Citizenship Education for the World:A Model Inspired by Hannah Arendt

Abstract: In this thesis, I construct a model of citizenship education inspired by Hannah Arendt’s works, specifically by using her influential book, The Human Condition and notable essay, “The Crisis in Education”. In Arendt’s disapproval of progressive education with its ideal of citizenship education to predefine the future for citizens, I construct my own model of citizenship education, that is for the world. I illustrate how traditional citizenship education teaches citizens to live a life in a perfect utopian society, rather than what my own model of citizenship education does, to teach them to be acting citizens that contribute to what Arendt refers to as the “world”. In order to construct a model of citizenship education, I begin by exploring Arendt’s concept of the world by focusing on her three central concepts that contribute to the world: the public-political, plurality and lastly, action and speech. I then analyze Arendt’s concept of world-alienation to illustrate the aspects that destroy the world. I specifically focus on exploring concepts such as totalitarianism of Nazi-Germany and Stalinist Russia, the evolution of mass society and the rise of the social. I then present and analyze the traditional understanding of citizenship education by discussing its goal and aim, which focuses on teaching children about life and not the world, thereby increasing world-alienation and giving rise to such factors that destroy the world. Next, I study Arendt’s concept of education by focusing on what she believes the crisis in education is and her argument about what education needs to be. In it, I also explore her central components of education, namely, natality, responsibility and authority. After presenting Arendt’s concepts of world, world-alienation and education as well as her criticism of progressive education’s ideals of citizenship education, I construct my own model of citizenship education in three parts. The first part focuses on the qualities political actors need to contribute to the world. The second part proposes that a world-like space be given to children in the classrooms in my citizenship education model so they may acquaint themselves with how the world is like and also learn to respect multiple perspectives and opinions. The third part of my model specifies educators should enhance moral values in a child that, as an adult, will help him to be a better political actor in the public-political sphere.