Global human resources or critical global citizens? An inquiry into the perspectives of Japanese university educators on global citizenship education

This article examines how Japanese university educators understand the role of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in higher education. Data were collected by means of questionnaires and responsive interviews with 22 educators, then analyzed with the use of grounded theory and the constant comparative method. Four notions of GCE emerged from the data. The Japanese educators expressed the opinion that GCE must: (1) foster students’ sense of social efficiency and economic growth; (2) enhance their English-language proficiency to prepare them for work in the global market; (3) encourage overseas experiences to support them in acquiring global consciousness; and (4) develop students’ understanding of different countries. Based on the findings, the study suggests that educators’ approaches to GCE in Japan are generally oriented toward neoliberal notions of GCE aimed at fostering global human resources rather than critical global citizens. In contrast, this paper concludes by proposing a critical framework informed by the values of critical pedagogy ingrained in social justice to teach GCE in Japanese universities. This approach to GCE challenges dominant neoliberal notions of the linkages between globalization and education and orients learners toward social justice.