Page 77 - Diversity in Action

Global Citizenship Education and English Learning through Picturebooks

troves in children’s teacher-mediated, as well as increasingly independent
and autonomous, ‘active search for truth.’
Finally, a transnational experience in teacher education has been analysed,
highlightingitspotentialimplicationsforeducationalpracticeanddirections
for future research. GCED aims to help (future) citizens feel they belong in
(g)local contexts and enable them to take responsible action. For such values
to be effectively communicated, teachers and teacher educators arguably
need to embody the values underpinning curricula and teaching materials
through expanding creative teacher talk repertoires which entail noticing
and responding appropriately to all children’s developing needs.
The educational ideals and aims described in this chapter – teaching and
learning to sustain awareness and change at individual, local, national and
international levels – are both crucial and challenging. Hopefully, educators
can bridge the gap from idealism to enactments in YL-congruent ways. We
can thus relieve young children – who are often aware of daunting (g)local
challenges not of their making – of anxiety through effectively communicat-
ing to children our lived values and optimism.
Through story-based approaches which draw on GCED, well-supported
and prepared teachers can bring reflections and emotional connections as
well as language to life with the aim of creating imaginative, inclusive and
thought-provoking multilingual environments where all learners can thrive.

Key Takeaways
• In GCED with children, values, themes and aims need to be adapted to the
characteristics and needs of specific YLs.
• When teaching languages to children, we can foster the development of
critical thinking through adopting powerful educational synergies, such
as picturebooks, which can best express both local and global lived expe-
riences through teacher scaffolding.
• Stories and picturebooks, whether they address themes explicitly or indi-
rectly,havethe potential tobetransformative.
• It is essential to approach the picturebook evaluation and selection pro-
cess with attention and sensitivity.
• Story-based approaches can lend themselves to teacher-mediated peda-
gogical cycles leading YLs to an ever-deepening understanding of com-
plex issues.

Note
Martina Irsara is the lead author and wrote the sections ‘Introduction,’ ‘Global
Citizenship Education in ELT to YLs,’ and ‘Stories in Plurilingual and English
Learning,’ Valentina Gobbett Bamber wrote the sections ‘Definitions and Value

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