Civic Education for Noncitizen and Citizen Students

Abstract

This chapter describes a conceptual framework for developing civic education for citizen and non-citizen students. Human rights cosmopolitan education is conceptualized as the focus of civic education for non-citizen students. Multicultural citizenship education is conceptualized as the focus of civic education for citizen students from diverse groups who are marginalized because of their racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious characteristics. Multicultural citizenship education helps students from diverse groups become full participants in the nation-state while maintaining important aspects of their home and community cultures. The author maintains that transformative civic education should be implemented in schools because it incorporates elements of both human rights cosmopolitan education and multicultural citizenship education. It also helps both non-citizen and citizen students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and values needed to make reflective decisions, internalize human rights values, and take personal, social, and civic action.