Over recent decades, globalisation processes have accelerated the development of economic, social, cultural and political transformations, producing an enormous impact on a planetary scale. In addition to the concept of globalisation, others have appeared that are used synonymously (mundialisation, internationalisation, universalisation, etc.). They were originally used to refer mainly to the break-up of financial market borders, since other types of barriers are still in place to prevent, for example, the free movement of people from countries in the South to the North. One of the key characteristics of this term is its markedly polysemic nature. However, it has mostly been applied to three basic issues: the exponential growth of trade on a planetary scale, the prominence that transnational corporations have acquired, and the speculative speed of the movement of financial capital (Morton, 2018; Brand, Görg, & Wissen, 2020). As a consequence of these processes (which have varying repercussions in each context), in recent years it has become increasingly evident that we live in a historical moment of enormous interdependence and eco-dependence (Bourn, 2021).

In order to respond to the inequalities and impact of globalisation, educational processes with different approaches have been developed over recent decades. These initiatives have had a common objective: to train citizens to fight against the negative effects of these processes (economic and gender inequalities, environmental crises, migration, etc.). The focus of educational experiences has varied according to their context of reference.

More specifically, in Spain, the educational response to these processes was initially based on the concept of Development Education (DE), which has progressively evolved in several generations. Currently, there is reference to a sixth generation DE approach. These experiences are based on the concepts of Post-development Education, Critical Global Citizenship Education or Education for Social Transformation. With varying nuances these approaches seek to understand the impact of globalisation processes on citizenship (Mannion, Biesta, Priestley, & Ross, 2011; Rizvi, & Beech, 2017; Stein, Andreotti, & Suša, 2019). At present, debates on Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in Spain highlight the need to move towards more critical models that educate citizens to understand unequal power relations between the countries of the global North and South (Pérez-Pérez, 2016).

The analysis of the recent publication of the organic law regulating the Spanish education system (LOMLOE, 2020) shows that this law aims to promote educational experiences that support justice and sustainability, as well as the development of a more global concept of citizenship. To improve the effectiveness and sustainability of these proposals in the long term, it is necessary to begin with the analysis of experiences inspired by the GCE approach developed over the last few years. To this end, the authors of this work have carried out research focused on finding out how these actions were being developed in order to understand the objective of the pedagogical approach of these GCE experiences. Based on this analysis, they aim to promote new projects inspired by a more critical GCE model, in contrast to other softer models (Andreotti, 2006). This focus is the result of the diagnosis of previous work that identifies the need to analyse the multiple dimensions (goals pursued, methodologies, contents, etc.) of the curricular objectives of experiences that are already in progress (Blackmore, 2016; Calvo, 2017; Santamaría-Cárdaba, Franco, Lourenço, & Vieira, 2022).

This paper presents some process results from an investigation funded by the Spanish Ministry of Competitiveness entitled Researching new socio-educational scenarios for the construction of global citizenship in the 21st century (R+D+i project PID2020-114478RB-C21 financed by MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033).

This research is inspired by an epistemological tradition rooted in the qualitative paradigm. The researchers not only sought to learn about a reality under study, but also (at a later stage) to further improve it. They aim to offer new curricular concepts for designing critical GCE experiences based on their work (O'Donoghue, 2018). More specifically, this paper analyses the perspective of various professionals who have promoted GCE experiences in schools in the region of Cantabria (located in the north of Spain) over the last few years. This perspective has already been suggested in previous research (McNaughton, 2012). The following two questions were used to guide this research: • What factors act as levers that facilitate the development of GCE proposals? • What variables hinder the development of these types of experiences? The results of this paper come from the intensive phase of the research project (phase 2) aimed at the in-depth analysis of GCE experiences developed in Cantabria. In order to answer these questions, different data collection techniques were used: semi-structured interviews; document analysis; photo-elicitation processes. This paper presents some of the results of the interviews conducted with professionals involved in the development of GCE experiences. Specifically, 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted in which 18 professionals participated. In 2 interviews, 2 professionals participated having co-led the experience. The sample was purposive and informants who had participated in the development of GCE experiences were selected. The profile of the professionals interviewed was as follows: infant, primary and secondary school teachers belonging to the Solidarity Schools Network of Cantabria (7); infant, primary and secondary school teachers who had led an experience that had been awarded a prize in the national call for the Vicente Ferrer awards, granted by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (6); NGO professionals who carry out training activities in formal education centres in the region (5). To analyse the data collected in the interviews, the researchers conducted a content analysis using a system of categories developed from an inductive-deductive logic. Each of the broad categories contained a set of thematic codes associated with them. The general categories used for the final analysis of the data were as follows: 1. Curricular dimension; 2. Organisational dimension; 3. Institutional dimension; 4. Political dimension; 5. Administrative dimension.

The content analysis of the interviews conducted shows that some dimensions act as levers which, according to the professionals involved, facilitate the development of critical GCE experiences. One of the dimensions that most favours the development of these processes is related to organisation. The majority of NGO teachers and technicians suggest that collegiate professional relationships in schools hugely favour the development of these types of experiences. At the same time, the development of a school culture that enhances the participation of families is an essential element identified by the professionals interviewed. Similarly interviewees suggest that the institutional dimension is essential for developing successful GCE experiences. This dimension includes factors that promote the development of links with other agents (such as NGOs) that can help pedagogical processes, propose improvements and support the development of new methodologies and curricular content. The professionals interviewed also identified some essential dimensions that hinder the development of GCE experiences in schools. Within the organisational dimension, one of the factors most frequently identified by those interviewed was the rigidity of school structures. In other words, the analysis of the data suggests that the development of these experiences requires restructuring school days and rethinking work times, given the tendency to work on each subject in the curriculum as an isolated discipline. From their responses we were also able to identify that the curricular dimension should be viewed as an essential element of analysis in order to facilitate the introduction of GCE, as there are aspects that would limit the impact of these experiences. The interventions of the professionals suggest that it is necessary to rethink the epistemological concept of the school curriculum. Thus the discipline-based organisation of knowledge is making it very difficult to design educational experiences that are able to respond to the complexity required to implement GCE processes.

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