Critical and Transnational Literacies in International Development and Global Citizenship Education

Abstract

This article explores the concepts of transnational and critical literacies in developmentand global citizenship education. Critical literacy, as defined in this text, emphasizesthe need for a careful examination of collective social scripts (e.g. of progress,knowledge, belonging, and identity) as a practice of responsible intellectualengagement across all sectors. Transnational literacy is defined as an examinationof the dynamics of globalisation and how it can be negotiated. In the first part ofthis article, I introduce the concept of critical literacy in global citizenship educationoffering examples of my own academic and pedagogical practice in this area.In the second part, I introduce the idea of transnational literacy with examplesfrom international development education. In the last part, I present a cartographywith four different “root” narratives as a stimulus for dialogue and analyses thatuses both critical and transnational literacies and that may clarify concepts andopen new possibilities for thinking and practice in education.