Global Citizenship Education for Non-Citizens?

Overview & Synopsis

Purpose: This article seeks to examine whether Global Citizenship Education is able to address non-citizens, such as migrants and refugees. While conceptions of Global Citizenship Education differ, the popular conception of Global Citizenship Education as an extension of Citizenship Education has left the role of non-citizens precarious and in need of explanation. Approach: Through a theoretical analysis of the dominant approaches to Global Citizenship Education, the article seeks to expose a lacuna in the postcolonial conception of Global Citizenship Education. Findings: Acknowledging that postcolonial theory has provided a necessary corrective to naïve forms of cosmopolitanism, I argue that a moral or cosmopolitan approach to Global Citizenship Education is more accommodating to non-citizens by allowing them to take part in the conversation. In increasingly diverse societies it is paramount that Global Citizenship Education is able to speak to citizens and non-citizens alike in seeking to foster future global citizens.