In addition to its influences across economic, geopolitical, and social spheres, globalization has given rise to the notion of a 'global citizen' who is able to understand a shifting and more internationalized world while moving fluidly through it. Education has been trumpeted as the means to achieve this globally-aware citizenry, leading to an…

Recognition of young children as citizens is relatively new in sociology, with translation emerging into education. Discourses of children and childhood shape ideas of young children as citizens and national discourses of citizenship frame what civic participation can be. The authors analysed national early childhood education curricula frameworks…

Practice and pedagogy, influenced and informed by the approaches used in the preschool programs of Reggio Emilia is widespread across many early childhood settings in Australia, however, is less commonly used in Australian primary and secondary schools. Little research exists which focuses on the experiences of students in schools where this…

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) indicates that education for global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity should be embedded at all levels of curricula. In this paper, we share findings from an analysis of curriculum documents in Victoria, Australia and Québec, Canada that identified learning related to this…

Doing the right thing at school involves moral reasoning about right and wrong that interplays with a sense of responsibility as children move towards being active citizens. In the current study, we investigated how 124 Australian children's understanding and reasoning about doing the right thing changed over the early years of primary school (age…

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is one of the world's leading educational research centres. Since it was established in 1930, ACER has built a strong reputation as a provider of reliable support and expertise to education policymakers and professional practitioners. Each year, ACER is involved in a large number of research…

Research Findings: Concepts of children's citizenship are highly contested. Contemporary policy and rhetoric increasingly includes the concept of citizenship in relation to children, yet there is considerable ambiguity as to what children's citizenship actually means. Unlike other marginalized groups, it is not children claiming citizenship rights…

Understandings of young children as active and capable citizens, while evident in discourses of early childhood education and research, are not widely reflected in the policy for the early years of schooling in Australia. This paper makes an analysis of the gaps and tensions between discourses of young children as active citizens and policy for…

As the result of an increasingly technologically "connected" world, citizens are finding it difficult to effectively exercise civic responsibilities in relation to global issues such as climate change, poverty, and warfare (Tully, 2009). New understandings of the concept of "citizenship" are being extended beyond traditional…

This report provides an understanding of how transversal competencies are viewed, implemented, and adapted in education policy and curriculum across the Asia-Pacific region. The publication consolidates the results of ten country studies carried out in 2013-2014 in ten countries and economies of the Asia-Pacific region, including: Australia; China…

The proliferation and emergence of information and communications technology (ICT) has fundamentally changed the way in which society operates. The increasingly ubiquitous nature of ICT has also inevitably caused it to become indispensable as part of daily life and a basic building block of modern society. When used effectively and appropriately,…

In early years research, policy and education, a democratic perspective that positions children as participants and citizens is increasingly emphasised. These ideas take seriously listening to children's opinions and respecting children's influence over their everyday affairs. While much political and social investment has been made in the…

This paper examines empirical data with regard to recent theorizing and conceptualizing of children's citizenship. It draws on a doctoral study where the author told social justice stories to one class of children aged five to six years to investigate the active citizenship that the stories set in motion. By imagining this action research study…

For young children to engage and learn in school, they need to feel safe in the classroom and on the playground right from the first day. They also need learning experiences that are active and meaningful--that engage them cognitively, affectively, and operatively. Feeling safe requires knowledge about places, rules, codes of behavior, and the…

Early years policy increasingly uses the concept of "citizenship" in relation to children in Australia and worldwide. This concept is used as a taken-for-granted idea; however, there is no singularly agreed-upon answer to the question of what "citizenship" means when used in relation to children, and what practical…