Global Citizenship Education
Attitudes & Values
Fostering values and attitudes of solidarity and empathy is a key part of global citizenship education and connects in well with the Junior Cycle Wellbeing Framework.
GCE should be approached with an open mind and the process of unknowing/unlearning and venturing into the unknown is as important as knowing. Imagining a fairer better world requires wisdom as well as knowledge.
It’s important to use methodologies that bring out the values and attitudes of students on global issues.
Below are the values that global citizenship education can help to foster.
“Students’ attitudes have changed in the way they think about refugees. They realise that they are “not here to cause trouble” but have come from very difficult circumstances and many have been forced to leave. Students have learned not to judge others so quickly. Their attitude towards waste has changed too – they are learning to recycle products at home properly and are more conscious of food waste.”
Aoife Gordon, Carlow Vocational School
Empathy not sympathy: Empathy is about feeling with other people, sympathy is about feeling for. It’s important that we try and put students in the shoes of people affected by the global issues we are learning about, and make sure that they feel with instead of feeling sorry for people who are affected.
Read up about Empathy Education
Solidarity not charity: It’s important to instill a sense of solidarity in our students, to stand with people as fellow human beings with whom we can collaborate, instead of seeing people as ‘charity cases’ and resorting to fundraising as the only action to ‘help’. Making connections with how our lifestyles and behaviours can impact the world’s people and planet is a good place to start.
Respect for self: In a just and democratic society, respect for self is central to the flourishing of well being of both the individual and the 
wider community. Respecting oneself brings both the capacity to act autonomously and be self-motivated. It is an essential pre-requisite to have respect and concern for others
Respect for others and human rights for all: The disposition to respect and care for others is central to living interdependently. The positive relationships forged among individuals and groups are essential to the development of qualities such as cooperation, interdependence and respect for a diversity of people and cultures, which allows us to live and work in the realities of the world of today – and the future.
A sense of social responsibility and belonging: In a society geared to the general well being of all, it is essential to develop a commitment to social responsibility – without shying away from a critical examination of power relationships, privilege and traditions. Such a disposition to social responsibility should also entail a commitment to social justice and the sustainable use of the environment, where we all feel collectively part of our global enterprise as a result of common purpose, rather than personal self-interest.
“Students’ opinions changed about refugees and the role Ireland is playing in the treatment of refugees both here and abroad. Many students said they ‘disliked’ the way Ireland was treating refugees. Students felt that people should be treated equally and afforded the same rights as everyone else.”
Sinead Norris, Bridgetown Vocational School
A commitment to learning: In a world increasingly characterised by change and adaptation, the need to have an open disposition to learning, to making new connections and new meanings, is fundamental. This would also require: willingness to adopt a critical stance towards information; willingness to give reasons why one holds a view or acts in a certain way, and to expect similar reasons from others; respect for evidence in holding and forming opinions; willingness to be open to the possibility of changing one’s own attitudes and values in the light of the evidence.
Belief that you can make a difference: We can actually effect change! There will be times when you and your students may not think that you are having any impact, so don’t lose heart and let your teaching and learning slide into apathy.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends… Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King Junior