Publications

Abstract

Global Citizenship Education (GCE), integral to Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) Target 4.7, is widely acknowledged as essential
for addressing pressing global challenges and fostering sustainable
development. Among the key approaches to GCE, Critical GCE stands out
for its emphasis on critical thinking and systemic critique, equipping
learners to challenge structural inequalities and unjust systems.
However, the dominance of neoliberal ideologies in our world and in
education has prioritized economic outcomes over transformative learning
which significantly hinders the implementation of Critical GCE in schools.
While factors such as insufficient training and resources have been
identified as barriers (UNESCO, 2021), deeper issues like epistemic
blindness—educators' lack of awareness of their own epistemological
assumptions (Andreotti, 2016) — remain under explored.

This study addresses this gap by investigating the role of Critical
Economic Literacy (CEL) in enabling educators to teach Critical GCE. Using
an intentionalist orientational qualitative inquiry with a critical perspective,
the research involved five secondary school teachers from an international
school in Beijing in an eight-week CEL course. Data were collected over nine
months through pre and post-course surveys, reflective journals, revised
unit plans, semi-structured interviews, and Most Significant Change
narratives, and analyzed using thematic analysis.

The findings reveal that CEL facilitated teachers' recognition of their
epistemic blindness, fostering critical reflexivity about their role in
perpetuating neoliberal systems. This awareness led to a renewed sense of
vocational responsibility and a stronger commitment to integrating Critical
GCE into their teaching practices. The study highlights the transformative
potential of CEL in empowering educators to become critical global citizens
and to teach for Critical GCE. By proposing CEL as a pathway to advancing
Critical GCE, this research contributes to efforts to challenge neoliberal
hegemony in education and promote transformative and critical global
citizenship education.

n.b. The research was at first titled "Dismantling the iron cage of neoliberalism" but at the defense we agreed that iron cage (a Weber metaphor) does not connote hope it could be dismantled, nor is it accurate to the lived reality. Thus the dissertation was retitled "Recovering Epistemic Sight"; interestingly, this also birthed the idea of the Velvet Cage. Big thanks to Nick! 

Coming soon