Citizenship Education in the Era of Globalization:Canadian Perspectives

Abstract

Important and challenging theoretical debates and questions arising from considerations of the role of citizenship education in the current “global era” are evident in academic literature. Ultimately, our scholarly work must also engage with what happens in our elementary, secondary, and post-secondary classrooms. Much important scholarly attention is being directed to debates about the nature of globalization, and about national and, increasingly, global concepts of citizenship, multiculturalism, and social movements of global resistance. However, much of this work is done outside of a direct engagement with teachers, students, and classroom practices and is consequently left at a level of abstraction that appears disconnected from the day-to-day work of public schooling. Indeed, when working through significant theoretical interjections and conversations that engage with the complexities and possibilities to which we are drawn, we can never forget that the “what” and “how” of teaching and learning, and the values that circulate within classrooms, reflect the global movements of contemporary history and are shaped by a sense that we must take-up global issues. We must, therefore, recognize what Pashby (this issue) refers to as the global imperative that exerts particular pressure on educational theory, practice, policy, and politics. To do this we must struggle with questions of theory that inform our scholarly and our practical work as educators, be that practice in faculties of education or in K to 12 classrooms. This special themed issue presents important questions, concerns, and possibilities that mark both theoretical discourses and classroom practice.