Title: Global Citizenship Close to Home: Teacher's Attitudes and Practices Concerning Education for Global Citizenship in a Dutch Rural Area.
Abstract: Nowadays, schools have the task to prepare pupils for and teach them about the society they live in. In The Netherlands, schools have to stimulate active citizenship, but tend to focus on social skills and Dutch society in doing so. This whilst both the globalizing world and Dutch treaty obligations call for an emphasis on education for global citizenship. Taking as a point of departure that the realization of human rights and global citizenship should start close to home, this paper investigates the attitudes and practices pertaining to global citizenship of primary school teachers in Zeeland, a rural area in The Netherlands. Based on qualitative research, it discusses how teachers reflect on educational policies in The Netherlands and perceive their pupils' needs and identities as global citizens, thus aiming to understand how these perceptions influence pedagogical choices and preferences. This study shows how the teachers tend to focus on differences instead of similarities between children and on diversity in cultural, social, and religious backgrounds. Issues to consider are the example given by the teacher, the contents of the curriculum and democracy in the classroom. Attitudes of teachers, clearly, are important in education for global citizenship.
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-03-12
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot