Investigating global citizenship concepts embedded in primary and secondary textbooks in Jordan

Abstract

This study explores the extent to which global citizenship knowledge is addressed in Jordanian textbooks on Arabic and English languages, science and social education across grades from KG2 to twelfth grade. A phenomenological design ‘content analysis’, which is a kind of qualitative study studies, was used. Fifty-seven textbooks were analysed. A matrix of the main concepts of global citizenship education (GCED) in the domains of knowledge, skills and values was conducted in light of the presence of these concepts. The results revealed that GCED concepts were superficially integrated into the analysed textbooks and this was done in a limited, unsystematic and inconsistent way with a reference to national or regional meanings rather than to a global one. Secondary stage, values and social education textbooks revealed that having the highest dominance among other components. Based on the results, it is recommended that the Ministry of Education reconsider and revise the current textbooks in light of the main requirements that UNESCO has asked its members to embed in its curricula and textbooks. It is also recommended to improve textbooks to engage learners with international issues that they are capable of mitigating the global risks like that posed by COVID-19. Additionally, the study recommends conducting further studies using other variables such as teachers’ awareness and comparative studies on which the current textbooks should be developed.