Transformative learning in educational sustainability as collective resilience and resistance

Transformative learning in educational sustainability as collective resilience and resistance

by | NW 30 Environmental and Sustainability Education Research, ESER, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education

Over the last two years, I have been conducting research on how doctoral students experience transformative learning in an educational sustainability program. We define transformative learning as a process that engages the head, heart, and hands in critical reflection, values introspection, social engagement, and empowerment towards sustainability (Grund et al., 2024; Papastamatis and Panitsides, 2014; Sipos et al., 2008). The transformative learning journey is not a straight line, rather it is dynamic, fluid, adaptive, and recursive in nature, allowing each learner to experience it differently (Boström et al., 2018; Grund et al., 2024; Rodríguez Aboytes and Barth, 2020). We argue that although a transformative moment can occur within an individual, transformative learning is a social and collaborative process.

I am the director of the educational sustainability program and an associate professor, teaching many courses within the program. I have loved learning from students on how, to what extent, and when they experience transformative learning, but the process is mutual. As much as the students have been transformed, so have I. Over the last year, the attacks on sustainability have changed these relationships and created a different type of transformative learning, one that feels like collective resistance. The emotional trauma of seeing these attacks has led to a deeper kinship, one that binds us together through this struggle and collective desire to build a safe space for all.

Sustainability education in a hostile political environment

I define sustainability as the morally courageous pursuit of a just, inclusive, and equitable future where humans and the environment can thrive. However, this pursuit can come with fatigue and advocating for change is not without struggle. As change agents, we take on those struggles in the hope of moving forward in a different way—one that reflects justice and equity. We learn from the past and challenge White Supremacy culture and systems of domination. We see the interdependence of environmental and human health and treat the environment as a stakeholder in our decision-making.

On the morning of November 5th, 2024, I woke to a Trump victory, which all but sealed the destruction of equity and inclusivity movements in U.S. higher education institutions. The topics that lay the foundation of sustainability education—social justice, ecological health, cultural inclusivity, and equitable access to resources—all lay on the chopping board. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, the weight of what this means to me, to my students, barreled down on me. I was teaching a class entitled, “Social Justice for a Sustainable Society,” and my students were preparing case studies on reparative futures (Sriprakash et al., 2020); but how was I supposed to show up for this authentically, knowing the just futures they were imagining will be under attack for at least the next four years?

I did show up for my classes and for my students, but it was different. In some cases, I cried with my students, in others, I urged them to keep going, to not let this hostile political environment silence them and their achievements. I fiercely defended this program as a safe space for all, especially in this time of difficulty. My job changed, my relationship with my students changed. Working together through our pain and vulnerability, we found a collective strength and supported each other in a way that increased our resilience to do the work of sustainability.

Building strength through vulnerability

One of the features of our program that builds relationships, and collective learning is the one-week, in-person residency that is required every summer for three years. The educational sustainability doctoral program is online, except for this yearly residency. The residency is frequently mentioned by our students as one of the most transformative experiences in the program. This year (June 2025), I took a different approach to planning the residency. Rather than bringing computers and learning about sustainability competencies and research methods, we focused on the heart and hands parts of transformative learning (Sipos et al., 2008) and the social and emotional connections between each other (Papastamatis and Panitsides, 2014).

I planned activities for us that would require leaving our devices behind and connecting with nature and each other, like canyoning (repelling down waterfalls). The canyoning experience, in many ways, mirrored the transformative learning design of the program—it required collaboration, had moments of difficulty, struggle, and vulnerability, and concluded with a sense of collective strength, resilience, and empowerment.

The students similarly reflected on how canyoning was transformative and created a unique bond through vulnerability and trust. One student wrote about the canyoning experience:

Everyone that participated in that experience was truly vulnerable and also supportive of each other. We had to let our guards down to focus on completing the journey down the canyon and leaned on each other to do so. That required a significant amount of trust and literal handholding.

In the end, we were closer with our peers after the canyoning experience

Another student reflected on the emotional safety created through this experience:

One particularly memorable experience that fostered the community was the canyoneering trip, where we rappelled down an 80-foot waterfall.

Supporting each other through adrenaline (and fear) led us to encouragement and emotional safety.

Yet another student reflected on the emotional support and kinship that this experience fostered:

The descent through all the waterfalls was not only physically grueling, but emotionally intense. What surprised me, however, was the way my peers checked in with me—offering emotional support and words of affirmation without judgment. In that moment, I felt seen and held. There was a sense of mutual care that went beyond casual classmate interaction and moved toward a deeper kind of kinship.

The fact that I faced my fear, endured the pain, and still came away feeling proud says a lot about the strength and healing I’ve cultivated.

The canyoning experience pushed many people’s physical and emotional limits, but together we were strong, resilient, and could tackle anything put in our path. The canyoning became an analogy for our relationships in this program and our pursuit of sustainability.

We may feel fear, face struggles, even trauma, but through vulnerability, trust, and support, together, we can persist.

This one experience is not the full story, but it does provide a glimpse into the shared experience of striving and struggling for sustainability in a time of difficulty and finding that together we are more resilient. It also opens the conversation for viewing transformative learning as a physical and emotional endeavor, rather than primarily cognitive.

I started 2025 full of fear and sadness. I came to my classes with that vulnerability—with tears and at a loss for any answers or solutions to the hardships we are facing. My students held my hand as much as I held theirs. The determination that I feel today to use everything I have to uplift their voices and ensure that they have this program as a space for healing, hope, and emotional safety is more steadfast than ever. I am transformed by the strength I see in our collective capacity.

Transformative learning as a form of collective resistance

Transformative learning is a recursive and co-generated process. Educators must be willing to be vulnerable, open, and receptive to growth and change. In this way, we are not experts disseminating knowledge; instead, we are learning alongside our students and growing because of them. Also, sometimes in advocating for sustainability, we need to take time away from writing, reading, and presenting to build our resilience as change agents with our community.  

I feel more engaged and enraged to fight for a sustainable future today than I have ever felt in the past. Holding this space where we could be vulnerable, created emotional safety, and from that space of safety and support, I can continue to fight and advocate for a more just future.

ECER 2025 – Presentation

To learn more about the educational sustainability students and their perspectives on transformative learning, please attend our presentation at ECER:

“Multi-year study on Students’ Transformative Learning Journey through an Educational Sustainability Doctoral Program”
Session Number: 30 SES 02 B
Session Title: 30 SES 02 B: Education and Transformation
Session Location: University of Belgrade, room tbc
Session Time: 09/Sept/2025, 15:15 – 16:45

Dr. Erin Redman

Dr. Erin Redman

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, USA.

Erin Redman is the program director and associate professor of Educational Sustainability in the School of Education at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Prof. Redman comes to UWSP from Leuphana University of Luneburg (Germany) where she has been a research associate and program lead on an international sustainability education collaboration for the Global Consortium of Sustainability Outcomes (GCSO). Prior to joining Leuphana, Prof. Redman created and led the Sustainability Teachers’ Academy, a professional development program for in-service teachers from all over the United States. She was also a faculty member at the National University of Mexico (UNAM), where she integrated sustainability throughout their undergraduate programs as well as designed a stand-alone sustainability undergraduate program. https://www.uwsp.edu/directory/profile/erin-redman/

ECER Belgrade 2025

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

08 - 09 September 2025 - Emerging Researchers' Conference
09 - 12 September 2025 - European Conference on Educational Research

Find out about fees and registration here.

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

In Belgrade, the conference theme is Charting the Way Forward: Education, Research, Potentials and Perspectives

No doubt that education has a central role in society, but what it is destined to do is contested politically as well as scientifically. Yet more debate is had concerning the question of the way in which educational research should shape the future of educational practice. The important, but sensitive role educational research occupies in that regard should be the promotion of a better understanding of the contemporary and future world of education, as is expressed in EERA’s aim.

Emerging Researchers' Conference - Belgrade 2025

The Emerging Researchers' Conference (ERC) precedes ECER and is organised by EERA's Emerging Researchers' Group. Emerging researchers are uniquely supported to discuss and debate topical and thought-provoking research projects in relation to the ECER themes, trends and current practices in educational research year after year. The high-quality academic presentations during the ERC are evidence of the significant participation and contributions of emerging researchers to the European educational research community.

By participating in the ERC, emerging researchers have the opportunity to engage with world class educational research and to learn the priorities and developments from notable regional and international researchers and academics. The ERC is purposefully organised to include special activities and workshops that provide emerging researchers varied opportunities for networking, creating global connections and knowledge exchange, sharing the latest groundbreaking insights on topics of their interest. Submissions to the ERC are handed in via the standard submission procedure.

Prepare yourself to be challenged, excited and inspired.

Other blog posts on similar topics:

We Are the Storytellers: Co-Creating Counternarratives with Black Caribbean Boys

We Are the Storytellers: Co-Creating Counternarratives with Black Caribbean Boys

by | NW 33 Gender and Education, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education

This blog previews the project I will present at ECER 2025, titled ‘Literature as Identity Work: Exploring Self-Discovery Through Texts’. It examines Black Caribbean male students’ experiences with the GCSE English literature curriculum in the UK, positioning literature as a space where identities are negotiated, challenged and reshaped. Through participants’ encounters with canonical texts, the study highlights literature’s dual role as a platform for personal growth, and a mechanism through which cultural exclusion is perpetuated. Rooted in Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Delgado, R. and Stefancic, J., 2023; Gillborn, 2024; Ladson-Billings, 2021) and narrative inquiry (Frank, 2012), the project uses storytelling – both textual and sonic – as a method for disseminating research, amplifying representation and showcasing resistance.

Representation, identity, and the limits of the literature curriculum

Although literature is often hailed as a window or door into other worlds and a mirror reflecting the self (Bishop, 1990), these metaphors take on new significance when curriculum texts fail to reflect the identities, cultures or lived experiences of its readers. For many Black Caribbean male students in England, the GCSE literature curriculum offers few mirrors since the reforms implemented by then Education Secretary, Michael Gove (Institute for Government, 2022; Chandler-Grevatt, 2021) have cemented a syllabus dominated by Eurocentric canonical texts, largely written by White men from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries. Despite their historical and literary value, the stories and contexts frequently fail to reflect the identities, realities and voices of Black Caribbean male students, leaving many to experience the literature curriculum as something to be gazed at from the outside rather than lived from within (Elliott et al., 2021). As one participant observes, “There are other people as good as Shakespeare, with different skin colours but no one knows about them”. Such reflections reveal that, for the participants, literature transcends its status as an academic subject to become an opaque mirror, a battleground and a site for self-definition, resistance and critical identity work.

Heterotopic spaces enable open reflection on race, masculinity and belonging

Viewed through the lenses of CRT and narrative inquiry, the participants’ counter-narratives uncover the personal stakes of curriculum design suggesting that questions of literature and identity are inseparable from questions of method. In this light, my research explores how participants’ engagement with canonical works and selected twentieth- and twenty-first-century texts shapes their navigation of masculinity, race, emotion and belonging.

The study facilitates one-to-one participatory narrative interviews, situated within Foucault’s (1986) conceptualisation of heterotopic spaces — cultural, dialogic environments designed to foster open, identity-affirming reflection. In these spaces, participants are empowered to move beyond the constraints of school-based discussions to critically engage with both the texts and their evolving sense of self.

To support emotional processing and deepen participant engagement, I employ a range of multimodal activities including text rating, visual mapping and character reflection (Kress, 2010; Woolhouse, 2017).

One notable strategy involves employing emojis to enable students’ articulation of their emotional responses to texts and characters.

These methodological tools prove effective because they provide a familiar and accessible medium through which to explore affective interpretation.

Sonic dissemination invites audiences to listen and engage with counter-narratives

Most significantly, the power of this study lies in the dissemination of research data. Rather than summarising student responses in researcher-authored prose, narratives are co-created using the boys’ own words as dialogue. Their speech — unpolished, reflective and often emotionally charged — remains intact. This approach allows for narrative framing without distorting the participants’ words, tone or rhythm. Also, by giving sonic life to the participants’ counter-narratives through AI voice simulation, audiences are invited not only to read the data but to listen – to hear counter-narratives in voices that echo their resonance and resistance.

Through this method of dissemination, audiences encounter young Black men speaking on their own terms, articulating nuanced understandings of masculinity, justice, diasporic belonging and the politics of hope (Freire, 2021). Sonic dissemination preserves the emotional texture of participants’ words, enacts the ethics of co-creation (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2017), and disrupts normative expectations of data sharing. It also reimagines dissemination as relational listening, a mode that centres empathy, embodiment and presence.

Serving as a commentary to remind us that voice is not only a methodological tool but also a political act — one that challenges the silences imposed by dominant narratives and affirms lived experience as legitimate knowledge — John, a participant, states: ‘I don’t mind people hearing what I said. I just want them to actually listen”. Consequently, my methodological choices do not merely generate data; they open space for new stories to emerge, stories that resonate within academia but also hold the potential to connect with wider audiences through accessible forms of storytelling and voice.

A co-created composite counter-narrative

In this co-created composite counter-narrative, ‘Unmasking Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, the boys reflect on themes of identity, duality and the pressures of navigating stereotypes, connecting The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to their social reality. Co-created using the participant’s direct quotes from interviews this voiced composite counter-narrative brings their perspectives and experiences to life.

Unmasking Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Students’ counter-narratives explore masculinity, identity and belonging

The composite counternarratives co-created through my research illustrate the students’ reflections on masculinity, identity, justice, racism and diasporic belonging, articulated through their negotiations with literature and wider society. The participants construct masculinity as a fluid, often contested identity, shaped by social context, cultural pressure and lived experience.

While several boys reject emotional vulnerability, critiquing characters such as Romeo (Shakespeare, 1993) as “simpish” and “unstable”, others value traits such as loyalty, self-awareness and quiet strength. Tybalt and Mercutio (Shakespeare, 1993) emerge as models of decisiveness and honour, even when their actions are rooted in violence. By contrast, texts such as Boys Don’t Cry (Blackman, 2024) enable a redefinition of masculinity grounded in emotional growth, caregiving and moral accountability.

Crucially, the students do not engage with masculinity in one uniform way; they actively interrogate what it means to be a man across diverse social and literary contexts (Connell, 1995). Through their counter-storytelling, the boys challenge hegemonic masculine norms (Connell, 1995) which positions certain performances of manhood — particularly those marked by dominance, emotional restraint and heterosexuality as ideal. Their counter-narratives (Solórzano and Yosso, 2002) therefore resist static, deficit-laden constructions of Black masculinity, providing instead complex and situated accounts of identity.

In a system that frequently frames Black Caribbean boys as disengaged or underachieving, this work foregrounds their criticality, emotional intelligence, cultural literacy and capacity for reflective resistance. The participants demonstrate cultural awareness, an understanding of their position in society as well as how they navigate and negotiate its demands. They are not disengaged; they are resisting performance of the self that feels untrue.

 At its heart, this project asks educators and researchers to do something very simple but radical: listen. Because when we truly listen to marginalised students, they do more than answer our questions.

They tell us a story.

And sometimes, they rewrite it.

Key Messages

  • The GCSE English literature curriculum, shaped by Govian reforms, offers few mirrors for Black Caribbean boys as it prioritises Eurocentric canonical texts.
  •  The participant’s counter-narratives reveal how literature becomes a site of struggle, identity work, and resistance against deficit views of Black masculinity.
  • Using multimodal and narrative methods, the study creates heterotopic spaces for boys to reflect on masculinity, race, belonging and justice.
  • Data is disseminated through AI-voiced sonic counter-narratives which preserve emotional texture and extend conventional research outputs by introducing new possibilities for sharing and experiencing participant voices. This approach offers a relational and participatory approach to dissemination.
  • The project foregrounds students’ voices as acts of resistance and hope, creating spaces where marginalised young people exercise their agency and transform narrative sites into spaces for reimagining justice, education, identity and belonging.

ECER 2025 – 

As part of my ECER 2025 presentation, I will be sharing the composite counter-narrative “We Weren’t Just Reading: Reflection, Resistance, Becoming”, a co-created narrative built from the boys’ direct quotes voiced during interviews. The story explores how literature functions as a critical space for young Black men to reflect on masculinity, identity, representation and belonging whilst developing critical consciousness about the systems that shape their lives.

Through their reflections on texts such as Boys Don’t Cry, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and An Inspector Calls, the participants interrogate stereotypes, power and exclusion — questioning whose stories are centred and whose are silenced. Their voices challenge dominant narratives of disinterest and underachievement, foregrounding themes that are central to CRT.  The composite counter-narrative ‘We Weren’t Just Reading: Reflection, Resistance, Becoming’ reveals that the Black Caribbean male students in my research are not merely analysing literature; they, instead, use it as a tool for self-discovery, resistance and critical reflection to create new understandings of identity, power and belonging. 

  • Network: 07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
  • Contribution ID: 1195
  • Title: Literature as Identity Work: Exploring Self-Discovery Through Texts
  • Session Title: 07 SES 02 A: Engaging Families and Alternative Educational Practices
  • Date & Time: 09 September 2025, 15:15 – 16:45 (CET)
  • Location: Room 001 | Eduka College | Ground Floor

Keisha-Ann Stewart

Keisha-Ann Stewart

Edge Hill University

Keisha-Ann Stewart is a PhD researcher at Edge Hill University. Her doctoral research explores Black Caribbean male students’ experiences of literature texts studied at Key Stage 4, examining how these experiences shape their engagement, interpretation and academic responses within English classrooms in England. With a multidisciplinary background in applied linguistics, literature, publishing studies and education, Keisha-Ann’s academic interests include literacy development, anti-racist education, decolonising the curriculum, teacher education, the ethical use of artificial intelligence in education, and the integration of technology to enhance learning and pedagogy. Her work is grounded in a strong commitment to equity, inclusion and culturally responsive teaching.

ECER Belgrade 2025

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

08 - 09 September 2025 - Emerging Researchers' Conference
09 - 12 September 2025 - European Conference on Educational Research

Find out about fees and registration here.

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

In Belgrade, the conference theme is Charting the Way Forward: Education, Research, Potentials and Perspectives

No doubt that education has a central role in society, but what it is destined to do is contested politically as well as scientifically. Yet more debate is had concerning the question of the way in which educational research should shape the future of educational practice. The important, but sensitive role educational research occupies in that regard should be the promotion of a better understanding of the contemporary and future world of education, as is expressed in EERA’s aim.

Emerging Researchers' Conference - Belgrade 2025

The Emerging Researchers' Conference (ERC) precedes ECER and is organised by EERA's Emerging Researchers' Group. Emerging researchers are uniquely supported to discuss and debate topical and thought-provoking research projects in relation to the ECER themes, trends and current practices in educational research year after year. The high-quality academic presentations during the ERC are evidence of the significant participation and contributions of emerging researchers to the European educational research community.

