The Presentations of Poverty in Global Education

Abstract

This article aims at analyzing the presentations of poverty in global education with a focus on Polish publications. The study demonstrates poverty definitions, categorizations and poverty in the global context – measuring methods and the causes and consequences that sustain global poverty cycles. To achieve the purpose of this article I refer to the history of global education and the comparison of two approaches, soft and critical. These elements outline specific ways of understanding poverty in global education discourse. Along with the historical, political and social context, two visions of poverty are clarified: the one focusing on helplessness of the poor and compassion and the one focusing on injustices of global systems and solidarity. The theoretical content is confronted with the analysis of three Polish global education publications for teachers and educators. The outcome of this article is a vision of poverty that seems to be majorly based on the principles of critical global education.