World History, Liberal Arts, and Global Citizenship

What kind of global citizen? A framework for best practices in world history civic education

“…Bentley, 2007; Zhao, 2010). For example, Watt (2012) believes world history nurtures global citizenship, as it creates citizens, ‘who would have a flexible and critical approach to life and learning and more multicentric, complex, and cosmopolitan understandings of their own societies and the world at large’ (p. 212). Just as history is perceived as contributing to democratic commitments and civic competencies, it follows that world history education provides the potential space to foster commitments to global democratic living and global citizenship competencies.…”

“…The particular purposes or goals and outcomes of world history were then added to this history/civic education framework (e.g. Bentley, 2007; Watt, 2012). The result is a definition of best practices in world history civic education in the form of an operational framework that synthesizes doing world history and effective civic education.…”

“…World history develops civic republican attitudes and dispositions by emphasizing multiculturalism, pluralism, and addressing global problems through international dialogue and cooperation (e.g. Bentley, 2007; Watt, 2012). Exhibition of historical knowledge in an experience including others (Barton and Levstik, 2009) makes world history a platform to address globally situated issues (Girard & Harris, 2015).…”

“…Despite many scholars supporting world history’s civic contribution, world history’s relationship with civic education is not well established in schools (e.g. Bentley, 2007; Buckner and Russell, 2013; Goren and Yemini, 2017; Rapoport, 2010; Watt, 2012). One particular challenge is the lack of a conceptually clear, agreed-upon definition for global citizenship and civic education (Rapoport, 2015).…”

Scoundrel or freedom fighter? Creating historical empathy inquiries

“…Likewise, the C3 Framework positions history to propel informed civic action and develop a democratic citizenry (National Council for the Social Studies [NCSS], 2013). In particular, world history is often identified as the subject where students can develop global civic identity (Watt, 2012; Girard and Harris, 2012). However, history can often feel disconnected from students' lived experiences, let alone directly connect to their out-of-classroom circumstances (Foster, 1999).…”