The importance of Incorporating Global Citizenship Education in Classroom Teaching

United Nations Global Education First Initiatives (GEFI) states that in education, producing individuals who can read, write and count is not enough. Education needs to run its central role in helping people achieve a more peaceful, just, tolerant and inclusive society. Global Citizenship Education (abbreviated as GCED) is a concept introduced by UNESCO as a solution to face the aforementioned challenge. It is designed to promote understanding, skills and values that students need in order to resolve the interconnected challenges of the 21^st century, namely, issues of equality and sustainability, diversity, tolerance, poverty, climate change and conflict.

Farahani (2014) points out that one of the key goals of GCED is to help students achieve individual, national and global identity so eventually they are able to actively participate in solving problems of the issues previously mentioned. Global Citizenship Education per se aims at creating citizenship who are members of the world community, without giving up their national identity (Leek, 2016). 

In school context, Global Citizenship Education is not a standalone subject but is a concept that can be incorporated into any subjects in the school curriculum. In English for instance, students can be grouped into four to five students researching, discussing and making infographics about gender equality.  This activity requires students to utilize not only their communication, problem solving and creativity which are some of the 21st century skills, but also their language skills as they need to search, communicate and present their ideas using English. 

English Primary Teacher Modernhill 
Ms.Vinny