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European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │Issue 10 │2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1040117 A MULTIPHASIC BLENDED CITIZENSHIP ACCULTURATION PROGRAM FOR BUILDING DIVERSE CITIZENS IN HOSTILE POLITICAL TIMES AND CONTEMPORARY ICT - GLOBAL AGE Mohamed Ziad Hamdani Ph.D, Hamdan Academy for Higher Education Online www.hamdaneducation.com Abstract: Citizenship represents a highly appreciated identity for any individual living permanently in specific environment. It gives her/him when optimally equipped, a peace of mind, a sense of belonging, cross cultural communication, daily life stability, and hope for a promising future. However, what observed in reality is a mixed of distorting aggravating conditions that negate most learned civic beliefs, conducts, and values. Hence, citizenship education is seen ineffective since was incapable to instill in students by means of meaningful programs and methodology the significant knowledge, skills and professional will to counteract individually and in small groups emergent violence, destructive outlaws and barbaric attitudes. Consequently, the main concerns of this article are presenting two research tasks, first: a Multiphasic Citizenship Blended Acculturation Program that incorporates the contemporary Info-Communication Global Age with, 1: A Taxonomy of Social Civic behaviors and values, 2: Trio Types of Citizenship Acculturation: national, Regional and Global citizens, 3: Digital ICTs and 3Rs' skills conducive to citizenship acculturation, and 4: A Model for Individual Human/Civic Rights. And second: A nondirective learning-teaching Methodology of Citizenship Acculturation. Keywords: blended acculturation program, blended schooling citizenship, diversity citizens, global citizenship, inputs-processes-outputs assessment, multiphasic citizenship, multiphasic citizenship formative frameworks, national citizenship, regional citizenship, transnational blended schooling Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 626 Mohamed Ziad Hamdan A MULTIPHASIC BLENDED CITIZENSHIP ACCULTURATION PROGRAM FOR BUILDING DIVERSE CITIZENS IN HOSTILE POLITICAL TIMES AND CONTEMPORARY ICT - GLOBAL AGE 1. Introduction Polity is a "shrewd or crafty management of public affairs; it connotes "civic order"1. Historically, polity of ancient Athens became a standard for later governments. It is the "civic order" that enabled B.C. communities to establish socio-political polities in what is known ancient civilizations. And as such, the Age of Reason of the human race was born. However, human reason and civic values achieved throughout history have been constantly interrupted by ongoing threats of some merging barbarian states and roaming savage mercenary groups who are persisting up to this date on dismantling human lives, civil organizations, and splendid historical treasures of mankind. The "States of Arab Spring", Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Burma are examples. Gabriela Mistral, the Chilean poet and the 1945 Nobel Prize winner in literature, recognized the worsening violent dilemmas facing children and people lives during the first half of twentieth century, especially the overwhelming human losses and destruction of urban areas due to World first and second wars 1 and 2, by confirming that "the human race has been perpetually destructing itself in an astonishing manner. The present twentieth century is shamefully considered the most reprehensible period in the history of mankind, during which excessive crimes have been committed systematically against humanity at individual, community and state levels. As a result, huge losses in human lives and vicious dismantling of cultural heritages have all exceeded every imagination"2. Alas honored Gabriela Mistral, your sorrows for massive human misfortunes and urban annihilations during the first half of last twentieth century which burned your soul at early age (at age 57), are repeating themselves in current first half of the 21st century by ill intention means such as: satanic maneuvering war plans, double dishonest political standards, unethical conspiracies, victimizing other UN member states mostly developing countries, and biased greedy economic returns from nations. It seems that some world societies and governments as much they taught citizenship, talked civics, and advanced in producing new knowledge, technology inventions, hemisphere discoveries, and utility of cyber space in communications, trade, education and splendid civilizations; as much they get self-centered, Machiavellian, and psycho- socially distant in inter and transnational relations. These negative dispositions are transforming world societies in extreme cases into totally uncivil polities. Ploeg and Guérin (2016) in supporting above views stated that some educators argue that most governments, general policies and daily norm conducts reinforce and European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 10 │ 2017 627 Mohamed Ziad Hamdan A MULTIPHASIC BLENDED CITIZENSHIP ACCULTURATION PROGRAM FOR BUILDING DIVERSE CITIZENS IN HOSTILE POLITICAL TIMES AND CONTEMPORARY ICT - GLOBAL AGE advocate questionable or erroneous concepts and actions of citizenship. These shortcomings had hindered the development of civic characters in students conducive to political participation and solidarity. Thus, what observed in reality is radically a behavioral chaos and messed up relations among peoples and even nation states across the Globe. It appears that citizenship education should be profoundly reformed to develop autonomy, tolerance and open-mindedness. It requires adopting a more critical independent approach than is indicated by the local power structures, especially when political participation and solidarity are conceived of as goals of schooling. 