Leveraging digital heritage storytelling to promote global citizenship education

In an increasingly globalized world, there is a pressing need to adopt new ways of thinking about citizenship and to integrate an interdisciplinary, global perspective. Global Citizenship Education (GCED) is an ongoing research area of increasing interest worldwide; however, its theoretical concepts need to be practically implemented within higher education institutions. Digital heritage storytelling can be a valuable tool for promoting global citizenship in higher education classrooms. Hence, this dissertation examines how digital heritage storytelling experiences can serve as creative and practical methodologies to enhance global citizenship in higher education. The qualitative research data was collected through three interconnected methods: (a) semi-structured interviews with multidisciplinary higher education educators (n=23), (b) autoethnographic close reading analysis of personal storytelling approaches in virtual reality experiences, and (c) design-based research-creation of an immersive environment. The educommunication framework, a constructivist educational approach, informs the thesis structure, which is divided into three main research chapters that incorporate creative and analytical dimensions, as well as multidisciplinary educators’ insights, to enhance the practical implications of digital heritage storytelling for GCED policy and practice in universities. Findings suggest that global citizenship frameworks and applications in higher education can benefit from the educommunication framework to enhance their practical implications. Global citizenship practices are context-dependent (discipline-, time-, place-based); hence, digital heritage storytelling practices should be situated locally but globally oriented toward a sustainable future. Results also point to a process-oriented approach to integrating virtual reality and immersive environments for experiential cultural and historical learning and highlight the opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary and community collaborations to enhance students’ cross-cultural dialogue and community engagement. Overall, this dissertation contributes to the existing literature by diversifying approaches to GCED and providing practical examples and recommendations for implementing digital heritage storytelling to promote intercultural learning and global citizenship in higher education institutions.