Educating for global citizenship and peace through awakening to languages: A study with institutionalised children

Abstract

Global citizenship education (GCE) has been deemed an educational imperative to respond to the times of unprecedented change we are living in. Existing research with preschool children indicates that GCE nurtures personal respect and respect for others, and raises children’s civic engagement, which are fundamental aspects in creating and sustaining peaceful societies. Despite this, empirical studies focusing on GCE pedagogies for the early years are still lacking, particularly with vulnerable groups of children. This qualitative case study aims to understand the contribution of the Awakening to Languages approach in the development of attitudes, values and skills conducive to global citizenship and positive peace. The study was conducted with a group of Portuguese children aged 3 to 6 living in a care home run by a religious congregation. Children participated in a five-month project titled ‘A house where we all fit’, which included multilingual activities and virtual exchanges with children in similar institutions in Colombia and Tanzania. Data were collected via questionnaires, self-assessment sheets and fieldnotes, which were treated using descriptive statistics or content analysis. Results suggest that the activities promoted children’s awareness of and respect for diversity, raised their self-knowledge and self-esteem, and developed communication and collaboration skills.