Making space for ethnic diversity through global education: A zone theory perspective

This article examines how teachers interpret a global education curriculum in an ethnically diverse secondary school in Hong Kong. It contributes to broader discussions about the intersections of global and multicultural education. Using zone theory, we analyse how a group of global education teachers navigate the school’s institutional and cultural contexts, particularly in relation to their curriculum decisions. Our findings indicate that these teachers’ understanding of global education is closely tied to their commitment to cultural inclusion, which underpinned the active expansion of schooling infrastructure and resources. Mediated by these expanded resources, the teachers enacted the curriculum with various strategies: organizing a cultural carnival, recruiting ethnic minority teachers, and designing learning activities that reflect students’ ethnic backgrounds. The coalescing of the school’s commitment and strategies reflects what we call “Zone for Ethnic Diversity,” a learning climate that empowers teachers to promote cultural inclusion within the global education curriculum. We conclude by discussing the use of zone theory in identifying a global education curriculum trajectory, which helps assess the alignment between commitments and possibilities of achieving multicultural aims. Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.