Pre-School Global Citizenship Education: an Ethnographic Study
Volume 37, Issue 2 (2022), pp. 226–238
Pub. online: 18 July 2022
Type: Article
Open Access
Published
18 July 2022
18 July 2022
Abstract
The aim of this article is to provide an overview of pre-school global citizenship education. Modern society is facing new challenges and social problems affecting all people. In order to tackle them successfully, it is advisable to talk with children about these issues from an early age. The pre-school age is described as the most appropriate time to develop global citizens who are able to recognise the problems of the modern world not only in their immediate environment, but also to understand the links between their immediate environment and the world. The paper presents some of the results of a micro-ethnographic study conducted at X pre-school. The observation of a group of pre-school children was carried out, and interviews with pre-school teachers were organised. The data gathered from the study revealed that global citizenship education is manifested in the formal activities of pre-school children. Global citizenship is manifested through children’s construction of knowledge about their immediate environment and their home country, complemented by new knowledge about the world. Children are able to acknowledge themselves as global citizens, to recognise and talk about social problems in the context of the immediate environment and the world, propose solutions to global problems, and contribute actively to the creation of a clean, safe and sustainable environment.