While many international organisations and bodies have defined the concept of global citizenship and global citizenship education, there remains a scarcity of attempts to integrate diverse cultural perspectives into these concepts from multiple viewpoints. With the aim of reinterpreting global citizenship and GCED in light of the historical, religious, and the social contexts and political and economic conditions of the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) launched the project titled ‘Rethinking Global Citizenship Education from Asia-Pacific Perspectives’ in April 2024. APCEIU has invited experts from the Asia-Pacific region to contribute to reimagining GCED in line with their local perspectives and contexts. The project seeks to present innovative approaches to GCED informed by the rich cultural and philosophical landscapes of the Asia-Pacific region. The project will highlight how various countries are reinterpreting GCED in light of their unique contexts. The Office of Research and Development will be hosting a webinar leading up to the book launch in November, to disseminate the meaningful findings of the research.
This webinar aims to:
introduce outcomes of the project “Rethinking Global Citizenship Education from Asia-Pacific Perspectives”; and
to discuss key insights derived from this process with researchers. Global citizenship and GCED will be interpreted based on diverse traditions of thought in the Asia-Pacific region, spanning from the Pacific and East Asia and to India and Central Asia, as well as its religious and cultural traditions, including Buddhism, Islam, and Confucianism.
Through the webinar, APCEIU seeks to facilitate discussions on the meaning of the reconceptualised global citizenship education contextualised to the Asia-Pacific realities and their implications compared to the existing definitions.
Programme
Panel Discussion 1: “How Is GCED Shaped by Local Contexts in Asia-Pacific Countries?”
Performing Global Citizenship through National Citizenship: Humanity, Politics and Competency: Sicong CHEN (Associate Professor, Kyushu University)
Global Citizenship in Central Asia: Contested, Transformed, and Challenged: Aigul KULNAZAROVA (Professor, Tama University)
The Direction of GCED in Asia-Pacific Region: Starting from Locality and Aiming for Universality: SEOL Kyujoo (Professor, Gyeongin National University of Education)
Panel Discussion 2: “How Can GCED Be Reimagined through Asia-Pacific Cultural and Philosophical Perspectives?”
Home and the World: Redefining GCED from Tagore's Perspective: Mousumi MUKHERJEE (Associate Professor, O.P. Jindal Global University)
Global Citizenship Competencies and Indigenous Pacific Ways of Being, Knowing and Doing: Exploring the Possibility of New Starpaths: Tanya SAMU (Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland)
Tolerance, Interdependence, and GCED: Thippapan CHUOSAVASDI (Lecturer, Chulalongkorn University)