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Global Citizenship Education and English Learning through Picturebooks

children’s needs and the activities, readings, and images offered. These im-
ages are designed to support the child’s understanding and serve as valuable
tools for forming mental images of phenomena described in words (Con-
salvo, 2022). Illustrations can convey even complex concepts by using the
child’s imagination to provide a visual synthesis of what has been described
verbally.
The principles behind Montessori’s approach focus on the active child,
who learns through movement, especially with their hands, in a non-com-
petitive environment where each child learns at their own pace and based
on their interests. For this reason, it is crucial to name things in relation to
real objects, providing direct experiences; to encourage observation of the
surrounding world by providing accurate terminology and encouraging chil-
dren to discover details; to recognise the role of the environment in the ed-
ucational process by fostering autonomy and decision-making skills; and to
emphasise the importance of attention to detail, such as arranging books
and images at the child’s height so that they can be admired and explored.
To carefully select the ‘materials’ we work with, whether objects, books, im-
ages, or a combination of these, we should pay attention to the care given
to the details, ensuring that they reflect the truth, and to the messages they
convey, in order to foster a mindset of peace and equity within the educa-
tional context (Caprara, 2022).
Care and scientific research certainly guided Maria Montessori in the de-
sign, preparation, and selection of materials to initiate the learning processes
of countless children around the world, from which we can draw inspiration
to make conscious and deliberate choices. The core idea behind the intersec-
tion of the Montessori approach, multilingual contexts, and GCED through
picturebooks is to engage children’s imaginations with stories, images, and
activities that highlight the beauty of the cosmos and the powerful forces
of nature, thus fostering creative thinking grounded in reality. As Montes-
sori (2007) wrote, it is often forgotten that imagination is an active search for
truth. The mind is not a passive entity; it is a consuming flame, never at rest
and always alive.

Case Study: A Transnational Experience in Teacher Education
Description and Rationale of the Transnational Experience
The principles and concepts discussed in the previous sections provided the
theoretical foundation and informed the Global Citizenship Education and
Plurilingual Learning through Picturebooks initial teacher education course
taught in May 2024 as part of the Diversity in Action (DivA) project co-funded
by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. This was an optional
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