By participating in the ERC, emerging researchers have the opportunity to engage with world class educational research and to learn the priorities and developments from notable regional and international researchers and academics. The ERC is purposefully organised to include special activities and workshops that provide emerging researchers varied opportunities for networking, creating global connections and knowledge exchange, sharing the latest groundbreaking insights on topics of their interest. Submissions to the ERC are handed in via the standard submission procedure.

Prepare yourself to be challenged, excited and inspired.

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References

Bishop, R.S. 1990. ‘Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors’, Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3), pp. ix–xi.
Available at: https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Blackman, M. 2024. Boys don’t cry. London: Penguin

Chandler-Grevatt, A. 2021. ‘The wilderness years: An analysis of Gove’s education reforms on teacher assessment literacy’, The Buckingham Journal of Education, 2(2), pp. 149–164.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.5750/tbje.v2i1.1935 (Accessed: 18 August 2025).

Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. 2017. Research methods in education. 8th edn. Abingdon: Routledge.

Connell, R.W. 1995. Masculinities. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Delgado, R. and Stefancic, J. 2023. Critical race theory: An introduction. 4th edn. New York: New York University Press.

Elliott, V., Nelson-Addy, L., Chantiluke, R. and Courtney, M. 2021. Lit in Colour: Diversity in Literature in English Schools. London: Penguin Books UK and The Runnymede Trust.
Available at: https://litincolour.penguin.co.uk/assets/Lit-in-Colour-research-report.pdf (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Foucault, M. 1986. ‘Of other spaces’, Diacritics, 16(1), pp. 22–27.

Freire, P. 2021. Pedagogy of hope: Reliving pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury Academic.

Frank, A. 2012. “Practicing Dialogical Narrative Analysis,” in Varieties of Narrative Analysis, pp. 33–52. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781506335117.n3 (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Gillborn, D. 2024. White lies: Racism, education and critical race theory. London: Routledge.

Institute for Government. 2022. The Gove reforms a decade on. London: Institute for Government. Available at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/gove-reforms-decade-on.pdf (Accessed: 18 August 2025).

Kress, G. 2010. Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. London: Routledge.

Ladson-Billings, G. 2021. A scholar’s journey: Critical race theory and education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Shakespeare, W. 1993. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg. Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1777

(Accessed: August 20, 2025).

Solórzano, D.G. and Yosso, T.J. 2002. ‘Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research’, Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), pp. 23–44.
Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/107780040200800103 (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

Stewart, K. 2025. Beyond the page: Literature as a catalyst for identity and resistance. Edge Hill University. Poster.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.25416/edgehill.29616704.v1.

Woolhouse, C. 2017. ‘Multimodal life history narrative: Embodied identity, discursive transitions and uncomfortable silences’, Narrative Inquiry, 27(1), pp. 109–131.
Available at: https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/multimodal-life-history-narrative-embodied-identity-discursive-tr (Accessed: 20 August 2025).

 

Rethinking citizenship: Global challenges and the role of education

Rethinking citizenship: Global challenges and the role of education

by | NW 23 Policy Studies and Politics of Education, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education

The paradox of universal rights and freedoms being exclusively reserved for members of a nation-state through national citizenship has led me to explore the newly emerging ideas of global citizenship and global citizenship education (GCED). While global forms of citizenship aim to transcend the particularism of national rights, the role of education in fostering these ideals is central—especially in Europe, where regional frameworks like the European Union (EU) already provide an intermediary model between national and global citizenship. Yet, these frameworks are constrained by institutional and political realities, as citizenship remains fundamentally rooted in national legal systems. This raises critical questions about the feasibility of transnational citizenship and the extent to which educational initiatives can genuinely reshape these structures.

The interplay between global and European citizenship

Few would dispute that all individuals, regardless of nationality, are entitled to fundamental rights such as life, liberty, and education (United Nations, 1948). Yet, the institutionalisation of these rights predominantly occurs at the national level (Oman, 2009, p. 280-281), creating tensions between the universality of rights and the particularism of national citizenship (Fudge, 2004, p. 32). Global citizenship is often framed as a way to overcome these limitations, yet its feasibility remains contested.

In Europe, however, the EU provides a unique context where, although citizenship is confined to a single nation-state, rights and freedoms extend across member states (The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2000). The EU’s concept of citizenship, established under the Maastricht Treaty (1992), includes rights such as free movement, the ability to work and reside in any member state, and access to supranational legal protections. While this model showcases the potential of regional cooperation, its implementation remains uneven, with significant disparities in how member states apply and enforce these rights. Persistent challenges include restrictions on labor mobility, unequal access to social welfare systems, and the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers, highlighting the complexities of balancing national sovereignty with transnational governance.

Education as a catalyst for citizenship beyond borders

Education plays a pivotal role in shaping how individuals understand and enact citizenship. As part of broader efforts to reimagine civic education, UNESCO has promoted Global Citizenship Education (GCED) to foster a sense of interconnectedness and ethical responsibility in a globalised world. Schools are increasingly seen not just as places for academic instruction, but as spaces where students learn to navigate complex global realities and develop ethical, inclusive perspectives (UNESCO, 2014).

Officially launched by the UN in 2012, GCED is a ‘framing paradigm’ that calls for ‘multifaceted,’ ‘transformative,’ and ‘lifelong’ civic learning (UNESCO, 2015, p. 15). Enshrined in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target 4.7, it combines ‘formal and informal approaches, curricular and extracurricular interventions, and conventional and unconventional pathways to participation’ (UNESCO, 2015) with the aim of developing core competencies in learners, including:

a) Deep knowledge of global issues and universal values like justice, equality, and dignity

b) Cognitive skills for critical, systemic, and multi-perspective thinking

c) Non-cognitive skills such as empathy, conflict resolution, and cross-cultural communication

d) Behavioural capacities to act collaboratively and responsibly for the collective good (UNESCO, 2013).

However, these aspirations remain largely theoretical, as the challenge lies in bridging this vision with concrete implementation strategies that can be adapted to diverse educational systems.

Challenges and prospects in global citizenship education

Despite its potential, GCED faces notable conceptual and practical challenges. One concern is UNESCO’s “thin” conceptualisation of global citizenship, which does not fully address the role of the nation-state, the legal basis of citizenship rights, or the responsibilities that come with them. This ambiguity limits its effectiveness as a policy framework. A related challenge is its implementation. While UNESCO supports national efforts through curriculum development and learning materials, its influence remains largely advisory. Member states submit progress reports to UNESCO’s Executive Board every four years, yet the ‘Recommendation on Education for Peace and Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship, and Sustainable Development’ (2023) remains a non-binding guidance document rather than a legally binding framework. This weakens its capacity to ensure meaningful integration across diverse national contexts.

Additionally, UNESCO’s discourse has increasingly emphasised preparing education systems for so-called ‘future’ challenges rather than addressing the structural barriers that already hinder effective responses to global issues (Mochizuki & Vickers, 2024). This shift also reflects a broader trend toward the depoliticisation of education policy discussions. As a result, UNESCO’s global citizenship agenda appears to prioritise seemingly apolitical, simplistic solutions to global challenges—an approach that not only restricts political debate but also diverts attention from socio-economic injustices and weakens civic agency (Bryan, 2022). This raises concerns about whether GCED can truly empower learners to challenge dominant global structures rather than simply adapt to them.

At the same time, global challenges such as climate change, migration, and social inequality require collective solutions, such as global citizenship education. While GCED alone cannot resolve these issues, it offers a valuable framework for fostering civic engagement and ethical responsibility across borders. However, without clearer institutional backing and mechanisms for accountability, its impact remains uneven. A crucial challenge lies in moving beyond broad rhetoric to establish sustainable pathways for integrating GCED into national education systems in ways that complement existing structures.

Towards an integrated model of citizenship education

In Europe, citizenship education already covers the EU’s institutions, functions, integration processes, and core values, fostering both awareness and a sense of belonging to the EU community (Bacian & Huemer, 2023). Expanding this framework to incorporate global citizenship could help learners develop the skills and knowledge needed to engage with increasingly interconnected social, economic, and environmental challenges. The EU itself serves as a tangible model of transnational belonging, demonstrating how rights and responsibilities can extend beyond national borders. However, meaningful transnational citizenship depends on strong institutional frameworks, legal mechanisms, and sustained political cooperation – elements that, while central to the EU model, remain unevenly developed and contested within the Union itself.

While the EU has institutionalised transnational citizenship on a regional scale, its limitations highlight the challenges of implementing GCED on a global level, such as discrepancies in the enforcement of rights, restrictions on labor mobility, and the treatment of migrants – issues that reveal the difficulty of extending citizenship beyond the nation-state.

Despite these challenges, education remains one of the most promising tools for fostering mutual understanding and preparing individuals to engage with global issues in meaningful ways. To maximise its impact, greater institutional collaboration is needed to ensure that education policies are responsive to the realities of citizenship in a globalised world. GCED has the potential to bridge national and transnational civic engagement, but this requires translating its principles into concrete policies and practices that equip learners with the tools to navigate both local and global challenges effectively. By critically assessing both the opportunities and constraints of transnational citizenship, we can move beyond theoretical discussions and work toward a more inclusive and actionable model of civic education.

