International education policies and the boundaries of global citizenship in the US

Abstract

This paper analyses recent policy statements around international education produced by US state boards of education and their international education advisory councils, and investigates policy developments in two US states, Ohio and Indiana, to better ground the discussion of education policy‐making in the local political, economic, and educational environment. Since 2001, several US states have published policy statements encouraging the expansion of international education in public schools, particularly world‐language study and student and teacher exchange programmes. However, this analysis of the broader aims of this push to internationalize curriculum suggests that they are grounded in local and state issues. Rather than expanding the goals and aims of education from the local to the global, this study argues that these policies establish clear boundaries that limit international education to local economic and national security concerns.