ABSTRACT
As we approach the end of this turbulent century and prepare to meet the challenges of the next, the question of what constitutes education for citizenship in various nations appropriate to the demands and needs of a rapidly changing global community is critical in both national and international contexts. The planet and the human family are facing an unprecedented set of challenges including the globalization of the economy, a significant level of deterioration in the quality of the global environment, rapidly changing technologies and the uses of same, loss of a sense of community and shared belief in the common good, ethical questions regarding the use of genetic engineering, large-scale migration both within and between nations and rising crime. How does one respond to these challenges both as a member of a particular nation-state as well as a member of the global community of nations in a manner that is thoughtful, active, personal and yet with a commitment to the common good? This was the underlying question faced by the Citizenship Education Policy Study project (CEPS), an international research network project designed to examine the changing character of citizenship over the next twenty-five years and the implications of these changes for educational policy for the nine participating nations and beyond.