Key Messages

  • There is a tension between the absolute universalism of fundamental rights and the enduring particularism of their institutionalisation through national citizenship.
  • With state institutions serving as the primary mechanisms for exercising rights and freedoms, human rights are intrinsically linked to national citizenship.
  • Global Citizenship Education (GCE), envisioned as a means to foster universal values, is proposed as a potential solution to this tension.
  • GCE encourages us to reimagine education as a lifelong process that nurtures a sense of belonging not only to a nation but also to a global community.
Dr. Aikerim Bektemirova

Dr. Aikerim Bektemirova

Aikerim Bektemirova recently completed her PhD in Education at the University of Cambridge. Her primary research interests lie at the intersection of education and political sociology. Prior to her PhD, Aikerim earned an MPhil in Education, Globalisation, and International Development, also from the University of Cambridge. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan.

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References and Further Reading

Appiah, K. (2007). Global Citizenship. Fordham L. Review, 75(5), 2375. Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol75/iss5/3/

Bacian, I. &Huemer, M. (2023). Citizenship education in national curricula. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2023)747459

Bosniak, L. (2000). Citizenship Denationalized. SSRN Electronic Journal, 7, 447. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ijgls/vol7/iss2/2/

Bryan, A. (2022). From ‘the conscience of humanity’ to the conscious human brain: UNESCO’s embrace of social-emotional learning as a flag of convenience. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 54(5), 770–784. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2022.2129956

European Parliament. (2000). The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf

European Parliament. (1992). Treaty on European Union (TEU) / Maastricht Treaty. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/in-the-past/the-parliament-and-the-treaties/maastricht-treaty

Frey, B. (2001). Flexible Citizenship for a Global Society. SSRN Electronic Journal.Available at:  https://www.bsfrey.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/flexible-citizenship-for-a-global-society.pdf

Fudge, J. (2014). Making claims for migrant workers: human rights and citizenship. Citizenship Studies, 18(1), 29-45. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13621025.2014.865894

Gholami, R. (2016). The art of self-making: identity and citizenship education in late-modernity. British Journal Of Sociology Of Education, 38(6), 798-811. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01425692.2016.1182006

Hansen, R. (2014). Citizenship and Integration in Europe. In Toward Assimilation and Citizenship: Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States (1st ed., pp. 87-109). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305246077_Citizenship_and_Integration_in_Europe

Koh, H. H. (1999). How Is International Human Rights Law Enforced? Indiana Law Journal, 74(4), 9th ser., 1397-1417. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2279&context=ilj

Nash, K. (2009). Between Citizenship and Human Rights. Sociology, 43(6), 1067-1083. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038038509345702

Mochizuki, Y., & Vickers, E. (2024). Still ‘the conscience of humanity’? UNESCO’s vision of education for peace, sustainable development and global citizenship. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 54(5), 721–730. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2024.2371259

Oman, N. (2010). Hannah Arendt’s “Right to Have Rights”: A Philosophical Context for Human Security. Journal of Human Rights, 9(3), 279-302. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3394297

UNESCO. (2013). Outcome document of the Technical Consultation on Global Citizenship Education: Global Citizenship Education – An Emerging Perspective. Available at:https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000224115

UNESCO. (2014). Global Citizenship Education. Preparing learners for the challenges of the twenty-first century.Paris: UNESCO. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000227729

UNESCO. (2015). Global Citizenship Education. Topics and Learning Objectives. Paris: UNESCO. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000232993

UNESCO. (2023). Recommendation on Education for Peace and Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development. Paris: UNESCO. Available at :https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/recommendation-education-peace-and-human-rights-international-understanding-cooperation-fundamental

United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Available at:https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

 

Resisting the marginalisation of children’s right to play

Resisting the marginalisation of children’s right to play

by | NW 22 Research in Higher Education, NW 25 Research on Children's Rights in Education, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education, NW 9 Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement

Why have we, as educators, accepted that play now occupies the margins of early childhood education and care? Whilst a long tradition of international research positions play as essential to early learning (Wood, 2015), tensions remain with play being foregrounded in classroom life. But can – and should – educators subvert the marginalisation of play in early childhood and care (ECEC)? It is one question that has provoked the recent scholarship on the resistance practices of educators. Dr Jo Albin-Clark and Dr Nathan Archer share their research and thoughts on the marginalisation of play in education.

Play in the current context

Over time, as researchers in ECEC, we have found that play seems to have slipped down the agenda in the push for formalised learning in countries such as England, as accountability bodies frame teaching within standards agendas that can sideline child-initiated play (Wood, 2019). Play seems to occupy a contested curriculum space (Fairchild and Kay, 2021, p. 1). Yet play is not just under erosion in school life, the pull of structured time and the chasing of high achievements reaches into family life (Sahlberg and Doyle, 2019). The result is the withholding of play from children (Murray et al., 2019).  

But play is much more than educational experiences. It is deeply associated with childhood itself. The entitlement to play is part of Article 31 of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR, 1989). Significantly, the right to play is an innovative component that acts as a gateway to other rights related to health and broader development (Davey and Lundy, 2011). Even though play is strongly associated with many domains of learning and development, it is not always taken seriously and because of that the status of play has suffered (Brooker and Woodhead, 2013).

Resistance practices

Play is a matter of social justice (Souto-Manning, 2017), and, for that reason, needs policymakers and educators to protect children’s entitlement to play, including through resistance to its marginalisation. As such, a growing body of literature in early childhood education (Moss 2019; Archer and Albin Clark 2022) focuses on the multiple manifestations of these resistances by educators.  Much of this resistance scholarship takes an explicit social justice position, with reconceptualist writers having increasingly called for greater advocacy and social activism in terms of both policy and practice (e.g., Bloch et al., 2018). Research reveals how the scope and scale of this resistance and activism varies from micro resistances to collective action. Nonetheless, both small and large-scale actions can produce sites for hopeful and flourishing pedagogies that can shift from marginalisation to more active politicised resistance.  

Resistance stories

Building on this prior work, we came together as researchers with two cases from separate studies (Albin-Clark, 2018; 2022; Archer, 2020; 2021). What is common to both case studies is a shared interest in how ECEC educators make sense of their experiences and enact forms of resistance. Through the stories of two early childhood educators working in England, we identified their commitment to ‘being the right thing’ and ‘doing the right thing’, foregrounding play in their practice as a matter of social justice. As such, both educators resisted and subverted pressures, scrutiny, and colleague expectations to make play happen, and demonstrate how play is implicated with concerns of justice (Nicholson and Wisneski, 2017).

Call to arms

In conclusion, we need to further problematise the implications and risks of mobilising play (Shimpi and Nicholson, 2014). Making play happen requires a critical awareness of the relationship between rights and play agendas and the tensions involved navigating the value of play in the complexity of ECEC (Wong, 2013). Saying ‘no’ to play’s marginalisation brings teachers into a professionalism founded on resistance (Fenech et al. 2010).

 Now is the time to acknowledge and amplify resistances that promote the right to play. But for educators there are risks of being labelled a ‘disobedient’ professional (Leafgren, 2018). In promoting play, it can mean thinking carefully about how curriculum content is framed (Wood and Hedges, 2016). Moreover, children’s access to and entitlement to play is positioned as a moral imperative by both educators in our studies, which suggests how seriously the right to play is positioned (Nicholson and Wisneski, 2017; Wood, 2007). Social justice needs serious play.

 

Key Messages

  • Play has an essential role in children’s educational lives and matters to their childhood.
  • Play and educational justice are related concepts.
  • There are both implications and risks in marginalising children’s right to play.
  • The increasing formalisation of education for our youngest children needs scrutiny.
  • Making play happen in educational practice might need forms of resistance.
Dr Jo Albin-Clark

Dr Jo Albin-Clark

Senior Lecturer Early Education

Dr. Jo Albin-Clark is a senior lecturer in early education at Edge Hill University. Following a teaching career in nursery and primary schools, Jo has undertaken a number of roles in teaching, advising and research in early childhood education. She completed a doctorate at the University of Sheffield in 2019 exploring documentation practices through posthuman and feminist materialist theories in early childhood education. Her research interests include observation and documentation practices and methodological collaboration and research creation through posthuman lenses. Throughout her work, teachers’ embodied experiences of resistances to dominant discourses has been a central thread.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6247-8363

https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/persons/joanne-albin-clark 

Dr Nathan Archer

Dr Nathan Archer

Researcher at Leeds Beckett University

Dr Nathan Archer is a researcher at Leeds Beckett University. Originally qualified as a Montessori teacher, Nathan has worked in practice, policy and research in early childhood education for twenty-five years. He gained a PhD from University of Sheffield in 2020 and has undertaken policy analysis with Sutton Trust, Nuffield Foundation and University of Leeds. He continues to research early childhood workforce policy, and the resistance and activism of early childhood educators. Nathan is Associate Editor of Journal of Early Childhood Research.  

 
Nathan Archer (0000-0003-4365-4349) – ORCID

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References and Further Reading

Albin-Clark, J. (2018). ‘I felt uncomfortable because I know what it can be’: The emotional geographies and implicit activisms of reflexive practices for early childhood teachers. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 21(1), 20-32. https://doi:10.1177/1463949118805126

 Albin-Clark, J.  (2022). The right to play: Are young children free to determine their own actions? https://blogs.edgehill.ac.uk/isr/the-right-to-play-are-young-children-free-to-determine-their-own-actions/

 Albin-Clark, J. & Archer, N. 2023, “Playing social justice: How do early childhood teachers enact the right to play through resistance and subversion? ” Prism: Casting new light on learning, practice and theory, 5 (2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.24377/prism.article714

 Archer, N. (2020). Borderland narratives: Agency and activism of early childhood educators [Doctoral dissertation, University of Sheffield]. https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/27993/

 Archer, N.  (2021). ‘I have this subversive curriculum underneath’: Narratives of micro resistance in early childhood education. Journal of Early Childhood Research https://doi:10.1177/1476718X211059907 

 Archer, N. & Albin-Clark, J. (2022, July 20). Telling stories that need telling: A dialogue on resistance in early childhood education. FORUM for Promoting 3-19 Comprehensive Education, 64 (2) https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/forum/vol-64-issue-2/abstract-9564/

 Bloch, M. N., Swadener, B. B., & Cannella, G. S. (Eds.). (2018). Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education and Care-a Reader: Critical Questions, New Imaginaries & Social Activism. Oxford: Peter Lang.

