An exploratory study of global citizenship education in different curricula contexts within English secondary schools

Bernstein, Emily (2025). An exploratory study of global citizenship education in different curricula contexts within English secondary schools. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The double-edged sword of globalisation has transformed spaces into transnational arenas that all students must negotiate daily (Nolan 2009; Waters and Brooks 2012). Equally, it has left many disenfranchised and exposed to inequality fuelling movements like Black Lives Matter and #MeToo in search of understanding, voice, and social change. Situated in this is global citizenship education (GCE). Dynamic discourse in the field and recent efforts to map those discussions offer an opportunity for researchers and educators to use GCE as a navigating tool for students at school in 2024 (Pashby et al. 2020; Stein 2015).
Situated between the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the English context, this study explores interpretations and enactments of GCE, and the potential role curriculum plays within that. It aims to understand different manifestations of GCE across IB and A level, state and independent settings and navigate how GCE can be better integrated in all schools to address global crises, embrace diversity, and prepare students for an uncertain future.
Framed within comparative international education, this project takes a small-scale case study approach. To understand GCE in England and offer actionable ideas, it states research must be grounded in such a comparative framework (Bray and Thomas 1995; Flyvbjerg 2001). The study uses four sites to act concurrently towards a single case in England (Day Ashley 2021; Yin 2009). The research works with a process-orientated approach proposed by Bartlett and Varvus (2017). It is an active process, beginning with lesson observations and adapting knowledge from those to later interviews and focus groups alongside document analysis. Rather than binding sites to look for pre-determined ideas of GCE, data collection lets the culture and context of those sites drive their own data in an active process of sense-making (Erickson 2011). As such, the case study – of GCE in England – becomes the phenomenon of study and each geographical site a constituent part.
All four schools in the study exhibited a demand for and actions relating to many forms of GCE; both A level and IB settings were adapting their pedagogies, content, and co-curricular offerings to include different knowledges. This is a significant change in the area of global citizenship education. Those did, however, exist at different stages. A level settings were beginning to explore alternative perspectives but, simultaneously, remained grounded in narratives on charity and responsibility. IB schools though were moving beyond that to critiquing single-story approaches and embracing reciprocal service learning and equity in the classroom. Whilst arguably still in their early stages, this research highlights the importance of findings as one of very few studies done in UK but also covering both the state and independent sectors. Moreover, the overwhelming message was GCE beyond individualised endeavours – directly countering other academic findings (Lauder 2007; Resnik 2012; Weenink 2008). Indeed, it was A level schools that were more pre-occupied with attainment and GCE as a competency tool.
The research offers four important academic contributions. First, the study aimed to answer earlier and ongoing calls for more empirical work in GCE particularly within England at 16 plus. Second, the research found GCE to be a complex web within all school settings, arguing the value in that complexity and calling for other research to sit in the nuance and complexity to develop narratives of schools that are representative of action on GCE. Third, within the complexities of GCE, all four school sites showed evidence of connections across different understandings of GCE that was both interesting and encouraging. Findings suggested that change was beginning to occur in the education world that reflects the rich discussion on GCE in the academic world. Finally, there was a clear connection from all findings on GCE, that self-reflection and reflexivity permeate many forms of GCE and could be a starting point for students and teachers as they embark on the global citizenship education journey.
Moving forward, the research calls for further empirical research in countries like UK that connects dynamic discussions on the connections between types of global citizenship education found in the literature with exciting and equally dynamic activities in schools; enactments that are beginning to question dominant narratives, increasingly cover more voices and co-curricular endeavours that are moving from charity to partnership in an effort to engage global citizens in contemporary challenges facing the world.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):