Cosmopolitan Education

Canadian school jurisdictions have taken steps to accommodate objectives to advance cosmopolitan education reflecting principles such as global citizenship, compassion, tolerance, responsibility, and respect within school curricula and educational practice. At the same time, a parallel set of reconciliation-related educational reforms, aligned with the Calls to Action that accompanied the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report, have also gained urgency. Elements of reconciliation processes complement visions of cosmopolitanism, including objectives to foster dialogue and understanding between groups and advancements towards more holistic orientations to pedagogy and knowledge. However, conceptually and in practice, several tensions emerge, especially in a context in which educational priorities are contested. In this paper, we explore these connections and tensions with reference to findings from our research examining public perspectives on educational reforms to sup...

This study discusses the value and importance of cosmopolitanism in the modern globalized era, and how aesthetic experiences through television can contribute to promoting cosmopolitan education. Cosmopolitanism, an ambition to interact with and belong to the world by expanding one's national or cultural borderlines, requests people to have an intuitive sense of a common humanity based on both rational and emotional engagement. This study argues that conventional multicultural education in formal schooling has limited impact in empowering cosmopolitanism, since this direction mainly focuses on offering detailed engagement with multiple cultures without adequate extending that engagement to develop a disposition that moves easily between and among varieties of traditions. This study suggests that aesthetic experience of daily lives can become a possible alternative to develop cosmopolitan dispositions. In this project, I propose that television, as a medium of aesthetic experience in daily life, can contribute to cosmopolitan education. I do this by examining theoretical research and conducting a comparative case study of two particular television series. Through the analysis of Face Me and Smile (2010), a family drama produced in Republic of Korea, Modern Family (2009), an American situation comedy, and this study shows how television creates aesthetic experience in its distinctive way and how such experience can promote cosmopolitanism. Differing concepts of cosmopolitanism in the United States and Republic of Korea is also contrasted to broaden the meaning of cosmopolitanism. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis may never have existed without the constant guidance and encouragement of my thesis advisor, Dr. Pradeep Dhillon. I am deeply indebted to her for her inspiring discussions and valuable comments throughout my study. I would also like to thank Dr. Cameron McCarthy and Dr. Allison Witt, for serving on my thesis committee. Their support and feedback greatly improved my work as well as helped me to broaden and develop my academic interests. My sincere gratitude also goes to Dr. Linda Herrera, who acted as a true mentor throughout my master's program. I am also grateful to Stephanie Rayl and Mitzi Koeberlein from the Department office of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership for their help in arranging my thesis defense and providing all the administrative support. I have been very fortunate to experience a rich intellectual life at Global Studies in Education for last two years. Finally, and above all, I wish to express my greatest gratitude and love to my husband, Jongdeog Lee, who has supported me throughout my graduate life and has warmly encouraged me when my tasks seemed challenging and arduous. I am sincerely grateful for having you in my life. I also dedicate this thesis to my mother for her nursing me with unconditional love and support. I hope this thesis would be a great gift for my family and our coming baby.

This study discusses the value and importance of cosmopolitanism in the modern globalized era, and how aesthetic experiences through television can contribute to promoting cosmopolitan education. Cosmopolitanism, an ambition to interact with and belong to the world by expanding one's national or cultural borderlines, requests people to have an intuitive sense of a common humanity based on both rational and emotional engagement. This study argues that conventional multicultural education in formal schooling has limited impact in empowering cosmopolitanism, since this direction mainly focuses on offering detailed engagement with multiple cultures without adequate extending that engagement to develop a disposition that moves easily between and among varieties of traditions. This study suggests that aesthetic experience of daily lives can become a possible alternative to develop cosmopolitan dispositions. In this project, I propose that television, as a medium of aesthetic experience in daily life, can contribute to cosmopolitan education. I do this by examining theoretical research and conducting a comparative case study of two particular television series. Through the analysis of Face Me and Smile (2010), a family drama produced in Republic of Korea, Modern Family (2009), an American situation comedy, and this study shows how television creates aesthetic experience in its distinctive way and how such experience can promote cosmopolitanism. Differing concepts of cosmopolitanism in the United States and Republic of Korea is also contrasted to broaden the meaning of cosmopolitanism. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis may never have existed without the constant guidance and encouragement of my thesis advisor, Dr. Pradeep Dhillon. I am deeply indebted to her for her inspiring discussions and valuable comments throughout my study. I would also like to thank Dr. Cameron McCarthy and Dr. Allison Witt, for serving on my thesis committee. Their support and feedback greatly improved my work as well as helped me to broaden and develop my academic interests. My sincere gratitude also goes to Dr. Linda Herrera, who acted as a true mentor throughout my master's program. I am also grateful to Stephanie Rayl and Mitzi Koeberlein from the Department office of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership for their help in arranging my thesis defense and providing all the administrative support. I have been very fortunate to experience a rich intellectual life at Global Studies in Education for last two years. Finally, and above all, I wish to express my greatest gratitude and love to my husband, Jongdeog Lee, who has supported me throughout my graduate life and has warmly encouraged me when my tasks seemed challenging and arduous. I am sincerely grateful for having you in my life. I also dedicate this thesis to my mother for her nursing me with unconditional love and support. I hope this thesis would be a great gift for my family and our coming baby.

