Platforms and possibilities: a scoping study of curriculum resources for global citizenship education

Abstract

The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration Goal two argues for young Australians ‘to understand their responsibilities as global citizens’. In these precarious times, children and youth require (and are demanding) education on how to address the myriad of convergent global challenges that is the focus of global citizenship education (GCE); however, perceived ambiguity is recognised as a barrier to greater GCE uptake. To support teacher uptake of global citizenship education, we searched for and mapped open-access GCE materials to create a systematic, research-based resource catalogue for teachers and students. We employed a scoping study to examine each resource’s alignments with Australian Curricula and global GCE frameworks and identified the areas where there is insufficient resourcing. Results showed that most resources were targeted to primary and secondary school students. More materials are needed for early childhood education as well as materials that engage learners of all ages to en/act on their understanding of what global citizenship entails.