~ Written by Mrs Mandy Futter, High School Geography Teacher and Class 11 Guardian, 2025
Global Citizenship: One might assume that social media has connected us now more than ever before, naturally guiding our children to become global citizens – aware of the world and its diversity. However, in our classrooms, we are seeing the opposite.
What does it truly mean to raise children as global citizens? Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic led us to become more insular. Now, more than ever, we need our children to step outward into the world – to experience, engage, and belong, rather than retreat into narrow comfort zones.
What is global citizenship?
To be a global citizen means recognising that you are part of a broader world beyond your immediate community or country. It means taking responsibility and contributing positively to society. Global citizenship requires an awareness and understanding of international issues, equality, and cultural diversity. It asks our children to act ethically, to engage meaningfully in global conversations, and to contribute to solutions that serve the greater good. It is rooted in values such as inclusivity, sustainability, and cooperation. But how do we encourage this?
Studies have found that the path to global citizenship begins with nurturing empathy, curiosity, and responsibility. Children need exposure to different cultures, and they must be taught empathy, kindness, fairness, and inclusion. Within the Waldorf curriculum, we are presented with opportunities to organically introduce global issues in age-appropriate ways, encouraging open-mindedness and critical thinking. This is the strength of Waldorf education.
Global citizenship and the Waldorf Curriculum
Waldorf education fosters a deep sense of interconnectedness – between the individual, the community, and the world. From early childhood, children are encouraged to observe and wonder about the natural world, forming a relationship with their environment that grows into an understanding of ecological responsibility.
As they progress through the grades, students explore world history through the lens of different cultures and epochs, from ancient India and Persia, to Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and beyond. They encounter the spiritual and philosophical ideas of diverse civilisations, not only as facts but as expressions of the human experience. This nurtures reverence, curiosity, and respect for cultural difference.
Languages, music, handwork, and the arts are all integral parts of the Waldorf curriculum which are taught not simply as skills, but as other ways of being and connecting. In High School, critical thinking and ethical engagement are emphasised, as students grapple with global themes such as social justice, climate change, and human rights.
Community service and outdoor education provide real-world contexts for collaboration, responsibility, and care. Whether planting a garden, staging a play, or supporting a local initiative, students are given opportunities to act with purpose, consciousness, and compassion.
Waldorf education prepares children for life as aware, grounded individuals who know they belong to the world and have something meaningful to contribute. As some parts of the physical and virtual world grow more insular and isolating, we must continue to move in the opposite direction – toward connection and consciousness.