Global/local nexus: between global citizenship and nationalism in a super-diverse London school

In recent decades, many countries began integrating global citizenship education (GCE) into their curricula, both in response to the needs of a diversified pupil body formed by global migrations flows and as a means to prepare pupils to compete and engage in modern globalized society. Frequently, this integration takes place alongside an increasing emphasis on local/national and nationalistic values within schools and education systems. The present study examines the way GCE is articulated and manifested at a school catering to a super-diverse population in inner London. I assess how school life is shaped in accordance to the global/local nexus, specifically identifying the tensions between diverse global and local aspects of the perception of citizenship as they are molded at this school. I reveal the exclusionary form of GCE that is being promoted through schooling in this specific context and the hegemonic nature of the global/local nexus.