Interdisciplinary Social Science Integration and Global Citizenship Teaching Practices

Abstract

This study responded to the growing need to strengthen citizenship-oriented learning in Social Science by examining the link between interdisciplinary Social Science integration and global citizenship teaching practices among public secondary school teachers. Grounded in the view that complex social realities require connected disciplinary perspectives, the inquiry used a cross-sectional explanatory latent-variable design. Data were gathered through a validated researcher-developed questionnaire and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The measurement model demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, with strong internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity for the major constructs. Results indicated that both interdisciplinary Social Science integration and global citizenship teaching practices were manifested at generally high levels. More importantly, interdisciplinary Social Science integration exerted a significant positive effect on global citizenship teaching practices, showing that teachers who more consistently linked concepts, issues, and perspectives across Social Science domains were more likely to foster civic responsibility, intercultural respect, perspective-taking, and critical engagement with social concerns. However, the findings also revealed that issue-based lesson organization, while highly important, remained a comparatively less developed dimension, suggesting the presence of a pedagogical gap in translating integrative planning into stronger citizenship-oriented classroom enactment. The study concluded that interdisciplinary integration served as a meaningful instructional foundation for global citizenship teaching and should be strengthened through professional development, model lesson support, and pedagogical enrichment focused on issue-centered and participatory Social Science instruction.