This lesson explores what it means to be a global citizen and how ordinary individuals can make a real difference to the lives of people living in poverty around the… Read more ↓This lesson explores what it means to be a global citizen and how ordinary individuals can make a real difference to the lives of people living in poverty around the world. Students listen to an interview about the Global Citizen Festival and the work of Charity Water, read an original article examining the history, challenges, and responsibilities of global citizenship, practise vocabulary related to poverty, charity, and civic responsibility, record a spoken discussion response, and write a speech encouraging peers to take action. The lesson connects to the IB English B theme of identities — specifically, who we are and how we connect with the wider world beyond our immediate communities. Read less ↑
Warm-up
Answer a few quick questions before today’s lesson about society and global issues.
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Listening
Listen to the recording and answer the questions in each part. You can replay the audio as many times as you need — click anywhere on the progress bar to jump to a specific moment. Read the questions in each part first, then submit when you are ready; your answers will be marked together at the end of each part.
IB English B
Listening — Global Citizenship in Action: The Global Citizen Festival and Charity Water
This listening task is split into parts. The audio player stays at the top of the page so you can replay it freely — click anywhere on the progress bar to jump to a specific moment. For each part, read the questions first, then listen and answer. You can change your answers until you click Submit; feedback appears once you submit each part.
Listening — Global Citizenship in Action: The Global Citizen Festival and Charity Water
IB English B
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Reading
Read the passage on the left, then work through the questions on the right.
IB English B
Reading — Beyond Borders: What It Really Means to Be a Global Citizen
Read the passage on the left, then answer the questions one by one.
Reading PassageIB English B
Beyond Borders: What It Really Means to Be a Global Citizen
The term 'global citizen' has become fashionable in recent years, splashed across university prospectuses and corporate social responsibility statements. But what does it actually mean? Is it simply the act of caring about distant problems, or does it demand something more concrete—a commitment to understanding systemic inequality and taking tangible action to address it? The answer is far more nuanced than Instagram activism and donation clickbait suggest. Global citizenship begins with awareness. It requires us to recognise that the choices we make—what we buy, whom we support, how we vote—ripple across continents and affect the lives of people we may never meet. A teenager in London whose smartphone contains conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a consumer in Toronto whose fast fashion purchases fuel exploitative labour practices in Bangladesh, a voter in Berlin whose government's trade policies shape agricultural markets in sub-Saharan Africa—all of them are already global actors, whether they acknowledge it or not. True global citizenship means becoming conscious of these invisible threads and accepting responsibility for them. This is uncomfortable. It challenges our sense of innocence and comfort. But awareness alone is insufficient. The real test of global citizenship lies in action—yet here the waters become murky. Well-intentioned charity work can inadvertently reinforce dependency and undermine local solutions. Voluntourism, the practice of combining volunteering with tourism, often serves the volunteer's need for self-gratification more than the community's actual needs. A two-week stint building a school in Uganda does little good if that school lacks qualified teachers, running water, or integration with the local education system. Worse, it may displace local workers and position wealthy outsiders as saviours, perpetuating a harmful narrative of Western benevolence. Effective global citizenship demands humility—listening to what communities actually need, supporting locally-led initiatives, and resisting the urge to impose solutions designed in boardrooms thousands of miles away. So how should global citizens act? The most powerful interventions are often structural. Supporting fair-trade organisations, voting for politicians who champion equitable trade agreements, investing in education and healthcare infrastructure in developing nations, and holding corporations accountable for their supply chains—these are the unglamorous yet transformative acts of true global citizenship. They do not offer the emotional reward of a selfie in front of a completed project, but they address root causes rather than symptoms. Organisations like Charity: Water exemplify this approach by partnering with local communities to build sustainable water systems, ensuring that solutions are maintained long-term by those they serve. Ultimately, global citizenship is not a status or identity to perform; it is a practice, an ongoing commitment to learning, listening, and acting responsibly within an interdependent world. It means accepting that perfection is impossible—that complicity is woven into modern life—but striving nonetheless to reduce harm and amplify justice. Every choice matters. Every voice counts. The question is not whether we are global citizens, but whether we will act like it.
Reading — Beyond Borders: What It Really Means to Be a Global Citizen
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Vocabulary Practice
Practise the 12 key vocabulary items from this lesson through three exercises.
IB English B
Vocabulary Practice — Unit 9: The Global Citizen
Work through all three parts. Each part uses the same vocabulary in a different way.
Vocabulary Practice — Unit 9: The Global Citizen
IB English B
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Writing Task
Choose ONE of the following 3 tasks and write your response to it.
