Understanding Global Citizenship: Extension Employees’ Perceptions, Attitudes, and Opinions

Abstract

Extension services at land-grant universities typically deliver different aspects of global citizenship education for youth through a variety of activities and instructional methods. An examination of the literature reveals that although gaps in content areas and barriers to programming do exist, there are many types of experiences available in multiple settings for youth to learn about global citizenship. These activities vary in terms of content topics, duration, and delivery methods. The purpose of the study is to determine Extension employees' perceptions about global citizenship education, their attitudes about what content students should learn, their opinions about how they learn about global citizenship, their feelings about the barriers and program strategies for implementing global citizenship education, and their past international experiences. The study was limited to Extension employees at eight land-grant universities in four states in the Eastern United States: Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. A descriptive research design was used with an online survey divided into four major categories consisting of 10-15 questions centered on broad themes. A majority of respondents felt that they understood the concept of global citizenship and agreed that it should be an important part of the programming they deliver to youth. Significantly fewer individuals felt that that they had access to the necessary curriculum to effectively teach this topic. Some recommendations to address these concerns include developing new educational materials, promoting current Extension global citizenship curricula, and training Extension employees in methods to incorporate a global citizenship perspective into their existing lessons and programming. vii