This research looked at the growing space that Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is gaining in educational policy worldwide, and at the role Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) played in GCE agenda setting and policy implementation. Based on a comparative policy analysis carried out in 10 European countries, the political agency of NGOs was explored, underlining opportunities, tensions, and challenges, especially in their contribution to national strategies to integrate GCE into national educational systems.

Chinese students studying in the United States face great challenges when adapting to cultural, linguistic, and pedagogical differences. Although discouraged in the literature, self-segregation is a practice common among some international students and is especially prevalent in the Chinese community. This qualitative study explored the motivation and frequency of this practice vis-à-vis social support, and its effect on the participants’ sense of belonging. Insider status was employed to conduct focus groups of mainland Chinese students currently enrolled in graduate programs at a Mid-Atlantic University in the United States. Findings from the study explore how administrators, educators, and the students themselves view the practice of self-segregation and its consequences.

This paper presents and analyzes a case study of a five-week study abroad course called Inequality in Brazil: An exploration of race, class, gender, sexuality, and geography. The course was constructed to teach social inequality in the context of Brazil by using place-based and experiential learning within the framework of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1989). By examining inequality through the lens of culture and geography, students were empowered to become student-teachers in their explorations of race, class, gender, and sexuality as they linked theory to practice and lived experience. This paper provides an example of how study abroad can be used to teach about issues of inequality by partnering with community members to build learning environments where students and community members can all benefit.

Individuals who arrive in a new country during their childhood and early adolescence are referred to as the 1.5 generation. In this exploratory case study, five Chinese families were interviewed and examined about the effects of their parenting styles on those 1.5 generation Chinese American students. Findings revealed that these parents’ parenting styles—educational values, educational practices, and family dynamics—have exerted a great impact on the students’ academic performance, psychological well-being, and adaptation to their life in the US. Insights about comparisons between American and Chinese education will be inspiring to educators and scholars for culturally comparative analysis and mental health practitioners working with the adolescents of this ethnicity and their families.

In an effort to support higher education in developing countries, partnerships between U.S. and international universities have surged, raising questions concerning the social equity of such linkages. Using a New Literacy Studies approach to discourse analysis, online transcripts from one such university partnership were analyzed to determine how language was used to negotiate a more equitable partnership through the adaptation of the social context of professional development activities. Discourse analysis of three relevant linguistic markers in the data suggests that cultural perspectives on professional development influenced the language choices made by university partners, reshaping the power structure toward greater social equity, and aiding in the completion of joint professional development goals. Findings underscore the importance of drawing on local knowledge in planning for and conducting transnational university partnerships.

This study investigates the professional development of elementary student teachers in a teacher education program. Student teaching is a process for pre-service teachers to apply learning in an authentic school context, and one critical aspect of professional development is reflection. The participants were primarily examined through their weekly reflections on teaching and learning experiences over an eight-week period. Using the state Standards for the Teaching Profession as a framework, the student teachers chose to reflect on topics they were most interested in exploring. Results indicated that the participants gave predominant attention to classroom management; the standards that received the least reflection were organizing curriculum and planning instruction. Analysis of the reflection journals also revealed how the student teachers grew as individuals and in interaction with others in a learning community. Based on the results, implications for teacher education are proposed. Limitations are also discussed.

Institutions of higher education continue to emphasize the need to create and develop global citizen graduates who will face challenging global issues in the workforce. A systematic literature review of empirical studies on global citizenship in higher education was conducted to understand the various ways this term is being studied, measured, and operationalized. The process of inclusion and exclusion criteria identified 57 studies. A content analysis revealed global citizenship is being included into higher education through scales of measurement, studying abroad, faculty and student perceptions, coursework, and university programs. The results are discussed in relation to the current literature on global citizenship along with future avenues of research.