Over the last 20 years, the numbers of adults participating in education abroad programs have been steadily increasing. Yet, we know relatively little of the nature of their learning experiences or outcomes. In this study, we contribute to a small but growing body of scholarship on the nature of adult learning within these programs. Using a socio-cultural lens, we studied how the geo-political context of Cuba In particular, we take advantage of student perceptions and experiences of education abroad programs to Cuba to help better understanding how the Cuban geo-political context, a country only 90 miles off the coast of Florida t influences and shapes how participants make sense of their experiences in this program. We focused on the lived experiences of graduate students participating in 13-day study tours of Cuba. Data were collected through journals, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Reflecting the influence of class and race, he results demonstrated participants expe...

Despite the diversity of cosmopolitan philosophical thought, two constants remain: the significance of shared humanity and the idea that this fact should shape the way people live with each other. I will argue that Hannah Arendt's conceptions of the human conditions of plurality, natality, and action offer cosmopolitan educators an improved grounding for their theoretical foundations and crucial points of emphasis for teacher education in opposition to the educationally destructive effects of standardization in education. Cosmopolitan characteristics such as democratic inclusion, openness, and dynamic engagement emerge as embodiments of morality wherein the preservation of the human condition of natality is vital for the public expression (action) of one's humanity. Arendt's conditions serve as the 'is' to cosmopolitan education's 'ought,' wherein the human conditions of plurality, natality, and action support the creativity, fluidity, and unpredictability of lived lives and frame the context in which cosmopolitan teacher education responds, offering teacher educators a theoretical foundation and language to forestall or reverse the educationally devastating effects of standardization in education.

In this article, I discuss teacher education reform and the work of teachers in light of globalization and reflexive modernization. Increasing globalization has meant changed conditions for national education traditionally geared toward nation building and to the nationalizing of lifeworlds. It is assumed that the global economy has made knowledge and lifelong learning essential to economic growth, and governments have considered their citizens, teachers, and schools to be poorly trained for the demands of knowledge economies. Consequently, nation-states have invested massively in teacher education because of the vital role effective high-quality teachers are expected to play in preparation for working on global markets and for the competitive edge of nations. However, recent teacher education reform can be criticized for a one-sided orientation toward principles of economic growth, effectiveness, and competitiveness at the expense of other important educational aims, such as the development of reflective and communicative capacities and education for cosmopolitan citizenship. Moreover, recent teacher education reform in various nation-states seems to neglect how processes of reflexive modernization profoundly change schools, society, and the teaching situation, and undermine the principles that marked earlier phases of nation-centered modernization. I discuss teacher education and the work of teachers as reflexive modern practices and phenomena within the framework of critical social theory, and I mainly use Ulrich Beck's theory of reflexive modernization. I argue that increased reflexivity, institutionalized individualization, and cosmopolitization constitute reasons for the re-contextualization of teacher education away from the uncritical influence of the primacy of the economy, instrumental rationalization, and other principles of modernization that are now running dry. In the final part, I discuss the importance of moving from a mainly economically oriented, globalist view of learning to a multidimensional, cosmopolitan view of learning in teacher education and education in general.

Kant sees the gradual implementation of a cosmopolitan world order as necessary for securing peace at national and international level. However, he seems to be overoptimistic about the role of states and other political institutions in securing coordination and peace. In some passages Kant claims that a just juridical framework alone, as long as it is efficiently enforced, is enough to secure a large scale coordination of individual’s agency and a maximal protection of individual freedom. As I will show, other passages suggest that ethical motivation also has an important role to play in the achievement of peace and the implementation of a cosmopolitan world order. This is because good laws alone may produce “good citizens” (who do not infringe the law), but still does not make possible effective political participation and the necessary attitude required for the implementation and improvement of political institutions at national and international level. I will discuss Kant's c...

