It is observed that there exists a discursive shift in education that global citizenship has increasingly become common parlance in school curriculum on an international scale. Such prevalence of global citizenship in education is reflected in its inclusion in the recent UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, it remains a question whether citizenship can be global and what it entails, due to citizenship's inherently national character.
It is never a straightforward task to prepare learners with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to contribute to a more inclusive and peaceful world, which is proven to be an ambitious goal to achieve, especially with the rise of nationalism in society. As part of the on-going research in this paper, the author compares conceptualisations of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in the Scottish national Curriculum for Excellence, and the Chinese national curriculum, with a focus on the secondary school level. Referring to the three dimensions in GCE suggested by UNESCO (2015)’s approach, the author considers the similarities and differences between the two systems.
The research focuses on the official curriculum, which reveals the dominant norms and values of society. A critical discourse analysis is conducted whereby the policy documents and recommended materials for teaching and learning are read to identify the expression of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes relevant to global citizenship education. In particular, the following aspects are compared: diversity, global justice, empathy, identity, responsibilities and rights. The analysis also concerns to what extent the current arrangements open up critical discursive spaces for complex and ethical understanding and political responsibilities.
