Beyond Borders: What It Means To Be A Global Citizen

Global Citizenship & Equity at Centennial College: Global citizenship refers to the social well- being of various communities and its main focus is to minimize inequity which means try to protect our surroundings and don’t harm others. Global citizens support equity at all levels local as well as globally. In equity we have to change different strategy not only changes the version of current strategy to ensure equity.

All around the world today, there is a lot of tension revolving around concepts of morality. In Moral Disagreement by Kwame Anthony Appiah, Appiah writes about differing values and morals around the world and within our society. He points out, “we aren’t the only people who have the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad; every society, it seems, has terms that correspond to these thin concepts” (658). However, these concepts are not always the same with each other in every society. In the same way that not everyone in our society believes in the same moral concepts. Unfortunately, it is these disagreements that often separate us as people. Forming different cultures, large and small, throughout the world. This is not a bad thing, but it does separate us as a race, leaving us to care more for one group of people rather than humanity as a whole. In Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism, by Martha Nussbaum, Nussbaum suggest that a way to fix this problem, and to become a cosmopolitan person, is to teach students in our education systems more of different cultures throughout the world. Yet not only should we learn to accept other cultures and their beliefs, but we should also educate ourselves to accept everybody we meet, giving respect to them as individuals, if we ever truly want to become a citizen of the world.

What is civics and why is it important to our everyday lives? Civics is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. Civics has to do with the government, laws, rights, and everything that has to do with being an American citizen. Even though we do not notice it, civics is everywhere and all around us. Civics has been around for a long time since the beginning of government. History and civics can relate to each other because history shows the past, and civics shows how the government has evolved. Citizens should have knowledge of civics because the government makes our laws and rights, and shapes our society.

Not many global citizens have a story to tell about their normal life turned upside down and made them wonder why does this happen, as a global citizen, one must understand and take action for what is right and what is wrong, not many people can achieve this very easily, people that can, are very confident with them self and they know what they are doing, and how it will influence people around them and stop the darkness in people's feelings. As a result of this statement, Shae Invidiata is an active global citizen.

According to Keeping and Shapiro, “The term ‘global citizenship’ is increasingly heard, especially in Canada, but rarely defined.”(as citied in Block and Friesen, 2012, page 215) I believe if a person who would like to places their own identity with a global community through actions much more than their identity about values and practices, they will become a part of global citizenship. After learning in ELLA 0360 textbooks, there are three peoples that stand out. They are Dr. Christopher Opio, Lindsay Willms and David Suzuki.

A good national citizen, in America, is someone who is devoted to their country and takes pride in their country. In contrast, a good global citizen is someone who is aware of the other nations in the world, willing to listen to them, and accepts the diversity each nation may bring. As an American, these concepts are not mutually exclusive. It is possible someone could be a good national citizen and a good global citizen.

A global citizen should be someone who is able to create solutions, think critically, and efficiently work well with others in order to accomplish certain goals. Barrett, The Honors College, allows their students to conduct inspiring research, learn in a transcending academic environment, and engage with people and issues.

Citizenship could be having more relevant significance as compared to the past years. It tends to create a major dilemma for industrialized countries that are already advanced, and this poses significant implications to the rest of the world especially to the survival and future of the nation state in international politics. It is as well not disputed that regional integration, economic globalization as well as cultural cosmopolitanism have gone to the extent of, if not broken then have blurred some of the boundaries that were clear and had their existence within the classic model of singular national identification and belonging, (Aleinikoff, T. Alexander, and Douglas Klusmeyer,, eds. 2001). However,

Pankaj Ghemawant- A notable author of the book “World 3.0”, has done a significant research to understand how globalised we are. According to his research-

When one becomes a global citizen, they are doing so by becoming involved with the community that surrounds them and understanding what it is in their community and surroundings. By becoming a Barrett student, I will become a global citizen by receiving the Barrett experience that I desire.

According to the World Citizen Organization, a world citizen is "an inhabitant that embraces all considerations... aware of the Global Learning Framework; including perspective awareness, health of planet awareness, systems awareness, being involved being prepared, and a life-long learner aware of the inter-connectedness of all things; oneness, aware of environmental inter-relatedness of the four E's: economics, energy, ethics, and health, having a preferred worldview…" (5). It would seem that there is a unifying theme amongst all of this that the "world citizen" is simply a well-rounded person who simply takes the time to learn about, and understand others. Without education though, one cannot

Moreover, in what is seen, a global citizen is that of people putting aside religion and political views that cause so much controversy inn the world we live in. What should be recognized are morals and common views that everyone can somewhat seem to agree on. One example is the Gordon Rule- treat others as you would want to be treated. Now the most known example for that is to have respect towards one another. A global citizen indeed should acquire this and understand it fully. In addition, basic morals that seem right also come along in being an ideal global citizen, such as being against dehumanization. Taking away what basically makes you, you is something that is not agreed with the views of a global citizen.

To examine and explore what is global citizenship? This essay will look at the importance of becoming a global citizenship, the role we, as educators play in this development and how the curriculum frameworks and associated learning emphases for global education assist in the development of a global citizen.

My credo: “Challenging environment challenges yourself, challenging yourself makes you adaptable but persistent to your surroundings, which helps to develop you as an individual and as a whole community”. I belief in this world everything is interconnected and tightly bounded, making better yourself makes better your surroundings. Nowadays on a global level this process is highlighted as globalization. Globalization began to change the culture throughout the world. It is conditioned with the variations in politics, economy and social life. Within the frame of this social-cultural process education is altering too. Therefore by increasing intercultural relationships among the countries we can achieve better communication and cooperation in this steadily globalizing world.

The rapid advancement of society in recent years has greatly increased connectivity and communication capabilities across the globe, such as the development of the worldwide network known as the Internet. The increased connectedness between countries has also brought greater visibility to the substantial cultural differences around the world, from religious freedoms to accepted social behaviors. This global expansion has furthered the opportunity to promote the development of global citizenship, which Reysen and Katzarska-Miller (2013) defined as the embrace of cultural diversity through awareness, acceptance, and the promotion of social justice and responsibility. Global citizenship allows individuals from many cultural backgrounds to develop productive relationships by decreasing the tensions brought on by cultural differences, as well as promoting open sharing of contrasting views to develop better ideas as a group (Wang & Hoffman, 2016). Becoming a global citizen is essential to furthering societal development, improving cross-cultural communication, and promoting awareness and acceptance of different cultures.