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Rationale & Outline
Global Education
as a Requirement of Social Transformation
and as an Academic Discipline
1. Social Transformation & World Citizenship
» The globalization and diversification of the society has presented professionals in education — teachers, administrators, planners and decision-makers alike — with a twin challenge: on the one hand, to reconcile the often conflicting requirements of global unification and a multicultural society and, on the other hand, to promote sustainable social and individual development. The phenonmenon of globalization and the relevance of education in this process are further discussed under “Strategic Principles”.
» The concept of “multicultural education”, traditionally used, does not depict sufficiently well the kind of education that could meet these challenges, because multicultural education often implies only information and understanding about other cultures and, even at best, learning “cohabitation in challenging social conditions”. More essential, however, is developing such civic skills that, in addition to tolerance, enable responsible citizenship in a global society — i.e. world citizenship. This is the origin of the concept of “world citizenship” used here: universal civic skills, i.e. extending to a global scale the pursuit of a genuine sense of community and society.
» The spirit of global solidarity that, despite continuing conflicts and injustice, has permeated the consciousness of increasing multitudes is a manifestation of the principle of the oneness of humankind: the fact that, in the last analysis, this, our Earth, is really one country and mankind, as a whole, its citizens. The implications of this observation in relation to education are fundamental. Thus viewed, the purpose of education is to empower young minds — children, junior-youth and youth — to develop their inherent potentialities and contribute to the transformation of the society.
2. Global Education as an Academic Discipline
» Global Education (in Finnish, "Globaalikasvatus"), as an academic discipline, aims at harnessing education, its praxis and theory, as a change agent for sustainable and inclusive globalization. The added value of the Global Education as a discipline is in enhancing the capacity of education professionals to promote the civilizational progress of the individual and the community in diverse cultural and sociopolitical settings (both in the home-front and in the international arena) — an area of expertise increasingly necessary in both stable societies and in conflict-prone areas.
» The point of departure for global education is that the phenomenon of globalization is gradually changing the order of society in such wise that discussion about society or citizenship rises to an entirely new level: it is possible that the entity we call "society" is becoming global, in which case its "citizens" are world citizens (which does not exclude awareness of local, national and ethnic origins, and includes multiple and web-like levels of awareness and identity).
» The training offered on Global Education is meant to develop in teachers and other education professionals the capacity to harness education as proactive force in such processes of global transformation so that the resulting transformations are both sustainable and inclusive.
» At the Faculty of Education of the University of Lapland Global Education can be studied as a minor subject. Future plans may extend GE studies to a fully-fledged Master’s Programme. For now, the extent of Global Education studies is 31 cr. (ECTS), as these minor subject studies comprise of 5 modules: introductory module (4 cr.), theoretical module (10 cr.), applied module (11 cr.), methodology module (6 cr.). Detailed information on Global Education studies and courses can be found under "Studies & Courses" as well as the links at the navigation bar above.
3. Expected Social Relevance of Global Education
» Based on several decades of experience, accumulated through the work of various United Nations agencies, and the data that has been available and documented during that period, certain social and educational processes correlate strongly with a variety of crucial development indicators that are relevant for sustainable development in all types of societies, whether developed or developing. According to this empirical experience, foremost among the social and educational factors that have contributed to such development have been: (a) the centrality of knowledge and universal participation to social existence and justice; (b) ‘bottom-up’ approach for involving the local community in educational processes; (c) the education of girls and women and their role in the empowerment of the individual; (d) the integration of teachers and schools in the local community and culture. The efforts exerted in the context of the Global Education consider these issues as fundamental (these and related principles are further discussed under "Strategic Principles"). Below is a brief description of each of them:
The centrality of knowledge and universal participation to social existence and justice. The perpetuation of ignorance is one of the most grievous and persistent forms of injustice, as it reinforces prejudices that stand in the way of the realization of the oneness of humankind. Access to knowledge is the right of every human being, and participation in its generation, application and diffusion is a responsibility that all must learn to shoulder from childhood — each according to his or her talents and abilities. Moreover, justice demands universal participation: social change is not something that one group of people carries out for the benefit of another — the primary concern of social action, and thus education, must be to build capacity within a given population to participate in creating a better world, not just to improve the provision of goods and services. The scope and complexity of social action must correspond to the human resources available: therefore, social change and action arise most readily and effectively on the level of the local community, e.g. a rural village or an urban neighbourhood, and build up capacity from ‘bottom-up’ and are carried to broader and more complex levels of society.
‘Bottom-up’ approach for involving the local community in educational processes. Not only grass-root level social change, but also the responsibility of educating the child belongs also to the community as a whole: the extended family and the local community can provide an optimal environment for nurturing children. Therefore, educational measures are successful when they promote community ownership and articulate the community’s confidence in development by fostering the attitudes and skills necessary for cooperation and focussing the attention on the needs and aspirations of the community, instead of emphasizing competition. To be meaningful and effective, such ‘bottom-up’ approach should primarily rise from the needs of the local community, not arbitrarily dictated from outside.
The education of girls and women and their role in the empowerment of the individual. The decades long international experience suggests that successful educational influence can be exerted where the mother is actively recognized as the primary source of the empowerment of the individual. It is observed that, as women gain respect and confidence through emphasis on the education of girls, they can better affect the culture of boys and men. This includes the understanding that an important aspect of educating girls is the re-socialization of males for partnership. It is the mother’s education that makes the difference; the positive effects increase in direct proportion to the level of the education of girls.
The integration of teachers and schools in the local community and culture. Any local community will feel ownership and investment in the school if it empowers the community to transform, to develop, itself. Also in children, a positive self-concept is directly dependent on their awareness that they possess a right to development. Experience shows that here the leverage point is teacher training: prospective teachers must understand the role of self-concept in school success and practice patterns of behaviour that create a climate of encouragement. On the other hand, the teacher must enjoy the support of the local community, a respect that follows logically from recognizing the teacher’s central role in society. One implication for teacher-training is the necessity of educating qualified teachers from within the local community.
» The emphasis on the importance of the local community must not be misconstrued as disregard for larger societal context and the international community. On the contrary, the world-view, attitudes and skills adopted through cooperative and inclusive modes on the level of local community are naturally transferred to, and readily repeatable in, broader societal contexts and human relationships. On the largest scale, the concept of global education implies the understanding that humanity is, fundamentally, one organic entity and that, therefore, commitment to the prosperity of humankind, as a whole, does not conflict with lesser loyalties but, rather, extends the circle of human relationships and consolidates them on all levels. Therefore, in its broadest sense, the aim of Global Education studies is to address such human development by means of education.
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