The emergence of global citizenship education in Colombia: lessons learned from existing education policy

Colombia has joined the international movement of countries which, under the impulse of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), are looking to integrate global citizenship education (GCED) into their educational system. However, being a recently emerging initiative, the characteristics and possible effects of GCED have not been discussed sufficiently in academia, nor among policy makers. This paper presents a critical discourse analysis of the most recent antecedents of GCED to be found in Colombian education policy. It thereby contributes to the national and international debate surrounding the integration of GCED in contexts that differ from those of Western and 'developed' countries, which have been the main focus of GCED research and interventions to date. It is argued that, in the case of Colombia, educational initiatives that are based on critical approaches to GCED should be recuperated and strengthened, since these initiatives provide powerful clues for a truly transformative integration of GCED in the country.