Visual culture art education to empower students as global citizens

Abstract

In this paper, I argue the following points: 1) Globalization is a dominant phenomenon in the contemporary world that brings different geographical parts of the world closer through the interaction and exchange of products, information, knowledge, and culture. 2) Global citizens actively participate in, and recognize their responsibilities regarding socio-cultural, economic, political, and environmental issues they create and share global cultures. 3) The global market and visual culture are both united and interdependent to make a better society; being a cultural consumer and having multicultural awareness have become important issues in a global society. 4) Art education plays an important role in global citizenship education because global citizenship requires active participation through multicultural perspectives and socio-cultural awareness. 5) Visual culture in art education relates art education to sociology and cultural studies, and this facilitates art-centered, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary approaches to global citizenship education. 6) Visual Culture Art Education (VCAE) is an effective and powerful approach for teaching global citizenship. 7) Teaching and learning about global cultural sites in the VCAE curriculum is a meaningful way to empower global citizenship.