Global Citizenship Versus Globally Competent Graduates

Abstract

This article will critically analyze the global citizen concept in the world full of deeprooted historical injustices and past and present structural inequalities. We will explore higher education's (HE) engagement with the concept and whether this is polarizing HE and distracting its attention from the critical internationalization and transformational activities. The article will further explore whether it is worthwhile to spend time and resources on vague rhetoric and attempts to popularize buzzwords while the majority of students in the global South live in an unjust world. We will argue that the South needs to focus on development of globally competent graduates who are fully aware of their roles in the quest for a better tomorrow for their communities, countries, regions, and the world as a whole.

Educating teachers towards global citizenship: A comparative study in four European countries

“…In this article, we have shown how GCE has received increased promotion as a means of supporting children and young people to develop their knowledge and understanding of multiple global issues. However, despite this increasing prominence, it is apparent that GCE remains a highly contested notion (Marshall, 2005;Hartung, 2017;Jooste and Heleta, 2017), in part due to its scarce theoretical elaboration. Grounded upon comparative analysis, this article has presented an analysis of the roles of HEIs, NGOs and participating teachers in the engagement with three pedagogical narratives of teacher education for global citizenship, as content-based, values-based and competency-based.…”

“…Formal education has increasingly been positioned as a space for the development of global citizens who, with a deep understanding of global issues, are committed to transforming the complex and deeply unequal interconnections between individuals and societies around the world (Bryan, 2012;Davies et al, 2018). However, the concept of global citizenship has been criticized as nebulous and divorced from the realities of education within the Global South (Jooste and Heleta, 2017), imperceptive to gender relations (Tormey and Gleeson, 2012) and unobtainable for those for whom national identity, through which global identity is refracted, is insecure (O'Connor and Faas, 2012;Pashby, 2011). Yet, scholars such as Davies (2006), Tarozzi and Torres (2016) and Shultz (2007) argue that forms of global citizenship can support a transformational agenda and the pursuit of global social justice.…”

Decolonialidade como epistemologia para o campo teórico da internacionalização da Educação Superior

“…Entre as contradições evidenciadas no domínio da internacionalização da educação superior, pode-se mencionar: 1. o "big business" do recrutamento de estudantes internacionais (Altbach & Knight, 2007;Knight, 2012;Le Ha & Barnawi, 2015;Lima & Contel, 2011;Lima & Maranhão, 2009); 2. a hegemonia dos países do Norte no fornecimento de serviços e no recebimento dos fluxos de mobilidade acadêmica (Altbach & Knight, 2007;Kehm & Teichler, 2007;Kim, 2017;Walker, 2014); 3. a constituição do Sul como "cliente" (Altbach & Knight, 2007;Lima & Contel, 2011;Lima & Maranhão, 2009;Robertson & Komljenovic, 2016); a "drenagem dos cérebros" (Kim, 2017;Maringe, Foskett & Woodfield, 2013;Unesco, 2016); a ascensão dos provedores de serviços educacionais privados exclusivamente orientados para o lucro (Altbach & Knight, 2007;Robertson & Komljenovic, 2016;Schulze-Cleven & Olson, 2017); o "produtivismo acadêmico" (Faria, 2011;Halffman & Radder, 2015;Kim, 2017;Watermeyer & Olssen, 2016); a competição excessiva pelo selo de "World Class University" (Le Ha & Barnawi, 2015;Vieira & Lima, 2016); o elevado status atribuído aos rankings acadêmicos (Maringe, Foskett & Woodfield, 2013;O'Connell & Saunders, 2012;Reitz, 2017;Yemini & Sagie, 2015); bem como a homogeneização decorrente da internacionalização curricular (; Jooste & Heleta, 2016;Lima & Maranhão, 2011;Rizvi, 2007); e das políticas de idiomas (Giampapa & Cana...…”

Editorial

“…In a realpolitik argument, Jooste and Heleta (2016) highlight the injustices experienced by the Global South. To these authors, global citizenship is an oxymoron promoted by the privileged of the Global North who bask in their Western superiority, yet inflict injustices upon the Global South.…”

“…Furthermore, regardless of the preferred term for the ideal graduate, these experts all expressed a consistent set of descriptions and values. To Jooste and Heleta (2016), words matter; yet, Lilley et al (2016) believe that ambiguity is inevitable, as global citizenship is a multi-layered…”