due to lack of security and sometimes due to lack of resources.

• Difficulty evaluating the educational process. Inability to use successful models to adhere to and explain them.