 Brooker, L., & Woodhead, M. (2013). The right to play. early childhood in focus, 9. The Open University with the support of Bernard van Leer Foundation

 Davey, C., & Lundy, L. (2011). Towards greater recognition of the right to play: An analysis of article 31 of the UNCRC. Children & Society, 25(1), 3-14. https://doi:10.1111/j.1099-0860.2009.00256.x

 Fairchild, N., & Kay, L. (2021, November 26). The early years foundation stage: Challenges and opportunities. BERA blog. https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/the-early-years-foundation-stage-2021-challenges-and-opportunities

 Fenech, M., Sumsion, J., & Shepherd, W. (2010). Promoting early childhood teacher professionalism in the Australian context : The place of resistance. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 11(1), 89-105. https://doi:10.2304/ciec.2010.11.1.89 

 Leafgren, S. (2018). The disobedient professional: Applying a nomadic imagination toward radical non-compliance. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 19(2), 187-198. https://doi:10.1177/1463949118779217 

 Moss, P. (2019). Alternative narratives in early childhood. Abingdon: Routledge

 Murray, J., Smith, K., &Swadener, B. (2019). The Routledge international handbook of young children’s rights Abingdon: Routledge. https://doi:10.4324/9780367142025 

 Nicholson, J., &Wisneski, D. (2017). Introduction. Early Child Development and Care, 187(5-6), 788-797. https://doi:10.1080/03004430.2016.1268534 

 Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, (OHCHR). (1989, November 20). United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)https://www.ohchr.org/enhttps://www.ohchr.org/en

 Sahlberg, P., & Doyle, W. (2019). Let the children play. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 Shimpi, P., & Nicholson, J. (2014). Using cross-cultural, intergenerational play narratives to explore issues of social justice and equity in discourse on children’s play. Early Child Development and Care, 184(5), 719-732. https://doi:10.1080/03004430.2013.813847 

 Souto-Manning, M. (2017). Is play a privilege or a right? and what’s our responsibility? on the role of play for equity in early childhood education. Early Child Development and Care, 187(5-6), 785-787. https://doi:10.1080/03004430.2016.1266588. 

 Wong, S. (2013). A ‘Humanitarian Idea’: using a historical lens to reflect on social justice in early childhood education and care. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 14(4), 311-323.https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2013.14.4.31https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2013.14.4.31

 Wood, E. (2007). New directions in play: consensus or collision? Education 3-13, 35(4), 309-320. https://doi:10.1080/03004270701602426 

 Wood, E. (2015). The capture of play within policy discourses: A critical analysis of the UK frameworks for early childhood education. In J.L. Roopnarine, M.Patte, J.E. Johnson & D. Kuschner (Eds.), International perspectives on children’s play (pp. 187-198). Buckingham: Open University Press.

 Wood, E. and Hedges, H., 2016. Curriculum in early childhood education: Critical questions about content, coherence, and control. The curriculum journal, 27(3), pp.387-405.

The importance of diversity training for educators in predominately white places

The importance of diversity training for educators in predominately white places

by | BERA, NW 1 Professional Learning and Development, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education

The state of future education as a discipline will be possibly influenced by the importance it places on a conceptual, curricular, and pedagogical need to shift the emphasis toward transformative classrooms working for positive change through cultural diversity (Banks, 2020). Awareness of issues around race equality, inclusive growth, and community cohesion has heightened following George Floyd’s killing in the USA in 2020, and the Black Lives Matter Movement. This increasing awareness is particularly pertinent in Britain in areas of historically low ethnic diversity which have lately experienced a rise in ethnic minority populations, and where inclusive growth is a challenge.

The Research

My research explores the understanding and experiences of multiculturalism of students, parents and educators in four mainstream primary schools situated in the predominantly White South-West England. I adopted a qualitative case study methodology framed by a sociocultural theoretical framework (Vygotsky, 1978). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with adult participants, observation of students’ classroom activities, and documentary analysis of classroom and corridor displays.

The interviews had questions around books and topics reflecting multiculturalism. In the height of COVID-19, the classroom and corridor displays were photographed to see whether the school ethos and atmosphere reflect multiculturalism.

Background – Diversity, Curriculum and Education Inspectorate

Although 33.5% of the school population includes ethnically diverse children, out of 6478 children’s books published in Britain in 2019, 10.5% featured characters belonging to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities; of these, only 5% had a main character who belonged to the communities mentioned (Wood, 2019). The education inspectorate, Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills or in short, Ofsted (2019:11,12) is vocal about ensuring “inclusive education and training to all”, and extending the Curriculum beyond the academic and technical domains for students’ broader development, and creation of understanding, and appreciation of cultural diversity. However, race equality and community cohesion, which could help in the students’ broader development, do not constitute Ofsted’s school inspection criteria (Rhamie, 2014).  

Findings

My research findings suggest participants’ eagerness for more ethnically diverse content incorporated in teaching and learning. However, schools are considerably dependent on, and somewhat confined by, the knowledge-focused Primary National Curriculum in England for which efforts towards a multicultural reflection are less noticeable. The absence of culturally diverse content in the school Curriculum highlighted by the 1985 Swann Report and the 2007 Ajegbo Report makes England’s primary National Curriculum look like a “Brexit policy three decades before Brexit”  (Moncrieffe et al., 2020:20). The situation emphasizes the need to start afresh. The starting point may be to get thinking and acting while doing Curriculum making (Priestley et al., 2021). This is because Curriculum thinking  is at the heart of education practice today (Poutney and Yang, 2021).

Implications – Curriculum thinking and teacher training

The educators as Curriculum framers play a significant part in Curriculum thinking and delivery where the task design is crucial, and where the educators can place equal importance on the interwoven elements of “how”, “what” and “why” the task is taught (Moncrieffe et al., 2020:16-17). The educators need to build confidence in encouraging difficult conversations around racism, fear, indifference, and ignorance breaking the stereotypical barriers. This would help equip the students with the necessary creative skills so that they learn, grow and foster as responsible citizens in this changing complex world (Deng, 2022) with an apt cognition of a multicultural Britain. But how can they train students without the required training in the specific area?

Lander’s research (2014) showed that trainee educators in predominantly White areas often run the risk of sharing confined perspectives while educating children. I agree with Lander that no matter the geographical location, school educators can be equipped with the necessary culturally responsive initial training, and continuous professional development, with a focus on race-centric and multiculturally responsive education (ibid).   This may aid in the reduction of employees’ unconscious bias for which the CRE (2021)  recommended training and routine skills assistance. This becomes distinctly pertinent to avoid horrific cases of racism in the future like the one in Hackney, London where a Black teenager referred to as Child Q was wrongly suspected of cannabis possession, and strip-searched during her period, risking deep serious consequences for the child (FordRojas, 2022 ).

Having competent culturally responsive educators in 21st century classrooms may have important positive effects like boosted self-esteem, improved academic achievement, and greater engagement and well-being of students from ethnically diverse communities, which, in turn, have implications for fostering nurturing inclusive classrooms and school environments.

Key Messages

  • There is often a misconception that only schools with high ethnic minority populations or those situated in multicultural places need multicultural awareness.
  • Race equality and cultural awareness are essential topics amidst racist incidents in multicultural schools at the heart of London
  • These topics are equally important in predominantly White places in Britain, especially in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, the BLM movement, and post-Brexit rises in racist and xenophobic attacks.
  • School curriculum and atmosphere need to offer race sensitive multicultural reflection in these places.
  • Practitioners need training and preparedness to equip them with relevant knowledge, skills, and confidence.
Suparna Bagchi

Suparna Bagchi

Final year doctoral student in Plymouth Institute of Education, University of Plymouth, UK

Suparna Bagchi is a final-year doctoral student at the Plymouth Institute of Education, University of Plymouth. She worked there as a Doctoral Teaching Assistant from 2019 to 2022. Suparna’s doctoral research explores perceptions of multiculturalism in mainstream primary schools in South West England. With a research interest in race, equity and social justice, Suparna is a member of various race equality associations both inside and outside the University.

Suparna is a dignity and respect ambassador and student representative of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at Plymouth University. In 2022, Suparna received EDI Award from Plymouth University coming among the top three students. Suparna is a trained Compassionate Community Ambassador, mentor of the UNO-recognised Virtues Project, a certified Community Champion and trained Hinduism Faith Speaker. Suparna appears regularly on BBC Radio Devon as a guest speaker. Suparna has made academic presentations nationally and internationally.

Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/suparnabagchi2?lang=en-GB

Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2498-2892

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Suparna-Bagchi

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References and Further Reading

Banks, J. A. (2020). Diversity, transformative knowledge, and civic education: Selected essays. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003018360

Deng, Z. (2022). Powerful knowledge, educational potential and knowledge-rich curriculum: pushing the boundaries. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 54(5), 599-617. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2022.2089538

FordRojas, J.P. (2022). Child Q report: Met Police culture ‘under scrutiny again’ after case of schoolgirl strip-searched by officers, says policing minister. Sky News. 13 April. https://news.sky.com/story/child-q-report-met-police-culture-under-scrutiny-again-after-case-of-schoolgirl-strip-searched-by-officers-says-policing-minister-12572253

Lander, V. (2014). Initial teacher education: The practice of whiteness. In R. Race. and V. Lander (Eds.), Advancing race and ethnicity in education, (pp. 93-110). Palgrave Macmillan.http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137274755

Moncrieffe, M., Race, R., Harris, R., Chetty, D., Riaz, N., Ayling, P., Arphattananon, T., Nasilbullov, K., Kopylova, N. and Steinburg, S. (2020). Decolonising the curriculum. Research Intelligence, 142, 9-27. British Educational Research Association. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340870420_Decolonising_the_Curriculum_-_Transnational_Perspectives_Research_Intelligence_Issue_142Spring_2020

Ofsted. (2019). The education inspection framework. Draft for Consultation–January 2019.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection-framework-draft-for-consultation

Plymouth Report. (2019). Plymouth: Plymouth City Council.https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/publichealth/factsandfiguresjointstrategicneedsassessment/plymouthreport

Pountney, R. and Yang, W. (2021). International perspectives on the curriculum Implications for teachers & schools. BERA Research Intelligence, 148, pp. 15 https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/autumn-2021

Priestley, M., Alvunger, D., Philippou, S., and Soini, T. (2021). Curriculum making across European nations. BERA Research Intelligence,148, 16-17. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33293

Rhamie, J. (2014). Resilience, the black child and the Coalition Government. In .R Race, and V. Lander (Eds.), Advancing Race and Ethnicity in Education (pp. 230-249. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/1057/9781137274762_15

Sewell, T., Aderin-Pocock, M., Chughtai, A., Fraser, K., Khalid, N., Moyo, D., … and  Shah, S. (2021). Commission on race and ethnic disparities: The report. Commission on Race, Ethnic Disparities. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974507/20210331_-_CRED_Report_-_FINAL_-_Web_Accessible.pdf

Vygotsky, L. S., and Cole, M. (1978). Mind in society: Development of higher psychological processes. Harvard university press.https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjf9vz4

Wood, H. (2019). New CLPE report into kids books warns over simplified depictions of BAME characters. The Bookseller. https://www.thebookseller.com/news/clpe-reveals-increase-bame-representation-urges-against-jasmine-default-1085896

The perceptions of minoritized pupils on student-teacher relationships

The perceptions of minoritized pupils on student-teacher relationships

by | NW 14 Communities, Families, and Schooling in Educational Research, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education

At ECER 2023 in Glasgow, Julia Steenwegen from the University of Antwerp will present her research about the minoritized students, and their perceptions of the student-teacher relationships in mainstream and supplementary schools. We asked Julia to give us an overview of her research, and the implications for minoritzed students in Belgium, and beyond.

Student reflections

This is the response of a pupil when asked about the differences between her supplementary school and her Flemish mainstream school as part of a project investigating minoritized pupils’ views on the relationship to their teachers.

Some background – Minority students in Flanders, Belgium

Against a backdrop of persistent inequality in education throughout Europe, and in Flanders specifically, studies find that there is a gap not only in academic achievements between minoritized pupils and their peers, but also in the quality of student teacher relationships. The student-teacher relationship is of crucial importance to students’ educational pathways, yet teachers indicate feeling ill-prepared in teaching the diversity of their classrooms [1]. Students with a migration background tend to evaluate the relationship to their teachers as not as positive as their majority peers [2].

Other research has shown that some teachers hold ethnic prejudice towards their minority students  [3], this is particularly worrisome as only a very small percentage of teachers in Flanders have a migrant background [4]. The difference in ethno-cultural background – called Ethnic incongruence [5] – between teachers and students in mainstream schools is often hypothesized as an explanation for the different evaluation of student-teacher relationships. What is currently missing from the research is the perception of those minoritized pupils.

 

Our research methods

Supplementary schools pose a unique vantage point from which to study minoritized pupils’ views on the student-teacher relationship.  They are educational spaces [5] organized by minoritized communities to support their youth, usually take place during the weekend, and they often focus on teaching heritage language and culture. These schools are widespread, with as many as 45% of pupils in Flanders attending them at some point, as a yet unpublished paper by Coudenys and colleagues shows. That makes them particularly interesting to study in light of this project. After all, contrary to the mainstream Flemish schools in which most teachers are of white majority backgrounds, teachers in the supplementary school tend to share their pupils’ migrant backgrounds.

 Pupils attending both mainstream schools and supplementary schools are in an exclusive position to compare two different settings and reflect on what is constructive to a strong relationship, in their experience. To this end, we conducted group interviews with 29 minoritized pupils in two supplementary schools. The pupils were between 9 and 12 years old and voluntarily decided to take part in the interviews, either alone or with a friend.

Our findings

To our surprise, we find that throughout all these interviews, in which the pupils recount and reflect on their relationship to their teachers in the mainstream Flemish school as well as in the supplementary school, not one of the pupils points towards the ethno-cultural background of the teachers. Rather, they give a nuanced depiction of their relationships in each context both on an academic and an emotional level. This is in line with other research [6] suggesting that children do not rely on ethnic categories to organize their world.

 On an emotional level, the pupils indicate that they find the teachers in the mainstream Flemish schools to be less available to them overall. The children point towards factors such as class size to make sense of this lack of availability. Many of the pupils describe situations in which the teacher did not intervene in fights or altercations in the classroom, negatively impacting the quality of the relationship. The children are especially grateful to those teachers that show an interest in their cultural backgrounds. Some pupils remember teachers who asked about their supplementary schools fondly, while acknowledging that such interest is rare.

 While there is not always a clear-cut difference in the pupils’ perception of the teachers from one context to the next, they do almost uniformly declare a difference in the support they receive academically. The pupils report that they are reluctant to ask their mainstream teachers for help because they expect to be turned down. The children relate how they keep their questions to themselves, and then ask their teachers in supplementary school to explain to them at the weekend.

Implications for practice, beyond Belgium

We conclude by highlighting some important implications of our findings. Importantly, there is ample research [7] that emphasizes the importance of diversity in teacher staff in terms of countering prejudice, academic expectations, role models and more. The findings of this project do not seek to diminish that importance. Rather, in a reality of ethnic incongruence in student-teacher relationships we make some suggestions to better support pupils of minoritized backgrounds. First, pupils appreciate curiosity from their teachers. Interest in their cultural backgrounds and, relatedly, asking questions about their experience in the supplementary school is clearly beneficial. Second, the pupils were very perceptive of the pressure their teachers experience, and therefore they found them less approachable. And third, there are ample resources available in the supplementary schools. There could be much gained from a meaningful exchange between these different educational contexts.

Key Messages

  • Supplementary schools pose an interesting vantage point from which to study the perspectives of minoritized pupils.
  • We study the student-teacher relationship from an academic and an affective dimension.
  • Pupils describe that they feel better emotionally supported by their teachers in the mainstream school when they show an interest and open attitude towards their ethno-cultural background.
Julia Steenwegen

Julia Steenwegen

PhD Researcher

With past experience as a primary school teacher, Julia’s research focus is on inequality in education. Her main focus is on the resources in children’s networks that provide support in their educational pathways.

Orcid: 0000-0001-6743-9788

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

[1] Berkovich, I., & Benoliel, P. (2020). Marketing teacher quality: Critical discourse analysis of OECD documents on effective teaching and TALIS. Critical Studies in Education, 61(4), 496-511.

[2] Agirdag, O., Van Houtte, M., & Van Avermaet, P. (2012). Ethnic school segregation and self-esteem: The role of teacher–pupil relationships. Urban Education, 47(6), 1135-1159.

[3] Van den Bergh, L., Denessen, E., Hornstra, L., Voeten, M., & Holland, R. W. (2010). The implicit prejudiced attitudes of teachers: Relations to teacher expectations and the ethnic achievement gap. American Educational Research Journal, 47(2), 497-527.

[4] Nulmeting herkomst leerkrachten in het Vlaamse onderwijs

[5] Thijs, J., Westhof, S., & Koomen, H. (2012). Ethnic incongruence and the student–teacher relationship: The perspective of ethnic majority teachers. Journal of school psychology, 50(2), 257-273.

[6] Steenwegen, J., Clycq, N., & Vanhoof, J. (2022). How and why minoritised communities self-organise education: a review study. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 1-19.

[7] Sedano, L. J. (2012). On the irrelevance of ethnicity in children’s organization of their social world. Childhood, 19(3), 375-388.

[8] Goldhaber, D., Theobald, R., & Tien, C. (2019). Why we need a diverse teacher workforce. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(5), 25-30.

Using nonviolence to reconceptualize inclusive education in the Global South

Using nonviolence to reconceptualize inclusive education in the Global South

by | NW 4 Inclusive Education, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education

My doctoral research has been exploring how developing a philosophy of nonviolence can help offset discrimination and exclusion in Chile, a country that has attempted to tackle the issue of inclusiveness through a Global North narrative that has focused primarily on disability and special needs. This blog post explores how nonviolence education can promote a sense of equality and inclusion not purely from such perspective, as has been the norm for the last two decades, but from one anchored in an understanding of cultural, economic, sexual, and ethnic diversity.