Cosmopolitanism has recently received increased interest and representation in educational discourse and theory. Given the global and international emphases in cosmopolitanism, international schools might provide some clues and illustrations of cosmopolitanism influence in schooling. The way an international school articulates its purpose can provide insight into the general discourse about international schools and what each thinks its purpose is, real or imagined. Thus, the mission statements of sixty-seven international schools were analysed to measure the extent to which these schools articulated purposes consistent with dominant typologies and characteristics of cosmopolitanism. The data shows that while international schools show a dominant predilection toward cognitive and academic development, they also contain a significant number of cosmopolitan characteristics and an orientation toward the development of attitudes and emotional development that aid in intercultural unders...

Canadian school jurisdictions have taken steps to accommodate objectives to advance cosmopolitan education reflecting principles such as global citizenship, compassion, tolerance, responsibility, and respect within school curricula and educational practice. At the same time, a parallel set of reconciliation-related educational reforms, aligned with the Calls to Action that accompanied the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report, have also gained urgency. Elements of reconciliation processes complement visions of cosmopolitanism, including objectives to foster dialogue and understanding between groups and advancements towards more holistic orientations to pedagogy and knowledge. However, conceptually and in practice, several tensions emerge, especially in a context in which educational priorities are contested. In this paper, we explore these connections and tensions with reference to findings from our research examining public perspectives on educational reforms to support reconciliation.

This study investigated the experiences of program coordinators’/instructors’ experiences of teaching online in graduate adult education programs. Specifically, we examined their perspectives on the benefits and challenges to both students and instructors in online learning environments and participants’ recommendations for others who were interested in transitioning their courses and degrees to online programming.

In the following reflection Claudio Corradetti and Allen Wood engage in a controversy concerning the possibilities and the limits of textual interpretation. Should an interpreter still be authorized to  call an author’s interpretation the logical stretch of  text beyond its black printed letters? The authors offer two different standpoints on what can still be defined as textual interpretation. Whereas for Allen Wood a clear-cut separation must be kept between what a text shows and what an interpreter argues starting from the text, for Claudio Corradetti such distinction remains internal to textual exegesis in so far as the  interpreter’s conclusions follow a logical pattern of jus tification starting from evidential hints.

As awareness of global warming has spread during the past couple of decades and developed into the realization that humanity faces an existential threat, a number of more or less Kantian liberal or cosmopolitan moral and political theorists have attempted to address questions of justice raised by the climate crisis. David Held was among the most prolific and influential of them. Here I discuss Held's cosmopolitan perspective on climate governance and consider its bearing on certain recent proposals for new institutions, including in particular a proposal offered by John Broome and Duncan Foley for establishing a World Climate Bank (WCB). I argue that such a WCB may be endorsable from Held's perspective, depending how the initial proposal may get further developed. Held's approach to politics is similar to Kant's in certain significant respects, including the role of hope. Both approaches are valuable and important in relation to the climate crisis.

This paper claims that a particular interpretation of Kant`s legal-political philosophy, as it is presented in his Doctrine of Right, provides us with the much needed resolution to the question of the normativity of law, precisely because it brings in a perspective that avoids both positivism and ethicism. This particular interpretation follows a strategy of argumentation that I call the "argument for the intrinsic normativity of law", i.e., the argument that law is defined and justified on its own grounds, without any need to refer to ethics, or rational/enlightened self-interest. This argument highlights the concept of legal person with the innate right to freedom as the necessary presupposition of legal practices, and sets forth a fundamental sense of justice inherent to the concept of law that consists in the reciprocal recognition of legal personality. In the end, I come up with a distinctive conception of law that I formulate as a last resort of normativity in the face of a conflict wherein an ethical solution does not appeal to all parties.

For both John Rawls and Martha Nussbaum, the concept of love plays a significant role in moral psychology. Rawls views the sense of justice as grounded in parental love, and continuous with  love of mankind. Nussbaum’s recent defence of patriotism revives the emotio n of love as essential for political contexts. I argue that love ought to play a substantial part in the shaping of global  politics, and that a moral psychology of love based merely on a combination of Rawls’s and Nussbaum’s accounts fails to produce an ad equate ground for conceptualizing moral motivation with respect to addressing transnational concerns of justice. I contend that by critically synthesizing  Rawls’s and Nussbaum’s conceptions of love and moral psychology with resources from Kant’s  ethics, it is possible to develop a more attractive, and potentially politically effective, conception of love of human beings in the framework of political liberalism.