Task 1 — Proposal for a School Global Citizenship Initiative
Your school's leadership team has asked student representatives to submit proposals for new initiatives that would strengthen the school's commitment to global citizenship. The deadline is in one week. Your proposal will be reviewed alongside others and may be piloted next academic year if approved. You should write a formal proposal addressed to the Head of Curriculum and the Student Council.
Write a formal proposal (400-600 words) recommending the establishment of a school-wide Global Citizenship Initiative. Your proposal should include clearly labelled sections: Introduction (purpose of the initiative), Current Situation (why the school needs this now), Proposed Changes/Actions (what the initiative would involve), Benefits/Expected Outcomes (what difference it would make), and Conclusion. Use formal register, modal verbs of recommendation, and draw on arguments and vocabulary from the unit about global citizenship, poverty alleviation, and responsible action.
Address:
Explain why current levels of student engagement with global issues are insufficient and what gap exists
Propose specific, practical actions the school could take (e.g. partnerships with charities, educational workshops, fundraising with accountability, student-led research projects)
Address potential risks or criticisms of charitable action (e.g. voluntourism, performative activism, aid dependency) and how your initiative would mitigate these
Task 2 — Proposal for a University Course on Global Development Ethics
You are a student representative on your university's Curriculum Development Committee. The committee has invited proposals for new optional courses that align with the institution's commitment to social responsibility. Your proposal will be reviewed by faculty and may be offered in the next academic year if approved. The committee has requested that proposals be submitted in formal written format.
Write a formal proposal (400-600 words) for a new university course titled 'Global Development Ethics: Agency, Impact, and Accountability.' Your proposal should include clearly labelled sections: Introduction (rationale for the course), Current Situation (what gaps exist in current course offerings), Proposed Changes/Actions (course structure, topics, and assessment methods), Benefits/Expected Outcomes (for students, the university, and stakeholders), and Conclusion. Use formal register, modal verbs of recommendation, and incorporate vocabulary and concepts from Unit 9 about global citizenship, the responsibilities and limitations of individual action, and the ethics of charitable intervention.
Address:
Identify what critical perspectives on global citizenship are currently absent or underrepresented in existing courses
Outline the course structure (e.g. lectures, seminars, case study analysis, guest speakers from development organisations) and how assessment would evaluate both knowledge and ethical reasoning
Explain how the course would prepare students to engage responsibly with global issues, including how to recognise and avoid common pitfalls such as paternalism, performative activism, and aid dependency
Task 3 — Proposal for Corporate Employee Volunteering Programme Reform
You work in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department of a multinational company. Your company currently operates a popular employee volunteering programme in which staff can take paid days off to volunteer abroad at partner charities and social enterprises. Feedback has been mixed: whilst employees report the experience as personally rewarding, external partners have raised concerns about programme design, impact measurement, and the potential for voluntourism. Your CSR director has asked you to propose how the programme could be reformed to be more ethical and impactful. Your proposal will be presented to the board.
Write a formal proposal (400-600 words) recommending a redesign of your company's employee volunteering programme to prioritize ethical practice and measurable impact. Your proposal should include clearly labelled sections: Introduction (purpose of the redesign), Current Situation (what problems the existing programme presents), Proposed Changes/Actions (how the programme would be restructured), Benefits/Expected Outcomes (for employees, partner organisations, and communities), and Conclusion. Use formal register, modal verbs of recommendation, and incorporate vocabulary and concepts from Unit 9 about the pitfalls of aid, the importance of accountability, and the difference between performative and substantive action.
Address:
Identify specific risks and limitations in the current volunteer programme model (e.g. short-term placements, insufficient training, lack of local ownership, limited impact measurement)
Propose concrete reforms that would address these risks (e.g. longer-term partnerships, enhanced volunteer preparation, co-design with local partners, robust evaluation frameworks)
Explain how the reformed programme would benefit both the company's reputation and the communities and organisations it aims to support, moving beyond performative activism
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Speaking
Speaking task. Read the instructions, then complete the task.
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After the Lesson
Reflect on what you learned and how confident you feel now.
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Teacher Guide
Teacher access only
This section contains teacher notes, answer keys, and model answers. Please log in with a teacher account to view it.
Practise with
advocacynoun
the act of publicly supporting a cause or group that you believe in
disengagementnoun
the process of withdrawing from involvement in an activity or situation
global citizennoun
a person who identifies with the whole of humanity rather than just their own country or community
povertynoun
the state of being extremely poor
solidaritynoun
Unity and support among people who share the same beliefs or goals.
voluntourismnoun
travelling to help people in poorer countries while experiencing their culture and way of life
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