Global citizenship education is increasingly playing a significant role in encouraging young people to become responsible global agents and work collaboratively towards a sustainable world. This paper proposes a new model of integrating arts-based pedagogy into global citizenship education, which can be applied to various schools. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2023) released the “Recommendation on Education for Peace and Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development” and suggested that teachers elaborate pedagogical approaches and students advance learning projects based on it. Referring to UNESCO (2023), from April to July 2025, a group of eleven university students studying intercultural communication in Kumamoto, Japan and the researcher collaborated and developed an arts-based project exploring the massive migration of people from Kumamoto to North America between the 19th and the 20th century. It resulted into the production of a short film connecting the migrant ancestors and the descendants beyond the borders. Applying the concept of “borderlands” discussed by Anzaldúa (1987), this study demonstrates the effectiveness of art-making such as photographing and filmmaking in cultivating young people’s intercultural understanding and transforming themselves to be active global citizens. It has become obvious from a combination of open-ended surveys and interviews that art-making in the classroom elevates the students’ critical, analytical, and creative thinking skills and deepens their understanding of intercultural connections.

Authors:
Hiroko Hara, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Hiroko Hara is a professor at the Department of English Language & Literature, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Japan.

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