In this Afterword, I discuss the papers contained in the dossier in regards to a central issue for Kant: leadership. The issue for Kant is the paradox of the human species’ need for a master that is human yet morally perfect. This of course is an as-yet unobtainable requirement that Kant thinks can only be properly met through a civil constitution. The issues of elitism and the tension between a ‘maximal’ and ‘minimal’ Enlightenment in light of Kant’s requirement will be discussed.

In Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason, Kant claims that we may need to invoke divine aid in order to explain how a person can change from evil to good. Kant’s language is a bit curious; why does he not more clearly assert, either that we must posit divine grace, or that we may not? The explanation is this: if we affirm that God grants aid, then this could convince people to passively await it or to think, upon becoming good, that they are part of a special elect. On the other hand, if we affirm that God does not help, then some may despair of ever becoming good while those who successfully change could become arrogant. Thus, Kant is noncommittal about grace because it allows the morally timorous to have hope that they can change, and the morally successful to avoid hubris.

In Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason , Kant claims that we may need to invoke divine aid in order to explain how a person can change from evil to good. Kant’s language is a bit curious; why does he not more clearly assert, either that we must posit divine grace, or that we may not? The explanation is this: if we affirm that God grants aid, then this could convince people to passively await it or to think, upon becoming good, that they are part of a special elect. On the other hand, if we affirm that God does not help, then some may despair of ever becoming good while those who successfully change could become arrogant. Thus, Kant is noncommittal about grace because it allows the morally timorous to have hope that they can change, and the morally successful to avoid hubris.

Certain strands of cosmopolitanism have been criticized on various occasions for merely mirroring the mental framework of a global elite that stresses positive attitudes to mobility, flexibility, and disinterested objective detachment to the detriment of 'rooted', local and national values. 1 In this way, it is argued, it presents a one-sided opportunistic or naively affirmative picture of processes of globalization rather than taking seriously the challenges posed by the inherently normative dimension of cosmopolitan thought and practice. 2 The present paper will argue for a return to the critical core of the cosmopolitan idea and proposes that the critique of reification, which recently received renewed interest by philosophers of the so-called third generation Frankfurt School, can serve as a vital tool for re-imagining cosmopolitan teacher education as critique. In particular, the discussion around the recent turn towards a standards and competencies oriented teacher education in Germany will be critically examined in this regard. Rather than presenting a mere factual description of our thinking, judgments and actions, a cosmopolitan orientation should be concerned with reminding us of the importance of a continuous critical challenge of their validity. Firstly, the concept of reification will be shown to provide the conceptual resources to describe and select relevant characteristics of contemporary social pathologies that cannot be adequately captured within liberal social philosophies. A closer analysis of reification as a deficient relation to oneself, to others, or to the world will then lead to the second question of how to conceive of non-reifying forms of relatedness, commitment and boundedness as enabling new forms of expressive freedom. Instead of one-sided, narrow and hasty reactions towards a perceived 'global challenge'*either fetishizing borders or their transgression, an critical educational cosmopolitanism should bring into focus how educational institutions such as teacher education can provide, strengthen, and enhance the conditions for binding ourselves as citizens of the world in non-reifying ways.

This study investigated the experiences of program coordinators’/instructors’ experiences of teaching online in graduate adult education programs. Specifically, we examined their perspectives on the benefits and challenges to both students and instructors in online learning environments and participants’ recommendations for others who were interested in transitioning their courses and degrees to online programming.

This paper describes a component of a larger cross-national comparative study on faculty development for teaching international students. Here we describe the study and report preliminary findings that offer analyses of the informal and formal means by which Italian and US university instructors enhance the knowledge and skills they find necessary to teach international students successfully in this era of educational globalization. We also offer insights and challenges of conducting cross-national adult educational research and explain why such studies across international adult and higher education contexts are essential in understanding how the world of academe is learning to adapt to globalization and international student mobility.

This study investigated the experiences of program coordinators’/instructors’ experiences of teaching online in graduate adult education programs. Specifically, we examined their perspectives on the benefits and challenges to both students and instructors in online learning environments and participants’ recommendations for others who were interested in transitioning their courses and degrees to online programming.

