In an age of globalisation, conflicting identities and cultures continue to remain a source of seemingly intractable conflict. Educative interventions are meanwhile increasing in trend among academics, politicians and multilateral aid organisations. Each regard education as a long-term solution to contemporary social and security issues. Supporting literature on the relationship between education and identity suggests that formal education has a powerful influence on students’ outlook on life, their loyalties and their identities. This premise suggests that when questioned about global issues, Egyptian students who attend international schools within their own country of origin should show more signs of cosmopolitanism and global mindedness than their nationally educated peers. Yet, contrary findings to that of prevailing discourse suggest that education’s ability to shape values and loyalties is likely overemphasised when placed in the context of foreign curricula and international education. At times, students of international schools involved in this study showed more signs of nationalism than their nationally educated counterparts, and presented as equally traditional, conservative and ‘anti-West’ as their compatriots. The thesis thus argues that when education is placed within an international framework, its ability to socialise is significantly weakened, as it is faced with considerable firewalls that are yet to be adequately acknowledged in the discussion of post-national citizenship education. Using a combination of interpretative and critical research methods, rich and original qualitative data was gathered on attitudes and lifestyles of elite Egyptians enrolled at a variety of Egypt’s private international schools. Twenty-two international school educated Egyptian students, and a control group of 21 nationally educated Egyptian students of the same socio-economic background were invited to participate in specially tailored one-to-one interviews to measure their degree of cosmopolitan attitudes. Supplementary participant observations of Egyptian families actively involved in Egypt’s international education community were also conducted to consider the complementarity of the students’ home lives with their school lives. Focus groups were held with students of international schools to determine their views and attitudes towards global issues and other communities. All findings from this research were assessed alongside large-scale values surveys including the World Values Surveys and the Arab Youth Surveys. With the large sample size of pre-existing opinion polls, and the unique isolation of curriculum type as an independent variable in this study, it was possible to assess the transformative impact that an international education plays in the expression of values and beliefs of Egyptian students. The findings of this thesis have multidisciplinary value. For political science readers, the study offers a critical and epistemological analysis of concepts of cosmopolitanism, Westernisation, globalisation and global citizenship. For readers of the Middle East, it is a study into Egyptian youth today and their conflicting identities and loyalties. The Egyptian experience of private international schools and foreign investment is representative of a regional trend, and valuable to those wishing to consider competing narratives for identity in twenty-first century Middle East societies. Finally, it is a study that has an added value to educationists as it explores the role education plays on identity, and more specifically the role of international schools on globalisation and international mindedness. The growing trend of research and analysis that focuses on increased global connectedness and a culturally converging world makes this thesis an important and timely contribution. In an effort to extend the debate beyond the prevailing macro-analyses of change through globalisation, this thesis stresses the importance of looking at global interconnectivity at the micro-level, and particularly how young people navigate and negotiate their identity within the context of increasingly transnational spaces. Through this endeavour, it has reached a critical evaluation of our current understanding of a ‘post-national’ future, through the attitudes and opinions of some of today’s internationally educated generation.

As we embark upon the 21st century, the world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Yet, despite increasing globalization, educational systems are not reflecting this phenomenon. The overwhelming majority of countries, including the United States, still emphasize nationalistic curricula (Parker, 2008; Tye, 2009). Global education is a movement whose supporters advocate an education reflecting the push towards globalization by providing students with the components necessary to live and thrive in an increasingly interconnected world system. Global educators have a common bond as advocates that a global perspective needs to be developed in the classroom. The degree to which this is being done is unknown. Further, how a global educator is prepared and formed is unknown. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research in global education (Gaudelli, 2003). Personal experiences have a major influence to what a teacher attributes his or her beliefs and values (Lincoln, 2005), and this is an area of study that has not been examined in global education. Using a mixed-methods design that includes a background survey, a global-mindedness survey and interviews would provide a better understanding of what self-identifying global educators attribute their global-mindedness. By presenting a rich account of the perspectives of high school social studies teachers who are involved with a global education initiative, social studies teacher education programs can gain insight about providing the best preparation that will lead to teacher candidates gaining the skills necessary to teach from a global perspective The case study presented here consisted of 2 surveys, multiple interviews, and examination of program documents. Analysis resulted in 8 themes identified by the participants as being attributed to the development of a global perspective: (a) family, (b) exposure to diversity, (c) minority status, (d) curious disposition, (e) global education courses, (f) international travel, (g) having a mentor, and (h) professional service. Additionally, the themes were perceived to influence curricular decision making by providing strategies, resources, and empathy towards students. The participants‘ perspectives have implications on social studies teacher education programs and future research. These implications include the types of instructional methods, themes, and global dimensions that should be addressed in teacher education programs. Future research should focus on issues underlying the nature of global education courses being taught in social studies teacher education programs, the teaching methods being used by graduates of those programs, and further analysis on emerging themes perceived to be critical in developing a global perspective.

The purpose of this dissertation was to survey community college students in order to evaluate their perceptions of the awareness and significance of global-mindedness or worldview of interconnectedness to the global community. The sample of participants included students at a 4-year community college in Florida. The results can be valuable and informative as a needs assessment in curriculum reforms to provide more globally minded courses and programs; consequently, better prepare graduates to compete in the global job market.

The purpose of this study was to investigate motivational factors and worldview dimensions associated with perceptions of global education initiatives by college professors in the United States. The concept of "perceptions of global education initiatives" is used in this study to refer to attitudes toward institutional support for global education, internationalizing curriculum, campus and community activities to increase global awareness, and international experiences and cooperation. The term college professor in this study is used to designate full-time assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors teaching at a regionally accredited private or public four - year college or university in the United States. The sample included 418 U.S. college professors at U.S. accredited colleges and universities. Data were collected using four measures: (a) the Faculty Motivational Factors toward Global Education Survey (FMF/GES), (b) the Global Mindedness Scale (Hett, 1993), (c) the Global Education Initiatives (Genelin, 2005), and (d) a Demographic Questionnaire (DQ). The findings of this research suggest that more than two-third of participants have at least experienced another culture in addition to that of the United States. This multicultural frame of reference is favorable to a global mindedness oriented worldview. Also, the study identified U.S. faculty dominant intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors that can influence their participation in internationalizing the curriculum, their dominant worldview dimensions, and their perceptions of global education initiatives. Analysis of variance revealed there are significant differences in intrinsic motivation of assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors. There were no significant differences in extrinsic motivation, worldview dimensions, and perceptions of global education initiatives (except for internationalizing curriculum), among assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors. Multiple regressions were run and suggested that motivational factors and worldview dimensions are significant predictors of the perceptions of global education initiatives by U.S. college professors. This study can help policy makers and college and university administrators adopt policies, which can create an environment that fosters global education engagement required to promote cross-cultural understanding, produce global competent graduates on the global market, and meet the challenges of a globally interdependent world.