Critical Reflections on the Notion of Global Citizenship Education. A dialogue with Carlos Alberto Torres in relation to higher education in the United States

Abstract

The promotion of global citizenship has become one of the objectives of education systems in various parts of the world. This highlighted the widening of the idea of citizenship from the national to the global sphere, due to the effects produced by globalization. If the emergence of global elements within the traditional concept of education seems to be a widely acquired fact, the conceptualization of the term «global citizenship education» remains more problematic. Therefore, it is necessary to reflect and dialogue in order to limit from the pedagogical point of view those elements of educational experience that can be understood within education for global citizenship in the educational context. This paper introduces a conversation with Carlos Alberto Torres on the subject of educating for global citizenship, in relation to the situation of university research, teaching and learning in the United States. Torres chairs the UNESCO chair for global citizenship education at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and is the founder and director of the Paulo Freire Institute of São Paulo, Buenos Aires and UCLA. The dialogue addresses the theoretical and practical perspectives related to global citizenship, with an analysis aimed in particular at focusing on the connection between culture and power, as well as the interrelations between the economic, political and cultural spheres in the modern university. The aim is to offer a portrait - as detailed and updated as possible - of education for global citizenship seen as a means of achieving social justice.

Keywords

• globalizzazione
• educazione alla cittadinanza globale
• istruzione superiore
• educazione comparata
• curriculum