This paper describes a component of a larger cross-national comparative study on faculty development for teaching international students. Here we describe the study and report preliminary findings that offer analyses of the informal and formal means by which Italian and US university instructors enhance the knowledge and skills they find necessary to teach international students successfully in this era of educational globalization. We also offer insights and challenges of conducting cross-national adult educational research and explain why such studies across international adult and higher education contexts are essential in understanding how the world of academe is learning to adapt to globalization and international student mobility.

How should we act? How should the world be organised? This new anthology on Kant’s practical philosophy guides the reader from the general question of the nature of reasons and rationality in Kant’s philosophical system to the Kantian task of promoting justice and peace at the global level. Contributions in this volume show how the Kantian idea of reason as a source of normativity is grounded, and which implications and applications the Kantian approach might bring about. The volume covers three areas: meta-ethics, political thought and theory, and applied politics. Although these are different spheres of thought, they are interconnected in an fundamental way through Kant’s account of normativity as derived from reason. The volume provides an overview of recent debates in Kant scholarship and ground-breaking new applications of Kant’s theory to current affairs.

This paper derives from a case study of a 10-day cross-cultural field study experience held in Italy in which graduate students from master and doctoral levels in adult education participated. During group reflections, several students who participated in the course expressed the value of learning through personal connections made with students as well as the instructor. This relationship aspect of the short-term cross-cultural learning experience has only been briefly discussed in the literature. The research was framed by situated learning, and communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), with an emphasis on the relationships built in learning practice abroad. Student blogs were analyzed to provide evidence of the benefits of interpersonal relationships to deepen learning in adult study abroad. This research offers insights into the nature of relational learning during field study experiences, learning outcomes that resulted from these relationships, and ways to offer similar le...

This paper derives from a case study of a 10-day cross-cultural field study experience held in Italy in which graduate students from master and doctoral levels in adult education participated. During group reflections, several students who participated in the course expressed the value of learning through personal connections made with students as well as the instructor. This relationship aspect of the short-term cross-cultural learning experience has only been briefly discussed in the literature. The research was framed by situated learning, and communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), with an emphasis on the relationships built in learning practice abroad. Student blogs were analyzed to provide evidence of the benefits of interpersonal relationships to deepen learning in adult study abroad. This research offers insights into the nature of relational learning during field study experiences, learning outcomes that resulted from these relationships, and ways to offer similar le...

This paper analyses the thorny interpretative puzzle surrounding the connection between humanity and the good will. It discusses this puzzle: if the good will is the only good without qualification, why does Kant claim that humanity is something possessing an absolute value? It explores the answers to this question within Kantian scholarship; answers that emanate from a commitment to the human capacity for freedom and morality and to actual obedience to the moral law. In its final analysis, it endorses Richard Dean's good will reading as the most reflective of Kant's ethics. It claims that in order for a person to reach the moral ideal of acting rightly and giving priority to moral law, he must always honour his duties to himself. Accordingly, it argues that before a person can be deemed as an object of respect, he must first respect the right of humanity in his own person.

Kant sees the gradual implementation of a cosmopolitan world order as necessary for securing peace at national and international level. However, he seems to be overoptimistic about the role of states and other political institutions in securing coordination and peace. In some passages Kant claims that a just juridical framework alone, as long as it is efficiently enforced, is enough to secure a large scale coordination of individual's agency and a maximal protection of individual freedom. As I will show, other passages suggest that ethical motivation also has an important role to play in the achievement of peace and the implementation of a cosmopolitan world order. This is because good laws alone may produce "good citizens" (who do not infringe the law), but still does not make possible effective political participation and the necessary attitude required for the implementation and improvement of political institutions at national and international level. I will discuss Kant's claim that education must have a cosmopolitan character as well as the duty of states to create responsible citizens, not only at domestic but also at international level.

This chapter analyzes and reflects on an experiential exercise from the points of view of instructor and
students attending University Center of Economic and Managerial Sciences at University of Guadalajara
and participating in the “X-Culture International Student Collaboration Project” as a professional,
inter-personal, and inter-institutional networking platform.

This chapter analyzes and reflects on an experiential exercise from the points of view of instructor and students attending University Center of Economic and Managerial Sciences at University of Guadalajara and participating in the “X-Culture International Student Collaboration Project” as a professional, inter-personal, and inter-institutional networking platform.

