This study begins from Biesta's (2011) view of citizenship as "being" and "doing," positioning young children as citizens who currently live and enact citizenship through play and relationships, rather than merely preparing for future citizenship. Building on this view, the study draws on the operational definition of early childhood global citizenship as a civic way of being in which young children feel connected to themselves, others, and the world through play and daily life, respect differences of gender, culture, language, and race, and practice responsible attitudes as community members (Kim & Kim, 2025), and examines how this is reflected in Korea's 2019 Revised Nuri Curriculum. Methodologically, this study employs qualitative content analysis, examining both the manifest content and the latent meanings underlying it across the curriculum's five domains—Physical Exercise and Health, Communication, Social Relationships, Artistic Experience, and Nature Exploration. Objective and content statements in each domain were iteratively interpreted and categorized using the three components of early childhood global citizenship—understanding, respecting, and collaborating—as analytic categories. The analysis found that Social Relationships most comprehensively integrated all three components, with Nature Exploration foregrounding collaborating, Artistic Experience foregrounding respecting, and Communication foregrounding understanding, while Physical Exercise and Health reflected global citizenship elements only implicitly. By showing that early childhood global citizenship is embedded differently across curriculum domains, this study contributes to early childhood education, curriculum studies, and global citizenship education.

Authors:
Duri Kim, Chungnam National University, South Korea
Kyeong Eon Kim, Chungnam National University, South Korea

About the Presenter(s)
Duri Kim is a Ph.D. candidate and post-graduate researcher in Education at Chungnam National University. Her research focuses on global and digital citizenship, and early childhood teachers' practices. She also assists with AI education projects.

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