The initiators had in mind a canon with some 20 to 25 windows on the world: in other words, an extremely selective collection in an immense field of action. To achieve its aim the committee gratefully accepted a number of the national canon committee’s basic principles which have certainly contributed to the success of its project.⁴⁶ Our main points of departure are listed below.

Basic principles

1. This canon does not offer a list of topics, but windows on the world. These windows invite one to look through them: at other places, other times, other people; at the connections with one’s own life and one’s own surroundings. Of course every window has a chosen icon: a concrete spot, event, organization or person. But the aim is to look beyond this icon.
2. The canon is substantive, in other words it brings information about the world. But it also expressly makes connections with fundamental values and attitudes which are important for global citizenship.
3. The canon aims to prompt stories, conversations, reflection. The canon is only a starting point. True training for global citizenship can only take place if the canon is used in a responsible pedagogical and didactic fashion.
4. The canon is a selection, but it does not want to curb. Everyone is free to make variations on the windows. Or to bring the canon up for discussion. The canon is therefore open, not closed.
5. The canon is an invitation to teachers, schools and instructors to consider the following questions: what do we think about the proposed windows? What would we like to discuss and how are we going to do it? Does the canon give us a reason for adapting what we were already doing?
6. The canon is an invitation to make connections between the world and the students’ own environment and experiences.
7. The canon is a step, hopefully in the right direction, but it is certainly not the last word. Everyone who is professionally involved in education for global citizenship is invited to flesh out the canon. And of course the canon is open to revision in the future.

Sources of inspiration

The working method of the committee can best be described as continuous brainstorming. Sometimes we followed the inductive path: all of the committee members made lists of topics which certainly had to be included. This of course resulted in far too many for a canon with a maximum of 25 windows. Then we switched again to the deductive path: starting from a general premise, we attempted to order and combine all of the ideas. During this clustering process, international ideas on the key themes of education for global citizenship, as briefly described above, were of course helpful.

Another source of inspiration came from consulting various groups. Teachers, trainee teachers, geoscience students, experts from development education institutions, members of the Platform Allochtone Ouders en Onderwijs (Immigrant Parents and Education Platform), a group of some thirty people from developing countries: the committee conferred with all these experts in a workshop context or other forms of discussion. This gave an impression of the topics and perspectives which should at any rate be given a place.

Themes and windows

This process resulted in the proposal for 24 ‘windows on the world’ in part B of this report. Unlike the historical canon, we grouped these windows in eight central themes because this provided the opportunity of discussing the fundamental values at issue in education for global citizenship. Each of the themes represents an important dimension of global relations and of our relation to the world outside the Netherlands. And each theme stands for certain values. The eight themes are:

• Diversity
• Identity
• Human rights
• Sustainable development
• Globalization
• Distribution
• Peace and conflict
• Global engagement

These are all comprehensive themes. That is why the committee has selected three icons or windows for each theme, each illustrating an aspect of the broad theme by means of a concrete approach. The choice of windows is more arbitrary than that of the themes. The choice of themes is the main expression of the canonical value of this proposal (or at least the attempt to achieve such a value). The central values of education for global citizenship have been taken into account, as will become obvious from the thematic introductions in part B. In these, the icons or windows are concrete examples which are, to a certain extent, exchangeable for other examples, perhaps better attuned to the perceptions of the environment of a group of students, or to current events.

The set-up: an example

Ahead of part B of this report, there now follows an example to illustrate the set-up. One of the themes is globalization. It is evident that this phenomenon is linked to a number of other themes, such as distribution, human rights or sustainable development. In our classification, the theme of globalization stands in particular for the strong interconnection and interdependence of areas and people in the world. Because this is an extremely complex theme, three aspects have been highlighted to flesh it out:

1. The (shifting) economic relations and economic centres in a world closely linked by trade and investment. The window selected is that of Shanghai – a metropolis that appeals to the imagination, as a symbol for the growing economic importance of China.
2. The vast international migration streams which have developed in the world in the wake of globalization processes. The window selected is that of Ceuta – the Spanish exclave in Morocco where many African migrants end up detained, and which makes it painfully clear which political and moral dilemmas are raised by the migration streams.
3. Cultural exchange as a dimension of globalization, giving rise all over the world to new patterns and hybrids in food, music, fashion and so on. The window selected here is that of the djembé – a West African musical instrument representing indigenous traditions, but also international exchange between styles of music.

It should be clear that the committee could have selected other aspects of globalization – although the choices here were fairly obvious – and in particular, that other windows could certainly have been used to illustrate the aspects chosen. Instead of Shanghai (as a window on the economic aspect of globalization), numerous other alternatives would not have been out of place: New York, a well-known multinational company, the Indian IT sector, the shipping container, and so on. It is a matter of choice.

Windows to look through

In choosing the windows, attention was paid to variation in several respects: they include places, events, organizations and objects; some refer to the past, others to the present; distribution across the world was also kept in mind. But it still remains a choice. In the classroom other windows can also be used, elaborating on these lines of thought. At any rate, the committee’s view is that the series of 24 windows presented here offers a varied outlook on the world and represents important aspects of the key themes of global citizenship.

Whoever wants to start using the series of windows must realize that the icons are ‘windows’ for good reason: you can look through them and see an entire landscape. Shanghai, for instance, is in itself a dynamic and fascinating city: well worth learning about. But Shanghai as a starting point offers the opportunity to look through the window and discuss all kinds of questions which then arise. Why is China’s economy growing so fast? What does this mean for us and for people in other parts of the world? What share do international companies have in the rise of China?

The questions that will be asked about the windows – and at what level – will depend on the education context: age level and school type, social topicality, teachers’ efforts, time to discuss such topics in class. At any rate, the framework of 8 themes and 24 windows will offer teachers and instructors assistance in the choices they make in their teaching. Incidentally, in this report the texts accompanying the themes and windows are not written at a language level that will appeal to primary and secondary school pupils. This report only provides an initial impetus. Developing the windows in educational resources – such as a website, written teaching material and films – is a matter for later concern and goes beyond the scope of the committee. In the next chapter a brief indication will be given of how various actors can make use of this canon proposal in practical teaching.

Note

46. These basic principles have been well formulated in the summary of part A of the report by the Committee for the Development of the Dutch Canon 2006, pp. 12-13.