Can Higher Education Really Produce Global Citizens?: Self-Identification and Architectures of Mobility

Abstract

Globalization profoundly impacts our economics, societies, and educational systems yet doubt exists in higher education as to an appropriate response. Some colleges have embarked on a process of comprehensive internationalization; others are considering how to graduates global citizens, even although global citizenship remains a deeply contested issue. Considering teaching and learning perspectives, particularly perspectives informed by acquisition and participation metaphors, the chapter critiques higher education efforts to develop global citizenship. It examines inbound international student programs, outbound study abroad initiatives, and changes in learner identification and self-categorization. It argues that while student mobility initiatives have great potential, that potential goes unrealized unless learners have been comprehensibly prepared to engage actively with their new environments and experiences, and to consciously reconsider their identities and self-categorizations.