Global citizenship: differing perceptions within two Thai higher education institutions

Today, an individual can simultaneously be a member of several communities, local, national, regional and international. In major universities around the world, the concept of global citizenship has been articulated as a desirable attribute to be developed by graduates during their years of study. This article reports how a university in Thailand and its affiliated international college interpreted and implemented the discourse on global citizenship into their undergraduate programmes. A case study research design was utilised to investigate the multiple levels of understanding of global citizenship. Perspectives on global citizenship were derived from the interviews with senior administrators and lecturers and focus group discussions with students. Analysis indicated that Thai university students had different perceptions of global citizenship when compared to the international students. Interviews with senior university administrators indicate that being a good Thai citizen was considered a prerequisite to being a global citizen.