Exploring global citizenship as a cross-curricular theme in Moroccan ELT textbooks

Abstract

This paper examines ways in which three Moroccan ELT textbooks currently used in teaching secondyear Baccalaureate students in public high schools promote values of global citizenship. It alsoinvestigates the extent to which these textbooks present activities that develop learners’ sense ofbelonging to global and local communities and provide them with skills, knowledges and behaviors thatwould make them good citizens of the world. The study uses the theoretical framework of the StandardsBased Approach and UNESCO’s (2015) global citizenship learning domains. It adopts a convergentparallel mixed-methods design and uses content analysis as a data analysis method which combines bothqualitative and quantitative techniques. The data are collected using a checklist that is designed basedon UNESCO’s framework. The materials include three textbooks: Gateway to English 2, Insights intoEnglish 2 and Ticket to English 2. The findings demonstrate that although the three textbooks actuallyprovide a number of activities that promote aspects of citizenship, there is still room for improvinglearners’ awareness of various global issues including democracy, human rights and conflict resolution.Other problems related to developing learners’ critical perspective towards global citizenship themes inreading texts, speaking, listening and writing activities and project works were identified. The studyconcludes with implications that inform teachers and textbook designers about the importance ofempowering values of global citizenship in ways that strengthen learners’ critical thinking and problemsolving skills.