Challenging preservice teachers’ understandings of globalization: Critical knowledge for global citizenship education

Abstract

This article addresses the demand for global content knowledge that the process of internationalization has placed on the preparation of social studies teachers. Drawing on scholarship about global perspectives in teacher education, this study examined what one cohort of preservice teachers learned about globalization during participation in a three-week, web-based, international relations simulation. The unit was part of a methods course designed to prepare preservice teachers to teach global issues and internationalize the curriculum. International simulations have long been touted as a means for learning challenging knowledge about global issues yet are rarely studied in teacher education. This qualitative study drew on concept maps and written responses completed before and after the simulation to document the preservice teachers’ learning. The analysis generated two findings: (1) preservice teachers acquired a shared, conceptual vocabulary for globalization that included the events and actors represented in the simulation; and (2) they also demonstrated a more systematic and critical understanding of the ways that power and conflict shaped the events and actors. The study contributes to the question of what teachers need to know to teach with global perspectives and how efforts to internationalize teacher education programs can foster such knowledge.

Creating the digital citizen: students’ co-construction of meaning for global citizenship during online discussions

“…This limited version of global citizenship, which has been documented in other empirical research on global citizenship development (Myers et al , 2015), falls short of more ambitious goals for citizenship that recognize issues of justice, culture, and geopolitical power (Estellés and Fischman, 2020). In this research, the students’ comments were shaped by a Western ethic on what it means to help others and a position of privilege that takes little consideration of those people whom they want to “help.” Reflecting the way that students typically learn about the world in school, this finding reinforces the need for teacher training to include critical knowledge of globalization that challenges ethnocentric mainstream accounts and misconceptions (Myers and Rivero, 2020). That said, it is important to understand that the students’ thinking about global citizenship is a contingent and ongoing process rather than a finished product.…”

“…In this research, the students' comments were shaped by a Western ethic on what it means to help others and a position of privilege that takes little consideration of those people whom they want to "help." Reflecting the way that students typically learn about the world in school, this finding reinforces the need for teacher training to include critical knowledge of globalization that challenges ethnocentric mainstream accounts and misconceptions (Myers and Rivero, 2020). That said, it is important to understand that the students' thinking about global citizenship is a contingent and ongoing process rather than a finished product.…”

Evaluating Stakeholders Curricular Needs: Global Literacy in Social Studies Teacher Education

“…There must be a consensus on which characteristics should be covered in teacher training curricula. (Myers & Rivero, 2020;Poole & Russell III, 2015;White & Myers, 2016). This situation may lead to the acquisition of incomplete or false information, which may cause prejudices about globalization, especially among teachers.…”

Relevance of social studies in the 21st century society: Students perspectives

“…Previous studies revealed that social studies could develop global citizenship through various pedagogical strategies such as critical media literacy (Harshman, 2018), videoconferencing (Krutka & Carano, 2016), and critical knowledge (Myers & Rivero, 2020). Moreover, due to the nature of the progressively different and universal 21 st century society in which the students live, it is pivotal to enhance and develop students' global citizenship capabilities (Holmes, 2019).…”