The ethnic/local, the national and the global: Global citizenship education in South Sudan

This article explores local, national and global aspects of the new national curriculum in South Sudan as reflected in the lived experi- ences of secondary school teachers. We draw on analyses of the curriculum, semi-structured interviews with 21 secondary school teachers, and class- room observations. We emphasize the need for critical global citizenship education addressing inequity and oppression at national and global levels. We argue that the curriculum rhetoric fostering global citizens is strongly disconnected from the lived experiences of the teachers, where ethnicity is at the centre of their identity and a main obstacle to a unifying national identity and citizenship.