Previous assumptions on inclusivity

The very nature of my research project has inclusiveness at its core; not exclusively as a method often and primarily focused on students with special needs, but as a way to experience human relations rooted in an equitable view of others. It involved reading and discussing nonviolent perspectives in education, engaging in weekly contemplative practices such as developing empathy and practicing compassion, and peer-teaching. Participants were all pre-service teachers from Chile, a nation that in the last 4 years has been beset by social violence, much of which spilled over into educational establishments.

These participants’ previous assumptions on what inclusiveness is ranged from “I thought inclusiveness was only a way to adapt materials for special-needs students”, to “I used to think about inclusiveness from a technical perspective rather than understanding what makes a person different from another, or singular”, to “I used to believe inclusiveness was about including other people, but now I understand it as being aware of their differences, acknowledging and appreciating them”

This somewhat incomplete understanding of inclusiveness is hardly surprising, if one is to look at two factors. The first is the definitions and principles of inclusive education we find in research done by Chilean scholars and Chilean government documents; for while it is true that Law 20.845 on Inclusive Education from 2016 seeks the “elimination of discrimination and the approach to diversity”[1], it is also acknowledged that these efforts have focused on and been prompted by widening access primarily to people with disabilities. A report from the National Disability Agency states that inclusive education has been “driven towards the social participation of people with disabilities, their families and civil society, in order to implement the changes demanded by students and our society” (p.1). Research by Chilean scholars in this area (Iturra-Gonzalez, 2019; Manghi et al., 2020; Martinez and Rosas, 2022) on the other hand, tends to use the terms “inclusive education” and “education for students with special needs” interchangeably. There is, as I mentioned, a second factor that shapes this view of inclusiveness: a close inspection of available research done in Chilean education reveals that it draws heavily and almost exclusively on studies and sources from the Global North on this issue, and this is problematic: such research has in fact for decades focused almost exclusively on disability rather than on a holistic approach.

[1] In Spanish in the original: “eliminación de la discriminación y el abordaje de la diversidad”, translation by me.

An argument for what inclusive education should mean today

Given the above, I argue that the idea of inclusiveness I have described is both inaccurate and incomplete, and it is here that nonviolence educational philosophy brings a more holistic understanding of what inclusiveness should look like. To begin with, Judith Butler (2020) has argued that all lives have equal worth; violence in any dimension arises when we see others’ lives as having less worth. Inclusiveness from a nonviolent perspective comprises everyone who has been historically marginalized, excluded, and discriminated against. In other words, whose lives have been socially and culturally devalued. This is where we can establish a link to non-Western traditions (i.e., Ubuntu, BuenVivir, Buddhism, and yoga), which were explored during the study. What these traditions have in common is that they promote a sense of a mutually bound existence regardless of our faith, gender, ethnicity, beliefs, modes of life, ability, literacy or education.

When defining ubuntu, for instance, Desmond Tutu (1999) explains:

“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are” (p.29)

 

He further adds that the ultimate goal of ubuntu is to achieve social harmony through shared human participation, and that in the end, we can only be human beings through other human beings; therefore, committing an act of violence against someone is an action of dehumanizing both the victim and ourselves.

 These were concepts that were missing from the participants’ original interpretation of inclusiveness, and why they were exposed to these ideas early on in the project; for instance, one of the earliest assignments for participants was to watch a short video on the meaning of inclusiveness in education by Indian scholar Sadhguru. His vision, which I share, is that inclusiveness is not “an idea or a campaign”, but an individual experience of connecting to other human beings, and of bringing this connection into the whole range of activities we engage in, be it educational, economic or spiritual, in order to flourish. One participant explains:

“I really liked what Sadhguru mentioned in his speech about inclusiveness in education, “Survival cannot happen without inclusiveness”, as I think this is a point that many people tend to forget. For me, inclusiveness is about integrating different people into a group. However, this integration should not only be to include or accept a person into this group, this action also serves to see other people as equals” – P24

Perhaps the most important insight participants expressed concerned a paradigmatic shift that moved from an individualistic mindset to a more collective one, as can be seen from the observations below:

“I noticed the sense of community in which I work with others as “we”, but also as my own growth as an individual. Western people, on the other hand, are taught that the only thing that matters is the “ego”, ourselves, everything that surrounds us, we own it” – P1

 

“I am part of a network that should be constructed with love, understanding, and diversity. We are part of the same whole in humankind, but we are diverse. It is this diversity that configures this classroom. I am because you are: I wouldn’t be a teacher without the students and vice-versa”– P10

 

“In Indigenous knowledge, we are devoted to help others not for the sake of our own benefit but, more profound, for the sake of our humanity” – P20

 

“It is the relationship with others that makes us human. The interactions with people that surround us is what allows to be fulfilled, we thrive in communities but we also see our humanity when we come in contact with those towards whom we direct it” – P2

These insights speak of several dimensions worth highlighting; the first is the impact of Western epistemologies in creating an individual viewed as separate from other human beings, and which directly contradicts what an inclusive environment should be. Secondly, they emphasize the fact that human beings are in fact interdependent and not the participants of what Butler calls ‘the fantasy of our self-sufficiency’ (2020). They also speak of the realization of what non-Western wisdom traditions offer in this context: a philosophy that proposes a manner in which we as humankind should be living: not for ourselves but for each other. As this participant notes:

“Fostering this idea that we depend on our peers to learn is a big step in starting to create a non-violent environment. Stop competing, include those who have different ideas, want the success of my classmates for the good of everyone. These are ideas that the new generations will acquire and gradually reform the worldview of society”. – P5

Conclusion

In conclusion, what participants’ insights show is how the nonviolent perspectives offered throughout the project indeed helped them reconceptualize their conception of inclusiveness to one that encompasses the full diversity of our human experience, rather than a method focused on disability alone as an exclusionary/inclusionary dimension. Several of the realizations and comments offered here speak of an appreciation of individual differences, while at the same time embracing inclusiveness as a guiding moral value that recognizes our shared humanity.

I would also argue that this kind of inclusiveness constitutes the strongest form of opposition against any kind of Othering, and that to cultivate that, to generate the kind of love that Garvey (1923) suggested should infuse education so that it could ‘soften the ills of the world’ (p.17), we need to learn to see others not as Others but through an empathetic lens that rehumanizes everyone regardless of our differences. This in the end is the contribution that non-Western epistemologies can make in the formulation of a nonviolent pedagogical framework.

Key Messages

  • We need to review how we view ‘inclusion’ from primarily focusing on students with special needs
  • Inclusion must be anchored in an understanding of cultural, economic, sexual, and ethnic diversity
  • Non-violent education can promote such a sense of equality and inclusion
  • It is important to decolonial perspectives on inclusiveness 
Gaston Bacquet

Gaston Bacquet

Associate Tutor / 3rd-year PhD student

Gaston Bacquet is a 3rd-year PhD student at the University of Glasgow. His research attempts to bring decolonial perspectives on nonviolence to teacher training within the Global South; said research draws from indigenous wisdom traditions such as ubuntu and Buen Vivir, as well as Eastern philosophy, and it aims at using the philosophy of nonviolence as a means to promote inclusiveness in all its dimensions. He also works as an associate tutor at Glasgow, where he teaches Qualitative Research Methods, Modern Educational Thought and supervises postgraduate students in the Educational Studies and TESOL programs. He is a guest lecturer for Education and Violence in the Education and Sustainable Development Master’s Program.

Research Gate link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gaston-Bacquet-2

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9802-7249

Staff profile: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/education/staff/gastonbacquet/

 

Other blog posts on similar topics:

References and Further Reading

Brito-Rodriguez, S., Basualto-Porra, L., Posada-Lecompte, M. (2021). Perceptions of Gender Violence, Discrimination, and Exclusion among University Students. Revista Interdisciplinaria de Estudios de Genero de El Colegio de Mexico. Retrieved here: https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?pid=S2395-91852020000100209&script=sci_arttext

Butler, J. (2020). The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind. Verso https://www.versobooks.com/books/3758-the-force-of-nonviolence 

Garvey, M. (1923) In Amy Jacques-Garvey (Ed.) Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, vol. 1.Atheneum.

Iturra Gonzalez, P. (2019). Dilemas de la educación inclusiva de Chile actual. Revista Educacion Las Americas8, 1-13. https://revistas.udla.cl/index.php/rea/article/view/7/6 

Manghi, .D., Bustos Ibarra, A., Conejeros Solar, M.Aranda Godoy, I., Vega Cordova, V., Diaz Soto, K. (2020). Comprender la educación inclusiva chilena: Panorama de políticas e investigación educativa. Cadernos de Pesquisas 50(175), 114-134. https://www.scielo.br/j/cp/a/YsJW7Td5j8KkPxwrqHYTmrq/?lang=en 

Martinez, C. & Rosas, R. (2022). Students with special educational needs and educational inclusion in Chile: Progress and challenges. Revista MedicaClinica Las Condes 33(5), 512 – 519. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0716864022001031 

Rojas, M.T., Astudillo, P. and Catalan, M. (2020). Report: Diversidad y Educacion Sexual en Chile: Identidad sexual (LGBT+) e inclusion escolar en Chile. UNICEF. Retrieved at: https://www.mineduc.cl/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2022/03/DIVERSIDADSEXUALYEDUCACION_CHILE.pdf

Ryoo, J,, Crawford, J.,Moreno, D. & McClaren, P. (2009), Critical Spiritual Pedagogy: Reclaiming Humanity through a Pedagogy of Integrity, Community, and Love, Power and Education 1(1), 132-148

Tutu, D. (1999). No Future Without Forgiveness. Image Books

DE INCLUSIÓN ESCOLAR QUE REGULA LA ADMISIÓN DE LOS Y LAS ESTUDIANTES, ELIMINA EL FINANCIAMIENTO COMPARTIDO Y PROHÍBE EL LUCRO EN ESTABLECIMIENTOS EDUCACIONALES QUE RECIBEN APORTES DEL ESTADO https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=1078172.

