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According to recommendations of the UN Secretary General's Global Education First Initiative, countries and regions require a number of structural changes if they are to implement educational policies and practice based on global citizenship education, and to promote respect and responsibility across cultures. In this paper, we present the first results of a three-year project to compare existing educational policies, strategies and school curricula in ten European Union (EU) countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, UK) to ascertain the current level of such structural changes. Through a comparative policy analysis, we investigated whether, to what extent, and how global citizenship education is integrated within primary school curricula. The article focuses on national governmental agencies--specifically two main bodies in each country, the ministries of foreign affairs and education--and their political discourses. We argue that the gap between the two traditions, with separate approaches, purposes, concepts and bureaucracies, represents a strategic political challenge for the introduction of global citizenship education in primary schools.

Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) in the Republic of Ireland and Local and Global Citizenship (LGC) in Northern Ireland keenly promote students' active participation in society. However, the purpose of this participation is not necessarily to encourage students to campaign for change in the present but rather that "students are given opportunities to engage in actions and develop skills that will contribute to their becoming active participatory citizens in later life" (NCCA (2005) "CSPE Guidelines for Teachers," p. 59). This often gives rise to a culture of passive citizenship and a tendency to focus on "action projects" that are safe and self-contained. This paper focuses on a five action projects carried out by a sample of teachers and students that may be considered "controversial." In each case students actively campaign for equality and social justice, on local or global human rights issues and in ways that may be deemed controversial. It examines how the mainstream curriculum and school structures facilitate or impede this type of controversial action and explores the potential opportunities for greater engagement in such action through proposed curriculum reform.

This paper considers the prospects for sustainable service/community based learning as an element of a civic engagement strategy within the context of teacher education. It draws on findings of a study of the policy, process and practice of embedding civic engagement in the higher education curriculum in Ireland and the author's experience implementing service learning in initial teacher education. The significance of underpinning rationale, as exemplified in academics' orientation to civic engagement, is explored. The benefits to be gained from strategic alignment with institutional and national policy developments are highlighted. A typology of organisational arrangements for service/community based learning is offered to help explore the relationship between complexity, sustainability and potential for reciprocity. Certain features of the context of teacher education--the focus on development of values and dispositions, the centrality of civic values to the profession and teacher educators' familiarity with the practice of reflection--bode well for the prospect of a sustainable pedagogy which reflects the values associated with reciprocity, diversity and social justice. The inherent challenges associated with developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships, however, may limit the potential for mainstreaming service/community based learning within the curriculum for all student teachers. (Contains 1 figure and 5 notes.)

In order to generate higher levels of interest in politics and participation in political processes, political or citizenship, education in schools must be at the heart of the curriculum and be characterised by active, learner-centred approaches. This paper hypothesises that, when compared with Germany, a more limited form of political education in Irish post-primary schools may be impacting negatively on the extent to which it is achieving such aims. In order to begin to explore this hypothesis, the results for seven items relating to interest in politics and participation in political processes from the most recent (2010) round of the European Social Survey are compared for the Irish and German populations. In addition, the nature and status of political education in the German and the Irish school systems are compared. Conclusions are drawn and the implications for future research in this field and for political education in both countries considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]