Global Education

By The Editors

In a previous post, I introduced the concept of global education as the education perspective expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The concept of global education is defined in more detail by the Global Education website as a set of five perspectives: 1) Interdependence and globalisation, 2) Identity and cultural diversity, 3) Social justice and human rights, 4) Peace building and conflict resolution, 5) Sustainable futures.

The Global Education website, which illustrates all aspects of the Global Education Project, has been developed and is maintained by Education Services Australia, a national, not-for-profit company owned by all Australian education ministers.

The five perspectives, detailed below, provide a framework for global education.

• Interdependence and globalisation – an understanding of the complex social, economic and political links between people and the impact that changes have on each other
• Identity and cultural diversity – an understanding of self and one’s own culture, and being open to the culture of others
• Social justice and human rights – an understanding of the impact of inequality and discrimination, the importance of standing up for our own rights and our responsibility to respect the rights of others
• Peace building and conflict resolution – an understanding of the importance of building and maintaining positive and trusting relationships and ways conflict can be prevented or peacefully resolved
• Sustainable futures – an understanding of the ways in which we can meet our current needs without diminishing the quality of the environment or reducing the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs.

I believe that the second perspective, Identity and cultural diversity, should be considered the starting point of a globalized curriculum – exploration of identity and cultural diversity is mostly an introspective endeavor and, therefore, provides the basis for integration of all the other perspectives.