VietTESOL International Convention 2026

In today’s globalized world, increasing emphasis is placed on global citizenship education, particularly in university settings. In this context, university lecturers play a crucial role in integrating global citizenship concepts into classroom practices. The implementation of global citizenship education, however, is shaped by various factors that go beyond individual teaching practices. This study aims to examine university lecturer’s perceptions of applying global citizenship education in classrooms through the framework of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems. Using a qualitative research design, it investigates both opportunities and challenges lecturers encounter when incorporating global citizenship education into their teaching. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and thematically analyzed based on five interconnected ecological systems. The findings reveal that lecturer’s perceptions and practices are formed through the integration of five ecological systems. While lecturers recognize opportunities for integrating global citizenship education, including curriculum relevance and students’ appropriate age to engage with global issues, they also encounter challenges related to students’ language proficiency and background knowledge, the broad and complex nature of content related to global citizenship education, varied levels of interest among lecturers and difficulties in assessing long-term learning outcomes. The study provides implications for curriculum development, teacher training, and institutional support in promoting global citizenship education practices in universities.