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Educating for Citizenship: Local and Global Challenges
‘We may be born free but we are not born citizens — we have
to acquire the traits that enable us to participate effectively in the
world.’ (Benjamin Barber, Rutgers U.)
This implies more than just knowledge about one’s rights
and obligations; participatory citizenship requires becoming and staying
informed about issues affecting one’s community, nation, and the
future of humankind. It implies forming opinions based on critically analyzed
and evaluated information, engaging in a dialogue about issues, and working
together with others for a common goal. Finally, it implies also taking
action to make changes happen that strengthen one’s own community,
nation and the global community. Being a citizen in a democracy carries
with it also a commitment to democratic values and a responsibility for
one’s actions. It is all these capacities that good citizenship education
aims at developing. This 9th Annual Conference on the Global Education
for the Child explores Citizenship Education from multiple perspectives
in the hope of extending the way we view it beyond the traditional Civic
Education curricula.
Irma Ghosn
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