In this paper we explore a question inspired by Giroux  (2015):

How can a pedagogical space that disrupts, disturbs, inspires and energises young people to become glocal citizens be sustained in an institution that redefines itself in terms of market values and that reacts mostly to market fluctuations?

To do this, we draw on the perspectives of students and teachers from the International Studies in Education Programme (ISEP) run at the School of Education of the University of Iceland. We take a critical look at what it means to be ‘a glocal citizen’. This term has emerged in response to critiques of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) that fails to understand how local and global domains are connected. Mannion, for example, argues for pedagogical responses that take “as a starting point the ecological, political, social and cultural dimensions of real places as a nexus of global and local flows and concerns” (2015; p.27).

The ISEP was initially set up as a social justice response to increasing ethnic and linguistic diversity in Icelandic society and schools. It is one of very few programmes taught in English and caters for participants from all parts of the world. The initial planning of the programme took place during Iceland’s years of economic prosperity; however programme implementation in the fall of 2008 coincided with the onset of the financial crisis, thereby limiting the scope of the programme; BA and MA level programmes have been run on alternate years despite a steady increase in student enrollment. This is due partly to an increase in exchange students, migrant and international student populations and Icelandic speaking students. However, a recent restructuring process taking place at the School of Education elicited institutional confusion as regards its place in departmental structures. Our concern is that the sustainability of the programme, and in particular its unique pedagogical approach, is at risk.

The ISEP works with education issues in the context of globalisation and the development of multicultural societies, sustainability and human rights, international development and the development of diverse self-identities. Teachers from multiple disciplines and backgrounds contribute content and focus influenced by their own agenda, perspective and teaching tradition to respond to the programme’s objectives. In this respect, the ISEP can be described as falling within the paradigm of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) and its multiple interpretations (Banks, 2007; Osler, 2015; UNESCO, 2015). Skald and Park (2015) draw on the work of Mannion et al. (2011) and Bajaj (2011) to present three types of education that are classified as GCE and multiple sub- and cross-types within these: civic education, environmental education and developmental education, which in turn draw on for example, sustainability education, human rights education and multicultural education.

Since its inception, a number of research articles have documented the progress of the programme including: the role of English, de facto segregation of students, and local contexts within global trends (Books et al., 2011); the case-study approach as pedagogical practice (Macdonald and Pálsdóttir, 2013); and the challenges and implications of empowering diverse teachers for diverse learners (Ragnarsdóttir, 2012). These earlier articles give hints of what it means to become a glocal citizen and how learning and teaching spaces can be used to develop innovative and creative pedagogic responses in a conventional Higher Education (HE) setting. In this paper we draw on selected courses from the programme to illustrate how teachers and students have promoted glocal pedagogy that ‘disrupts, disturbs, inspires and energises‘ young people to be individual and social agents. We discuss the institutional systems and structures that challenge the sustainability of our pedagogical space. 

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