Celebrating Our Global Citizenship Journey: A Year of Transformation

Last month, 11 graduates of the 2024 C&K Global Citizenship Community of Practice – Transformational Practices in Global Citizenship in early years education, came together to share stories of transformative practice in their kindergarten environments. 

Throughout the year, C&K teachers and directors from across the Queensland Metro and North Coast region completed the prestigious micro-credential course, ‘Leading Education for Global Citizenship and Competence‘ through CQ University, supported by a dedicated team of Early Childhood Pedagogy Advisors and Managers in the C&K Metro North Coast region, alongside internationally renowned Associate Professor Louise Phillips and VP of the Australian Human Rights Right Council, in the yearlong Community of Practices that focused on their pedagogical practices as globally mind educators. 

The research question “How can we foster educators’ agency to advocate for children to thrive as global citizens in an ever-changing world?” led the “Transformational Practices in Global Citizenship Education” project. This question inspired (and continues to inspire) the Metro North Coast team as leaders and this ‘pedagogy of the possible’ has become the basis for the work they do with and alongside teachers in their region. Their project epitomises the ‘pedagogy of the possible’. 

This team is collaborative, innovative, empowered and motivated because they KNOW their work makes a significant and ongoing difference in the lives of children.  

What does it mean to be a global citizen?

A global citizen is someone who is aware of and understands the wider world – and their place in it. They are a citizen of the world. They take an active role in their community and work with others to make our planet more peaceful, sustainable and fairer.

The 13 Fundamentals of Global Citizenship developed by the Metro North Coast team are their interpretation of key elements of global mindedness learning that relate to early childhood and are linked to the EYLF Learning Outcomes. 

The Community of Practice encourages teachers to reimagine early childhood education through the lens of Global Citizenship and the importance of being globally minded educators. This year’s participants exemplified what it means to be change-makers in early childhood education.

Through their unwavering commitment to action research and transformative practice, these educators have not only enhanced their own pedagogical knowledge but are emerging as influential thought leaders in global citizenship education in the early years.

Alongside the regional team, teachers developed action research questions that guided teaching practices of the participants throughout the year. This supported them in embedding the 13 Fundamentals of Global Citizenship into their daily practice, while developing innovative teaching strategies that prepare our youngest citizens for a rapidly changing world.  

Research in action

Each teacher’s journey has been personal and profound. At C&K Bayview Community Kindergarten, teacher/director, Rebecca Walsh’s inquiry question, “How can we support children to advocate for plastic waste reduction?”, was inspired by the regular excursions she takes with the kindy children to the Deception Bay foreshore and the amount of rubbish the children noticed ends up on the beach. 

Rebecca has always supported the children to experience what it means to be active citizens, with the kindy adopting a green turtle through WWF, working together to create ‘ghost net art’ out of abandoned fishing nets, creating posters to encourage people to reduce their consumption of soft plastics and installing signs on the foreshore with handwritten environmental slogans. They are now advocating to their local Councillor for installing permanent signs.

Sustainability and environmental advocacy are a theme across many of the other kindergartens that participated. 

Teacher/Director Sandy Willick from C&K Moorooka Community Kindergarten explained saying “We see children as researchers and collaborate with them as global citizens in learning about a shared responsibility to the environment and humanity”. 

This year the children at her kindy have dug deeper with their environmental education, working with Brisbane City Council to create a virtual creek kindy, installing an ‘op shop’ for families in need, creating a seed-to-plate garden that is shared with families and visiting local Councillor, Steve Griffith to advocate for green bins for the waste from their centre. Sandy has received multiple awards for her commitment to sustainability, including the BCC Waste Smart Kindy Award.

For Amanda Lancaster from C&K Clayfield Pre-Prep, participating in the Community of Practice has opened her eyes to ways they can do more to celebrate cultural diversity and learn more about the world, outside their classroom. 

While on an excursion to the library, the children learned that some children in Uganda were trying to raise money to buy a library of their own. This prompted them to join the World Literacy Foundation and soon the children began to raise money for the community in Uganda. 

“If we are more intentional, we can extend our conversations and help children to “raise their voices” and allow them to understand that they certainly have a voice and can be heard. We will learn to listen to their voices in global matters.  Just recently, one little boy in my library class was intent on saving the Rhinos…ok, we’ll work together to work out a way!” Amanda explained. 

Amanda says  

Through their unwavering commitment to action research and transformative practice, these educators have not only enhanced their own pedagogical knowledge but are emerging as influential thought leaders in global citizenship education in the early years. They have built meaningful partnerships with families and communities that will create lasting impacts, and they have created a powerful network of globally minded educators who support and inspire each other. 

Global mindedness is now embedded in their:

• learning programs, critical reflections and documentation
• educational leadership
• partnerships and relationships
• the way they set up and resource their environment

To learn more about joining the Global Citizenship community in Queensland, contact C&K Metro & North Coast Region Regional Manager, Vicky Olm at [email protected]