"Education for Sustainable Development in a Global Citizenship Class. A Study on 8th Grade Students in Italy"

Author(s):

Valeria Damiani(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

30. Environmental and Sustainability Education Research (ESER)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

30 SES 06 A, Global Issues in ESE

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-03

15:30-17:00

Room:

B119 Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Arjen Wals

Contribution

The present study is based on an ongoing research carried out for my PhD dissertation about Global Citizenship Education (GCE) for 8^th grade students in Italy.

The current importance of Global Citizenship Education is related to political, economic, technological and cultural effects produced by globalisation. GCE definition is debated, but its core component can be recognized in the understanding of the nature of global issues as well as the range of ways in which those with power and resources can be influenced to act in a globally responsible way (Ibrahim, 2005).

GCE key elements get back to Global Education curricula (Richardson 1976; Hicks, 2003; Pike, 2008) and concern the development of the background knowledge of global problems (eg. social justice and equity, peace and conflict, globalisation, diversity), skills to engage in action for change (eg. critical thinking) and relevant values and attitudes (eg. respect for diversity) (Oxfam, 1997).

Global citizenship education draws upon learning from other transformative education processes, including education for sustainable development (ESD) (Unesco, 2013). GCE and ESD have several key concepts in common. The Earth Charter (ECI, 2007), which sets out the fundamental elements for ESD, includes in its principles some of GCE most important issues such as human rights, social and economic justice, democracy, non-violence and peace. The definition of Unesco’s four dimension of sustainability embraces the fields of environment, society, culture and economy and suggests that ESD should develop knowledge and understanding of the environmental, social and economic dimension of sustainable development. Addressing the social dimension clearly involves citizenship education as it concerns democratic and participatory systems, the selections of governments and the understanding of social institutions and their role in change and development (Huckle, 2008). Moreover, Unesco’s view of ESD, developed in the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), supports a rights-based approach and its aimed at developing the learner’s competence as a community member and global citizen.

In Italy a curriculum related to global citizenship education and to education for sustainable development does not exist but some of its topics can be included in different subjects such as history (human rights), geography (globalisation and global interdependence) or science (environmental sustainability). It is not possible though to know if students study GCE/ESD related matters with coherent programs and materials, because it depends mostly on the textbook adopted at school and to teachers’ confidence in teaching these issues, generally considered too difficult to understand for 8^th grade students.

This study is focused on the development of students’ knowledge about and awareness to global contemporary issues in order to enable them to become active and responsible global citizens in today’s world. The main objective of this research is to demonstrate the possibility to teach in-depth GCE and ESD related topics, missing or not systematically planned in Italian curricula, to raise 8^th grade students’ knowledge and awareness of contemporary world matters.

Method

A specific teaching unit, addressed and implemented in an Italian 8th grade class, has been developed in order to give students the knowledge and the opportunity to critically reflect upon the complexity of some contemporary issues. The teaching unit is made up of ten lessons, each lasting 2 hours. The GCE and ESD related topics included in the lessons have been chosen due to their relevance in understanding today’s world matters and are strictly interrelated with each other. The unit adopts an interdisciplinary approach and it concerns several different subjects from history to economics, rights and geopolitics. This contribution will be mainly focused on the sustainable development issues tackled during the lessons in order to stress the impact of students’ lifestyle habits in the world and to introduce possible actions to change the present situation. After a first section, which shows to students general contemporary global issues (such as poverty and the instruments to measure it; the role of the Un and the Ngos; globalisation and its impacts; migration within and across countries; human rights), the teaching unit is focused on a detailed analysis of contemporary world phenomena related to sustainability such as land grabbing, child labour, the global garment supply chain, gender inequalities and includes some initiatives carried out to tackle them (fair trade and the international programs against child marriage for example). An assessment test have been created in order to evaluate students’ knowledge at the beginning of the teaching unit (pre-test) and their learning achievements at the end of the lessons (post-test), taking into consideration the problems related to internal validity of this research design. The test is made up of 25 multiple choice items related to the topics of the teaching unit and it has been piloted on 8th grade students.

Expected Outcomes

Firsts results from the piloting of the test have shown that 8th grade students have a vague knowledge of contemporary world issues (e.g. the land grabbing phenomenon or the garment supply chain) and of the different actions implemented at global and local level to tackle them (e.g. the role of the Un agencies, the work of the most important Ngos, the fair trade). The final assessment test (post-test) will be administrated in the class at the beginning of February. The test will be then analysed through classical item analysis in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the lessons in improving students’ knowledge. Since the limited number of lessons, this research cannot be focused on the analysis of the development of students’ attitudes related to GCE and ESD issues. However it is relevant to highlight that a sound knowledge and awareness of global contemporary problems is the fundamental requirement that will enable students to act locally and globally for a sustainable and fair world, thus becoming responsible global citizens of tomorrow.

References

ECI (Earth Charter Initiative) (2007). The Earth Charter. http: //www.earthcharterinaction. org/ content / pages/Read-the-Charter.html Hicks, D. (2003).Thirty years of global education: a reminder of key principles and precedents. Educational Review, vol. 55, n. 3, pp. 265-275 Huckle, J. (2008). Sustainable Development. In Arthur, J., Davies, I., Hahn, C. (edited by) The SAGE handbook of education for citizenship and democracy, pp. 342-354. London: Sage Ibrahim, T. (2005). Global citizenship education: mainstreaming the curriculum? Journal of Curriculum Studies, vol. 35, n. 2, pp. 177-194 Oxfam (1997). A curriculum for global citizenship. Oxford: Oxfam Pike, G. (2008). Global education. In Arthur, J., Davies, I., Hahn, C. (edited by) The SAGE handbook of education for citizenship and democracy, pp. 468-480. London: Sage Richardson, R. (1976). Learning for Change in World Society. London: World Studies Project Unesco (2013). Global Citizenship Education: an emerging perspective. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0022/002241/224115e.pdf

Author Information

Valeria Damiani (presenting / submitting)

Roma Tre University

Department of Education

Roma

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