ABSTRACT
This three-year, cross-cultural study reveals how two groups of children in Canada and Tanzania learned about each other’s valued experiences, particularly at school, which provided them with insight on their global peers’ lives in distinct social and cultural contexts. Throughout the study, the children used multiple modes to share their valued practices and experiences. The use of participatory methods positioned the children in both contexts as powerful and creative meaning-makers who have the capacity to share their perspectives on what matters to them. This approach also enabled the children to develop cross-cultural understandings in which they were personally invested, and which broadened their worldviews and perceptions of their global peers. This research provides insight to the fields of global citizenship and early childhood education, and how these two disciplines can intersect to create significant learning opportunities for young children that embrace the characteristics of empathy, understanding, and valuing diversity.
