Global Citizenship Education in Action

The Koulupolulta maailmankansalaisuuden valtatielle project was carried out at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and the two UEF Teacher Training schools, Tulliportti and Rantakylä, from 2020 to 2022. The project was designed and implemented by international students as a part of their teacher training studies and project work related to global education.

By IRIS HUBBARD, JENNY TORROLEDO CASTILLO, HANNA-MARI KOISTINEN, RITVA KANTELINEN

In order to develop the pupils’ global citizenship skills, clubs and pop-up events were used to create a more internationally active atmosphere at Rantakylä and Tulliportti Teacher Training Schools. With games, discussions and craft activities pupils were encouraged to ponder the skills needed in growing as a global citizen.

Aims and contents of the project

The project promoted a global citizenship mindset in pupils through the organization of after-school clubs, pop-up events, and secondary class visits. The activities were implemented in the frames of the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education and designed around the UNESCO global citizenship topics and learning objectives, and the pupils’ needs, interests, and potential. The project’s main language of instruction was English with the addition of pupils’ home or native languages along with the international project teachers’ first languages. Music, art, dance, science, home economics, and geography were utilized to promote student engagement and curiosity about global issues. This project aimed to support the growth of lifelong learners who are willing to take action and remain open-minded about their roles as global citizens in our evergrowing intercultural and diverse society.

Students of the World Clubs

The after-school clubs were weekly 60-minute sessions for the primary pupils. Pupils were grouped based on their grade level and COVID-19 restrictions. These afternoon clubs were the core of the project. They allowed pupils to discuss and reflect on different topics in a deep and critical way. However, the pupils’ ages and needs demanded teachers to re-evaluate their attitudes toward global citizenship and adapt the concepts and activities to the appropriate level. The topics explored with the pupils included: • cultures from around the world • stereotypes • sustainability • gratitude • space and human representation • art forms • disabilities • conflict resolution • indigenous communities • democracy • privilege • languages from around the world.

Pop-ups and secondary class visits

The pop-up events targeted pupils of all ages in basic education during their lunch breaks and recess periods. These popups were mainly short activities connected to the weekly or monthly themes being presented during the weekly afterschool club sessions. These activities were not as in-depth as their club session counterparts. However, these pop-ups reached a higher number of pupils. Some examples of pop-ups were the Charity Days, Winter Olympics, and European Day of Languages where the project teachers each ran their own miniworkshops and sessions, and pupils could drop in with their classes or during breaks.

The class visits and after-school clubs were similar in their content; however, the class visits were drop-in sessions for secondary classes requested by any of the subject teachers at the teacher training schools. These classes consisted of 40 to 60-minute lessons on topics ranging from sustainability to art and the importance of language learning. Topics discussed in these visits had a different approach; teachers created lessons where pupils showed independent and collaborative research around one of the global citizenship topics highlighted in the session.

For example, one research task from the sustainability lesson was to independently explore and research a sustainability problem and then in teams create an issue tree identifying the causes, problems, and effects of e-waste. The overall aim of these lessons was to discuss global issues with an older audience; however, these lessons could have been more beneficial if conducted in a series with the same pupils rather than in random drop-in sessions with new pupils each time.

Some examples of pop-ups were the Charity Days, Winter Olympics, and European Day of Languages where the project teachers each ran their own mini-workshops and sessions, and pupils could drop in with their classes or during breaks.

Recommendations for future implementation

One of the biggest challenges for teachers considering developing global citizenship education is how to make these complex global citizenship concepts, learning outcomes, and ideas approachable and relatable to pupils. In addition, the way teachers address global citizenship may lead to the perpetuation of unconscious biases and assumptions. Thus, the first step towards the implementation of global citizenship education should be analyzing attitudes toward global citizenship education and being open to confronting and even reconstructing ways of thinking, acting, learning, and teaching.

This project has modeled that collaboration among all teachers contributed to delivering better and more enriched experiences for pupils. The international and diverse backgrounds of the project teachers, including their different perspectives on language teaching and global citizenship, shaped the way activities were planned and taught. Global citizenship education benefits greatly from critical team reflection, discussion, planning, and implementation. The next step future projects should consider is creating sharing spaces for dialogue, reflection, and ultimately joint collaboration.

FROM THE SCHOOL-PATH TO THE GLOBAL CITIZENS’ HIGHWAY

The Koulupolulta maailmankansalaisuuden valtatielle project (2020–2022) was developed with the intention of promoting language awareness, intercultural communication, and global citizenship education within the University of Eastern Finland’s (UEF) teacher training schools in Joensuu. The first phase of the project was focused only on lower comprehensive school pupils at Tulliportin normaalikoulu (grades 1–6) in March of 2021 and the second phase has now expanded to all levels of the basic education in both UEF teacher training schools, Tulliportin normaalikoulu (grades 1–9) and Rantakylän normaalikoulu (grades 1–9). The project has been funded by the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish National Agency for Education. The international master’s students at the UEF have been in active role in the implementation of the project.

More information about our events and clubs can be found on our website https:// uefconnect.uef.fi/tutkimusryhma/koulupolultamaailmankansalaisuuden-valtatielle-ii/. We hope the materials will inspire and help teachers to create their own global citizenship lessons and events.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP COMPETENCIES

Each week the clubs focused on topics related to the eight global citizenship competencies identified by the Global Citizenship Education Working Group in 2017. These competencies are • empathy • critical thinking or problem solving • ability to communicate and collaborate with others • conflict resolution • sense and security of identity • shared universal values • respect for diversity and intercultural understanding • recognition of global issues.

Education for global citizenship and sustainable development is one of the Sustainable Development Goals that were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by 2030.

Authors: Iris Hubbard, Jenny Torroledo Castillo, Hanna-Mari Koistinen and Ritva Kantelinen

Iris Hubbard and Jenny Torroledo Castillo are both master’s students of the Early Language Education for Intercultural Communication (ELEIC) program, University of Eastern Finland (UEF), School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education. Hanna-Mari Koistinen is Lecturer of English language, UEF, Tulliportti Teacher Training School. Ritva Kantelinen is Professor of Education, especially language pedagogy, UEF, School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education.

During our Winter Olympics pop-up event pupils had multiple sessions with different activities during their recess breaks. Here, pupils are playing in the Ice Hockey station.