Global Citizenship Education in Europe: A Comparative Study on Education Policies across 10 EU Countries

 This research, realised in the framework of the EU-funded project Global Schools, is a comparative qualitative analysis of educational policies of 10 European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, England) that support the introduction of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in primary school curriculum. The analysis focuses on four main topics: 1) identification of key actors and definition of their roles; 2) conceptual and terminology analysis; 3) levels and modes of implementation of GCE in primary school; and 4) identification of barriers to introducing GCE in the primary school system.

The research has highlighted that political actors, not only governmental ones, play a crucial role in implementing GCE policies, as well as in promoting GCE more generally, and in facilitating links between different actors, who in some countries may otherwise have little institutional coordination with schools. The conceptual analysis points out that, besides the choice of different wording of GCE national terms, the main topics composing GCE are very similar. The specific terminology often reflects the history, will and political discourse of the organisations promoting GCE in the different countries.