The Implications of Emotion for Global Citizenship Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of emotion for global citizenship education. Specifically, this study examines the importance of emotion in global citizenship and identifies the relationship between emotion and global citizenship education. Thus far, emotion has been accepted as inferior to reason and relatively insignificant in education. However, it turns out that emotion not only plays an important role in interacting with the world and others, but it also has a significant impact on judgment, attitude, and behavior. Recently, the role of emotion and its importance in education has been emphasized. Examining the link between emotion and global citizenship, socio-emotional competence occupies a part of the target competencies of UNESCO’s global citizenship education along with cognitive and behavioral competencies. In particular, Nussbaum emphasizes the need for global citizenship education through which the radius of narrative imagination and compassion can be extended to the whole world. This means that with the existing education that focuses only on the development of cognitive competence, it is impossible to cultivate global citizens. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the emotional domain of global citizenship education and its educational practice.