Globalization significantly influences the very notion of citizenship by challenging the key principle of citizenship as idiosyncratically nation or nation-state related concept. Therefore, the discourse of global citizenship is getting more attention in programmatic educational texts and curricula. However, unlike their colleagues in Europe, Canada or South-East Asia, US educators are still less enthusiastic about introducing the concept of global citizenship in their classrooms. This study investigates how Indiana teachers conceptualize global citizenship and what in their opinions is impeding global perspectives on citizenship education in schools. In general, this research supports the findings of other studies that (1) teachers tend to rationalize the unfamiliar concept of global citizenship through more familiar concepts and discourses and (2) educators need more rigorous assistance to teach emerging types of citizenship. The study demonstrates that despite the fact that participants rarely use the term global citizenship in their instruction, they provide rationales that correspond to the notion of global citizenship.

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Cultural, linguistic, and economic exchanges between communities, including nations, are as old as civilization itself, but only recently did such exchanges receive an appropriate and universally recognized name: globalization. Naming the process caused a significant shift in how globalization came to be perceived, and it has become an important issue in political agendas, economic policies, and cultural aspirations. In other words, globalization helped shape and refine debates about global interconnections and interdependence, universality of human rights, and the importance of economic and social justice.

International exchange and training programs play a significant role in the development of international cooperation between educators from different nations. More and more teachers and school administrators participate in exchange programs and implement new curricular and instructional practices in their institutions. This paper presents findings of a phenomenological interpretive case study of the impact of international exchange programs for educators on their participants' pedagogical practices, social status and professional careers. The study was conducted in 2005 in the US and Russia. Through observations and in-depth interviews with 35 informants, the author compares the perception of exchange programs and their outcomes for American and Russian alumni. The findings demonstrate differences and similarities in participants' perspectives on their roles in international programs and on the application of program outcomes.

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