Abstract/Summary

This thesis examines global citizenship education (GCE) within the context of a case study of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC). It also examines the relations that exist between GCE and (global) citizenship from a critical perspective. GCE is characterised as a form of critical education as revealed through the perspectives of critical educators and education philosophers, through social and educational movements in general, and through the development education movement specifically. The methods of data collection employed include individual interviews, a focus group, observations and documentary analysis. A grounded analysis of the data and a critical discussion of the results provide insight into the policy making and educational strategies of RISC, its delivery of GCE, and the institutionalisation of critical GCE. The study identifies the importance of NGOs in delivering critical GCE on a long-term basis, and their contribution to the development of an education that engenders, through participation, citizen’s awareness of their individual and collective responsibility for inequalities and social change. Thus the emphasis is on the power of agency in (global) citizenship and on citizens’ participation in GCE.