Shaping tomorrow’s educators for a globalised world: how institutional factors foster the implementation of transformative education

In response to growing global crises, there is an increasing need to implement global civic education in teacher training, preparing teachers to foster equity, multicultural competence, critical thinking and social responsibility. Guided by a conceptual framework integrating the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s global citizenship education and Freirean critical pedagogy, this article examines how transformative pedagogy is embedded in teacher education programmes and identifies the institutional factors shaping its implementation. Employing a qualitative, exploratory design, the article draws on semi-structured interviews with 28 faculty members from 15 higher education institutions in one major metropolitan area in the United States, complemented by analyses of programme curricula and administrative support structures. Data were analysed using a thematic coding approach that combined deductive and inductive methods to capture practices aligned with the cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural dimensions of global citizenship education. Findings reveal substantial variation across programmes. While some programmes systematically integrate social justice, cultural responsiveness and global perspectives throughout coursework, others demonstrate fragmented engagement with the principles of global citizenship education. Commitment to developing an internationalised curriculum, advancing faculty professional development and facilitating internationalisation support at the administrative level emerged as key enablers of transformative education, whereas limited administrative support, resource constraints and political pressures were identified as barriers. The article concludes that the effective implementation of transformative global practices in teacher education depends heavily on institutional context and sustained policy commitment, underscoring the need for systemic approaches to embed global citizenship education across teacher education programmes.