The aim of this chapter is to analyze from the perspective of institutionalism if the European Union market
is a potential market for the internationalization of Mexican SMEs. This chapter identifies a framework
of the current situation of Mexican SMEs, encompassing as the political-economic aspects that govern
the cooperative relationship as the normative and cultural factors that impact directly businesses, concluding
that the complexity of the European Union resulting from the uniqueness of each of its members
is reflected in a set of formal and informal rules that negatively impact on the internationalization of
Mexican SMEs to that market.

Today's sociopolitical and economic conditions require adults to engage in informed, culturally sensitive coexistence. Correspondingly, adult educators need to design experiences that help prepare learners for cross-cultural collaboration and socially responsible careers in a global age. Framed through cosmopolitanism and situated learning theories, the purpose of this study was to investigate adult learners' sense and development of global citizenship through engagement in an innovative itinerant master's degree program. The investigation of the experiences and contexts of this program's community of practice provides important insight into adult global citizenship development and cosmopolitan instruction.

Globalization via the digital age is upon us, demanding a new ethics and an intercultural awareness while the dialectics of globalism and cyberspace mandate a committed reflection on what the synthesis between the digital realm and global citizenship entails. In many ways, the borders that previously separated us as citizens physically and culturally have begun to dissipate, replaced by a call for an intercultural accountability and a form of global citizenship that, on one hand, surpasses borders, patriotism, and nationalism alike, but while on the other, demands an understanding and respect for the cultural idiosyncrasies among us, acknowledging the unique existential paradox of universal citizenship that posits each of us as both stranger and citizen on a commonly shared globe.

What is cosmopolitan in the digital age? Is a global digital citizen the same as merely a digital citizen? While talk of digital citizenship has increased in recent years, usually centered on a capitalist drive, encouraging a full electronic participation in society and a responsibility to digital commerce, many questions remain unanswered.  Is the netizen the citizen of a democratic state, and of digital democracy? As a citizen of the world interacting online, how will one’s “rights” and “duties” be determined? And are these “rights” universal, and in such a case, what does “universal” mean? What are the legal parameters of netizenship, and what will they be as globalization further takes hold? Is democracy critical to citizenship, or is it not? What are the political landscapes of global citizenship in the digital age? And last of all, is the concept of digital citizenship even tangible? Is it real?

Despite the diversity of cosmopolitan philosophical thought, two constants remain: the significance of shared humanity and the idea that this fact should shape the way people live with each other. I will argue that Hannah Arendt’s conceptions of the human conditions of plurality, natality, and action offer cosmopolitan educators an improved grounding for their theoretical foundations and crucial points of emphasis for teacher education in opposition to the educationally destructive effects of standardization in education. Cosmopolitan characteristics such as democratic inclusion, openness, and dynamic engagement emerge as embodiments of morality wherein the preservation of the human condition of natality is vital for the public expression (action) of one’s humanity. Arendt’s conditions serve as the ‘is’ to cosmopolitan education’s ‘ought,’ wherein the human conditions of plurality, natality, and action support the creativity, fluidity, and unpredictability of lived lives and frame the context in which cosmopolitan teacher education responds, offering teacher educators a theoretical foundation and language to forestall or reverse the educationally devastating effects of standardization in education.

Despite the diversity of cosmopolitan philosophical thought, two constants remain: the significance of shared humanity and the idea that this fact should shape the way people live with each other, both of which lead to a philosophy that is essentially a moral philosophy, and in education, to a moral education. However, the concept of ‘shared humanity’ has been the focus of many critiques of cosmopolitanism and may not be adequate on its own. What is ‘humanity,’ what does it mean to ‘share’ it, and what prescriptions follow, particularly in education? I will argue that Hannah Arendt’s conceptions of thinking and morality within the domains of the human conditions of plurality, natality, and action, offer cosmopolitan educators an improved grounding of their theoretical foundations. Cosmopolitan characteristics such as democratic inclusion, openness, and dynamic engagement emerge as embodiments of morality wherein the preservation of the human condition of natality is vital for not only moral thought, but the more important component of moral action, the necessarily public manifestation of which suggests that pluralistic and inclusive morality itself is a human condition. Further, shared humanity is conceptually static while plurality and natality are concepts that embody the creativity, fluidity, and unpredictability of lived lives. Arendt’s recognition of the complex synthesis of morality and politics in lived lives shows that plurality and natality provide a more significant and tenable position from which to embark on a cosmopolitan educational project than simply shared humanity and being a ‘citizen of the world.’