Last month, I traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to conduct a unique, mixed-methods study of metacognitive skills at the International Baccalaureate (IB) World Student Conference. I surveyed global citizenship levels among IB Diploma Programme students from 19 nations who attended the weeklong, project-based learning experience.
I conducted two diverse focus groups: one with students representing eight countries; the other with teachers who came from four schools across three countries to lead conference activities. The focus groups defined global citizenship, reported best practices for instilling it, and discussed affluent students’ privileged access to global citizenship education.
Universities have historically paid greater attention to global citizenship education than K–12, so in a nation such as the U.S., where 2 in 3 youth attend college, understanding global citizenship among high school students raises important questions about educational equity. Furthermore, the international composition of participants in this research suggests wide applicability for the findings. I’ve begun analyzing data and expect to present the results at upcoming conferences, followed by publishing the results.
This study was conducted in partnership with the International Baccalaureate Organisation and received travel funding from the University of Oregon’s Global Studies Institute.
Michael Thier
Research Associate
