Liberal frames, limited action: preservice social studies teachers conceptualize global citizenship education

Purpose To examine how preservice social studies teachers (PSTs) in one US teacher-education program understand and engage with global citizenship education (GCE), and to consider how institutional and political conditions shape those understandings. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study of four PSTs interning in high schools in a politically restrictive US state. Data included semi-structured interviews, program documents and analytic memos. Researchers transcribed interviews, then analyzed through line-by-line open coding followed by deductive and inductive coding informed by Pashby et al.’s neoliberal–liberal–critical orientations and methodological/epistemological/ontological lenses. Member checking enhances credibility. Findings Participants consistently valued diversity and mutual respect and invoked a shared human experience, reflecting predominantly liberal orientations to GCE. They framed GCE through disciplinary content (history, civics, geography) and acknowledged controversy in vague terms. Explicit attention to activism, structural inequities or critical social justice was largely absent, and participants reported little formal preparation for GCE. Evidence suggests the state policy climate and a social science–oriented curriculum channel PSTs toward depoliticized, content-centric views of GCE. Implications include embedding GCE within disciplinary methods courses and providing structured opportunities to develop critical, justice-oriented practices. Originality/value Addresses a gap by focusing on PSTs rather than in-service teachers or students and by situating their perspectives within a politically contentious context. The study links policy climate and curriculum organization to depoliticized conceptualizations of GCE and integrates typological and onto-epistemological lenses to generate actionable recommendations for teacher education.