3 In a parallel context, the British House of Commons (2007) studied citizenship in the English National Curriculum. They concluded that it is too early to confirm whether it is "producing the wide range of impacts originally hoped for. Initial evidence from small-scale studies and the experience of individual institutions is promising but on its own not enough... The imperative now is to ensure that patchiness [in the provision of citizenship teaching] is not allowed to remain, that high quality provision becomes the norm, and that progress is accelerated. This will require action from those on the ground, but also needs strong support from the DfES and Ministers." 4 Despite above grim picture of current insufficient civic practices, there are still hopes for better turnaround. One sign reinforcing this optimism is that more countries throughout the world are persisting on adopting citizenship as a compulsory element in most democracies throughout Europe, North America and the Pacific5, besides many other territories throughout the Globe. Education scholars are monitoring closely civic education developments. Maitles (2013) for example raised some basic concerns that should citizenship education handle: the purposes of education to serve the context, the role of the school in building and encouraging of young people, the critical discussion of controversial issues in the classroom, and the development of critical citizens6. Actually, when preparing this article, this author found abundant citizenship literature resources some of which are utilized here: e.g. philosophers and pioneers, civics teachers and learners, academic terms, civic scholar quotes, theories, programs, and civic professionals go back to more than 2500 B.C. in Mesopotamia e.g. Babylon, Ur, and Kish; Pharos's Dynasties in Ancient Egypt; Ancient Athens, e.g. Parmenides, Democritus, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle; Ancient Rome e.g. Trajan, Gracchus, Constantine, Cicero, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Plutarch and Seneca; and Chinese Confucius 7. While Greek scholars laid the foundations for Western philosophy, India’s geniuses produced treatises in linguistics, mathematics, logic, astronomy, philosophy, European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 10 │ 2017 628 Mohamed Ziad Hamdan A MULTIPHASIC BLENDED CITIZENSHIP ACCULTURATION PROGRAM FOR BUILDING DIVERSE CITIZENS IN HOSTILE POLITICAL TIMES AND CONTEMPORARY ICT - GLOBAL AGE and medicine. Ancient Indian philosophy is represented in a mass of texts for which the authors and produced dates are altruistically mostly unknown. However, examples of Indian philosophers are: The Buddha 5th century B.C, Ajita Kesakambali (6th century B.C.), Payasi Suttanta (6th century B.C.), Mahavira (6th century B.C.) and perhaps Parshva (9th century B.C.). 8 This glorious B.C. period of civic thoughts, education and practice continued up to the current third Millennium. However, this author inferred from the long history of civic thoughts and conventions two monumental paradoxical conclusions: The first is the emergence of a new applied science and field of study that is "Citizenship Education". This neo educational science is seen by this author the most influential renewal factor, beside ICTs, that could prepare civic well educated generations to succeed in the Global Digital Age. While recognizing of course the importance of conventional academics in developing the human brain in regard of specialized knowledge, still civics coupled with ICTs will enable immensely students (when effectively applied) to utilize academics for the welfare of civic selves, the community and blended institutions anywhere and in any form: face to face, blended and as well on the infinite cyber space. Hence realizing the citizenship trio-goals of this article which are: developing in students the compatible well-integrated concepts of national, regional and global citizens. The second is the contradictory harming outcomes of teaching and learning of citizenship. It is widely noticed that as much we think, speak, learn and teach civics, we find much conflicting results which are steaming in horrible wars, massive killings, terror attacks, corruptions, double standards biased decisions and conducts on individual, communal, institutional and state levels. Countless examples can be awfully found throughout world regions. Evidently, the basic problem for these harming overall consequences is not citizenship education per se; rather it lies in the content design of citizenship programs and in the methodology by which school systems deliver these programs to students. Hence, the basic task of this article is to provide formative transnational frameworks of national, regional and global citizens coupled with alternatives for reforming curricula and delivery methodology of citizenship schooling. These basic goals are realized here through a critical discourse of a transnational blended schooling of diverse citizens and specialized terms. For viewing / downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1149 European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 10 │ 2017 629