Global Citizenship Education in the classroom : An exploratory study on teachers’ views

The study “Global Citizenship Education in the classroom. An exploratory study on teachers’ views” aims at describing teachers’ views on possible goals and practices on GCE in two different contexts: Central Italy (2017-2018) and Queensland (2019), Australia. To this end, the research analyses teaching strategies devoted to promoting dialogue among students and between teachers and students. The research specifically focuses on how secondary schools’ teachers promote the development of knowledge and skills related to GCE, in their verbal and nonverbal interactions.

The study follows a qualitative methodology, adopting classroom observations in secondary schools and interviews to teachers focused on GCE aims and learning activities. In addition, in Italy a set of video-analysis was carried out in order to retrieve data for the documentation and representation of verbal and non-verbal interactions between teachers and students.

Finding could indicate opportunities and challenges teachers face in dealing with topics related to global citizenship. The data referring to Italian context were collected in 2018. In Australia data were collected throughout 2019.
On the short term, this explorative study intends to provide insights on GCE teaching practices and relative constructs possible operativization; and to support teachers’ professional development through critical reflection.
On the medium-long term, the study could have an impact in: building or reinforcing networks between schools and Higher Education institutions, both at a national and at an international level; promoting in Italy educational change and disseminate innovative teaching knowledge and practices; outlining possible pathways to improve GCE teaching practices both in Australia and in Italy.