Integrating Global Citizenship Through Local Teaching Practices

Abstract

As university and nursing programs place more emphasis on global perspectives in their strategic plans and goals, it is frequently unclear how these perspectives are integrated into curricula and pedagogical practices. With globalization processes impacting health and education throughout the world, it is timely to understand the current context and expertise in order to move ahead to promote the development of professional nurses as global citizens.

This interpretive descriptive study explored the characteristics and qualities of global citizenship and global health from the perspective of 12 expert informant nursing education leaders from undergraduate nursing programs within Canada. The study also examined curricular and pedagogical directions that would promote the integration of global citizenship education within nursing programs. In addition to the interviews, field notes and reflective journaling were also used in data gathering. The findings are presented as qualitative description and were analyzed using the interpretive description method.

The findings of the study reported on here focus on a framework of pedagogical directions that support integration of global citizenship into existing curriculum, including 1. Growth of cultural consciousness and self-awareness, 2. Compassionate citizenship in action, and 3. Global/local knowledge transfer. Specific pedagogical practice recommendations are also described in addition to challenges to the integration of these approaches for nursing education.