Towards a Framework for Global Citizenship Education

The promotion of „Global Citizenship ‟ (GC) has emerged as a common feature of school curricular reform around the world, reflecting a shift away from conceptions of citizenship based wholly on the national. Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is therefore a broadening field, manifested in both academic and policy contexts. As an international phenomenon, it is subject to a wide range of interpretations, mirroring the diverse ideological and politico-philosophical frameworks from which the policies and programmes promoting the concept derive. For teachers of GCE, policy makers and academics, there is sufficient ambiguity in this field to cause confusion and misunderstanding. This paper describes an ongoing research project aiming to develop an analytical framework through which GCE policies, programmes and philosophies can be distinguished, explored and deconstructed in context. Through a critical review of the literature, the study establishes a set of systematic categories and classifications for this complex field from which an analytical framework can be constructed. This typology provides the groundwork for the development of a powerful and effective analytical tool through which the field of GCE may be better understood and applied in both theory and practice