Global Citizenship Education conceptualisation in curriculum guidelines of the New Zealand Curriculum

Abstract

Global Citizenship Education is a significant theme in the United Nations Educational Sustainable Development Goal #4. The aim of the goal is “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UNESCO, 2015b). This article provides an insight into where and how notions of Global Citizenship and Global Citizenship Education are represented within the New Zealand Curriculum. The systematic review of the document’s content and learning objectives, themes, and categories were based on the thematic framework proposed by Cox and Browes. These were generated utilising UNESCO’s definitions of Global Citizenship Education and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s international assessment studies of citizenship and civic education. In spite of the limitations of this research systematic review, that is, only the New Zealand Curriculum document is reviewed, this study adds some understandings of how and where Global Citizenship and Global Citizenship Education concepts exist at the curriculum level within Aotearoa New Zealand, making the suggestion of the incorporation of a Global Citizenship Education definition and concepts into the curriculum guideline documents to enhance the connection and fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal #4.