Networking for Global and Sustainability Education – UNESCO ASPnet in Estonia

Networking for Global and Sustainability Education – UNESCO ASPnet in Estonia

by | Emerging Researchers' Group, FERA, NW 7 Social Justice and Intercultural Education

UNESCO is tasked to ensure that education serves the values of peace, human rights, freedom, justice and democracy, respect for diversity, and international solidarity as defined in the UN Charter and the Constitution of UNESCO. Since 1953, the organisation has offered schools in its member states the opportunity to apply to be part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet), which supports the promotion of the UNESCO ideals. Today, the ASPnet connects more than 11,500 schools in 182 countries, and the current strategy aim for the network is to support Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED). These are seen as the key instruments for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target 4.7 with the aim of giving all learners the knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development (UNESCO, 2014).

The ASPnet has, throughout its existence, aimed to strengthen the horizontal links between schools through twinning and flagship projects which support the diffusion of participatory and critical enquiry pedagogies (Schweisfurth, 2005). The Baltic Sea Project (BSP) is one of the oldest flagship projects. Since 1989, it has united schools in the countries bordering the Baltic Sea to tackle regional environmental problems through education. Currently, in the nine participating countries, over 165 schools (mainly upper-secondary level) are involved in the BSP activities (BSP, 2022).

My research deals with the history and current state of these school networks in the context of Estonia and analyses how the process of tighter integration of the BSP network into the UNESCO ASPnet contributes to achieving a more holistic understanding of a sustainable future through enhanced cooperation between different subject teachers and civil society organisations (CSOs).

Revitalising the school network

The process of revitalising the school networks started in 2014, when the Estonian UNESCO National Commission gave the task of coordinating the networks to two separate CSOs that both work as resource centres for schools and teachers: the Tartu Environment Education Centre (TEEC) started coordinating the BSP network while NGO Mondo’s Global Education Centre restarted the UNESCO ASPnet. Both centres are highly valued actors in their respective fields in Estonia.

The integration process of the networks started in 2018 with first the CSOs coming together – the coordinator from TEEC took part in Mondo’s Global Education training with some key teachers from the BSP network and the integration proceeded with joint planning, events and new guidelines for schools. According to the renewed guidelines, all ASPnet schools are encouraged to include global and sustainability education into school development plans, school regulations, management style, and community participation. They are required to do a minimum of one international UNESCO project/campaign/program and two UN thematic days yearly.

ASPnet schools are also expected to mainstream ESD and GCED to curriculum, working plans and lessons and support cooperation between teachers. As a follow-up activity to strategy renewal, all BSP schools were awarded ASPnet membership.

Analysis of the ASP Network in Estonia

The main aim of my study was to analyse the institutional and ideational context of ESD, GCED and ASPnet in Estonia, questioning whether networking can support a more holistic, critical, and transformative GCED and ESD – dimensions which are seen as crucial in the academic literature (Bamber, 2019). I used mixed methods to gather data from the ASPnet teachers and Estonian education policymakers and experts.

A survey questionnaire was completed by 24 teachers in the network, and 20 teachers took part in a participatory workshop during the ASPnet Annual Conference. In addition, ten teachers, five policymakers and five experts and coordinators were interviewed online. A review of annual reports from schools, previous studies, and policy documents was also conducted.

Identifying silos 

The survey data, interviews and workshop conducted with the ASPnet teachers showed some silos between different subject teachers. While teachers of natural sciences (chemistry, physics, biology) linked global competence to environmental awareness, teachers of social sciences (civics, history, geography) and languages linked it to intercultural competence. While all teachers saw the need to encourage students’ critical thinking, social science teachers saw more value in introducing controversial topics to discussions as well as critical examination of topics such as capitalism, colonialism, and nationalism.

Silos also exist in an institutional context where different ministries support various aspects of Target 4.7: the Ministry of Environment supports environmental education and ESD while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives funding for GCED activities. At the same time, the joining of the networks and increased collaboration between different subject teachers has been useful in breaking down the silos and increasing cooperation. However, there is room for improvement in ASPnet at all levels, from the school to national and international levels. Activities often end up being one-off events without a profound impact on the school as a whole. Communication problems and lack of resources also hinder UNESCO ASPnet from reaching full capacity.

Opportunities and challenges

Since the restart of the network, several new educational institutions have applied to join the Estonian ASPnet (including pre-schools, primary schools, and secondary schools), which could be seen as a positive result of the new, more inclusive approach. At the beginning of 2022, the Estonian ASPnet included 60 educational institutions (7-8% of all schools in Estonia). Many schools have joined after their teachers participated in Mondo’s in-service training in GCED.

Being a member of ASPnet is seen to give prestige and legitimacy to the schools (especially in situations where schools need to compete for students), as well as more resources to work on global and sustainability education. The network coordinators motivate teachers to be active by offering recognition, awards and opportunities for student participation and their resources are appreciated by the participating teachers.

Looking at the overall context of GCED and ESD in Estonia, we can see both opportunities and challenges for the promotion of UNESCO values. The main challenges are related to the overall policy discourse, which emphasises neoliberal, nationalistic and security discourses with limited reference to global solidarity. Emphasis is on subjects tested in high-stakes exams and PISA. At the same time, the autonomy of schools and teachers gives opportunities to place more emphasis on ESD and GCED in schools where teachers are trained, resourced, and motivated. The curriculum encourages including these themes in a transversal manner, which supports the activities of ASPnet. Openness and expertise in digital learning are also assets (GENE, 2019).

The study concludes that the ideas around holistic, critical, and transformative dimensions of GCED present in academic literature need contextualising. The decolonisation discourse is becoming more prevalent in academic GCED literature, where it refers predominantly to Global North vs Global South relations, while ignoring the post-Soviet experience.

When asked about criticality, one of the Estonian teachers noted that:

“in school, we should talk more about colonialism as we were ourselves colonized only recently, but we should not be too critical of nationalism as we need to protect our minority language and culture”.

This shows how concepts like ‘colonialism’ and ‘nationalism’ can have different meanings and connotations in different contexts. The ‘west’ in this context is not a symbol of past and current injustices, but a symbol of democracy and human rights as opposed to Soviet and Russian authoritarianism and chauvinism.

 One of the biggest current challenges for the Estonian education sector is the war in Ukraine, the integration of Ukrainian refugees into Estonian schools*, continuing integration of the Russian-speaking minority into Estonian society, as well as fighting propaganda and hate speech. In this situation, GCED can have a key role to play in supporting peace, global solidarity, and human rights, but special emphasis needs to be put on critical media literacy.

 

* By the end of May 2022, Estonia received more than 40 000 refugees from Estonia (3% of the Estonian population), and thousands of refugee children need access to education in Estonia.

Key Messages

UNESCO school network in Estonia motivates a growing number of schools to work on global and sustainability issues

There are silos between natural and social science teachers as well as different ministries in their understanding and promotion of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Networking between different subject teachers can lead to more holistic approach to teaching global challenges

Critical theory needs to be contextualised in the local history and experience

Other blog posts on similar topics:

Johanna Helin

Johanna Helin

EdD candidate at OISE (University of Toronto)

Johanna Helin is an EdD candidate at OISE (University of Toronto) and carries out studies and evaluations through UbuntuEDU in Finland. She has many years of experience in Global Citizenship Education from Finland, Estonia and Canada. Her dissertation research is on global citizenship education and critical media literacy in selected ASPnet schools in different country contexts.

References and Further Reading

Baltic Sea Project website (accessed June 10, 2022): https://unesco-bsp.blogspot.com/ 

Bamber, P. (Ed.). (2019). Teacher Education for Sustainable Development and Global https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9780429427053/teacher-education-sustainable-development-global-citizenship-philip-bamber 

Citizenship: Critical Perspectives on Values, Curriculum and Assessment (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.4324/9780429427053

 GENE – Global Education Network Europe (2019). The European Global Education Peer Review Process – National Report on Global Education in Estonia. Available at: https://www.gene.eu/peer-reviews

Schweisfurth, M. (2005). Learning to Live Together: A Review of UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project Network. International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, Vol. 51 Issue 2/3, p. 219-234. DOI: 10.1007/s11159-005-3579-9 https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/learning-to-live-together-a-review-of-unescos-associated-schools- 

UNESCO (2003). UNESCO Associated School Project Network (ASPnet): historical review 1953-2003. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000130509?6=null&queryId=4f483e5c-0778-470e-9a63-5aaac01f9c13 

 UNESCO (2014b). ASPnet strategy for 2014-2021, Global network of schools addressing global challenges: building global citizenship and promoting sustainable development.Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000231049?14=null&queryId=d968d1b3-3718-42c0-a1ea-8835499d4ccc 

 UNESCO (2018b). UNESCO Associated Schools Network: guide for national coordinators. UNESCO: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000261994

 UNESCO (2019a) UNESCO Associated Schools Network: guide for members. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379707?4=null&queryId=3021db41-accf-4546-bf3f-12e6441595a9