Global Consciousness and Citizenship By Anju Jolly

We can safely say that globalization has caused us to concern with increased interdependence, interconnectedness and cultural diversity in the world. Although preparing students for employment is an important aspect of schooling, education also prepares students for citizenship, which means teaching them the civic and moral responsibilities. Citizenship, civic and moral responsibilities in a global world have to extend beyond our borders. As moral citizens we must not ignore that while we have abundance of food and prosperity in the US, there are thousands of people in other parts of the world who still live in poverty. While we complain about illegal immigrants in the US from Mexico, we must not forget that they leave Mexico because they are living a life of poverty and unemployment worst than the poor people experience here in the US. While we liberally use energy to meet our daily needs, we must not forget that energy is not going to last forever. While we continue to be a throwaway society, we cannot sustain landfills indefinitely.

I am not saying that we should be the 'saviors' for the world, however I am saying that we must be conscientious of the long terms impact of our habits, and also the difficulties experienced by our world neighbors, and do whatever we can to participate in world citizenship to alleviate these difficulties through personal and local action as much as we can, and also teach our students the same.

In essence, we can no longer 'mind our own business' without having to worry about how our actions impact others around the globe and how our lives are impacted by the actions of others around the globe. This week we will discuss the idea of global consciousness and citizenship.
So what is Global citizenship? In simple terms global citizenship is primarily a matter of economics, protecting the earth for ourselves and the future generations, accepting and working with diversity, and peace education (Noddings, 2005). So global citizenship deals with moral and ethical responsibilities we must carry out and also teach our children, to sustain healthy and happy life on earth. It not only provides a broader perspectives to our students to prepare themselves for jobs anywhere any place in the world it also prepares them to exercise responsible citizenship.

(Note - This definition of global citizenship is much different than the one that is criticized by the conservative politicians. What politicians like Newt Gingrich criticize is global citizenship where we pledge allegiance to some international alliance between countries like the UN or EU instead of the constitution of the United states. The definition in this course suggests to maintain our allegiance to the flag of the US. Along with that, if we are to work and communicate in the world outside the united states, then we must be willing to treat others the same as we want to be treated. )

Brenda Dyer & Brenda Bushell (1996) in their article titled World issue or World Perspective present five classic goals which constitute the "irreducible global perspective," if any of the five are not met, then the school is failing in part to address and prepare students for contemporary reality":

1. Perspective consciousness is the awareness that we each have a view of the world that is not universally shared and that the perspective of others has its own legitimacy.

2. Health of Planet awareness is an informed understanding of the concepts of justice, human rights and responsibilities in the health of society and of the planet. From the perspective of biocentrism, humans are one species within the planetary system and not in dominance over the planet.

3. Systems Consciousness is the ability to think in a systems mode with a holistic view of the interdependent nature of change and cause and effect.

4. Involvement Consciousness is the awareness of the ramifications of personal and collective choices.

5. Process-mindedness is the awareness that learning is a cooperative, open-ended journey.

Dyer and Bushell further claim that in global education, knowledge is not simply an understanding of each world issue in a list of discrete issues, but an awareness of the interconnections among these issues. Moreover, along with knowledge, the goals of global education increasingly emphasize values and attitudes. According to the National Council for the Social Studies in the U.S., the purpose of global education is to develop in youth the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to live effectively in a world possessing limited natural resources and characterized by ethnic diversity, cultural pluralism and increasing interdependence.
Angelo Carfagna (Spring, 2003) defines the skills for global citizens in more user-friendly words. He presents nine goals for globally competent learners developed by American council of International and Intercultural Education.

The globally conscientious learner is

1. Empowered by the experience of global education to help make a difference in society
2. Committed to lifelong global learning
3. Aware of diversity commonality and interdependence
4. Recognizes the geopolitical and economic interdependence of the world.
5. appreciates the impact of other cultures on American life
6. Accepts the importance of all people
7. Capable of working in diverse teams
8. Understands the non-universality of culture and values,
9. Accepts responsibility of global citizenship.

Carfagna further lists the competencies of global citizenship as,

1. Recognizing that you are a full member of a global community
2. Understanding how your actions impact others and how others' actions impact you
3. Having an attitude that is respectful of the diversity of human experiences
4. Being aware of the value and limitations of specific identities and being unafraid to go beyond them.
5. Possessing the ability to imagine and or experience yourself in another time and space
6. Recognizing the interconnectedness of economic, social political and environmental systems.
This week you will spend some time reading about global consciousness and reflecting about how to integrate it in your own curriculum without having to add more to your already demanding schedule.

References

Carfagna A. (Spring, 2003). Breaking down notions of us and them: Answering globalization with global learning. Fairleigh Dickenson University (FDU) Magazine.

Dyer B. & Bushell B. (1996) World issue or World Perspective. Language Teacher. retrieved from http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/96/nov/global.html