Global citizenship education draws attention

Education policymakers and experts attend a session organized by the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU)
under the auspices of UNESCO at the Songdo Convensia in Incheon, Tuesday. The session dealt with global citizenship education, one of the main issues
on the agenda of the World Education Forum. / Courtesy of APCEIU

By Chung Hyun-chae

Participants in the World Education Forum are showing keen interest in global citizenship education, one of the forum's main issues.

They are busy sharing each other's experience of promoting global citizenship education at schools during a session organized by the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) under the auspices of UNESCO.

"The children grow up to be democratic citizens through civic education," Bae Seong-ho, a teacher at the Seoul Samyang Elementary School, said. "Therefore, it is important to lead them to act on what they have learned as members of society."
Bae shared the story of his students who contributed to the improvement of their neighborhood by making a safety map that indicates dangerous places and by writing petition letters to the head of the district.

Cho Sung-jun, a teacher at Daejeon Boksu High School, also gave a presentation on the diverse activities the school has launched for global citizenship education.
"In order to achieve a balance between intellectual capacity and socio-emotional skills, we created an integrated education in which disabled and ordinary students study together, which I believe is part of fostering global citizenship education," he said.

Established by an agreement between Korea and UNESCO in 2000, the APCEIU has been working to develop methods for global citizenship education and spread education for international understanding.

Global citizenship education refers to the education that aims to equip students of all ages with knowledge, skills and universal values such as world peace, human rights and environmental sustainability, which are key elements for becoming global citizens.

"Since the Global Education First Initiative put forward by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2012, the international community has come a long way in its endeavors to advance global citizenship education," APCEIU Director Chung U-tak said.

"Global citizenship education is one of the main themes in the forum to achieve the post-2015 sustainable development goals."

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