DCSF report on the positive impact of sustainable schools

Wednesday March 31 2010 A new report from the Department for Children, Schools and Families summarises available evidence for the educational and social benefits of learning in a sustainable school, highlighting the impact on young people's learning, attainment and well-being.

The short and accessible report contains 15 top tips around five themes:

1.       Improving schools: enhancing young people's learning and well-being.
2.       Bringing young people's learning experiences together.
3.       Developing young people's participation.
4.       Contributing to school, community and family life.
5.       Modelling sustainability practices, thinking and planning.

Of particular relevance to global learning, the report highlights the benefits of "making connections between ideas" and "giving young people different perspectives" in order to "be honest and encourage an open, questioning approach".

DCSF's report builds on a growing body of evidence of impact already reported on this blog, including DEA's own research research and recent evidence from Ofsted. Taken together these reports offer a compelling picture for schools of the benefits of incorporating global learning and sustainable development into the curriculum and across the whole school. They will be very useful in making the case for global learning to head teachers, leadership teams, local authorities and others.

The new primary curriculum and global learning

19 March

At the end of January, Schools Minister Diana Johnson launched the new National curriculum website and QCDA have since sent new primary curriculum handbooks and guidance publications to all primary school. From September 2011 the new primary curriculum will be taught in all primary schools.

DEA welcomes a curriculum that has been specifically developed to build in the flexibility teachers need to support children to explore the world around them and prepare for the challenges of the 21^st Century such as living in an interdependent, globalised world and moving towards environmental sustainability. The curriculum is built around the central aims of supporting young people to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens, with learning organised into six areas of learning.

We have received positive feedback from members and charter signatories around the country about the opportunities the curriculum may provide for global learning - the quotes below give a flavour:

The new, broader primary curriculum provides us with flexibility to meet the needs of our families. For our school, based in a multicultural community, that means developing young people's attitudes, values and skills as global citizens. A global dimension runs across all six learning areas, and enables young people to explore global interconnections and different ways of seeing the world. Headteacher, Coldfall Primary School, Haringey.

A real opportunity to integrate a global dimension through more holistic and less subject specific learning. Schools Team, CAFOD.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if when we are saying we are in a global market, we could have a global curriculum for our children? The new primary curriculum provides exciting opportunities across learning areas to explore our one world and how we need to look after it. Headteacher, Rayleigh Primary School, Essex.

Government and the third sector working together to tackle climate change

12 March

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has just released a report highlighting how the government and the third sector will be working together in the next few months to respond to the threat of climate change.

The report includes commitments by Defra, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) and Communities and Local Government (CLG) to collaborate with the third sector in bringing sustainable development into the mainstream. As the report mentions, an important component of achieving this vision will be to educate government and third sector representatives, as well as the public, about the complex realities of climate change and sustainable development.

As Defra's Third Sector Minister, Huw Irranca Davies, said at the launch: "This report breaks new ground...two of the government departments involved and the majority the third sector representatives do not have climate change, the environment or sustainable development as their core focus." DEA will be looking to explore with Defra and others in coming months how best to offer opportunities for these organisations to learn more about climate change and other global issues.

The report on the joint Ministerial and Third Sector Task Force on Climate Change, the Environment and Sustainable Development can be downloaded here: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/about/how/third-sector/documents/taskforce-march2010.pdf

Catalysing citizen action in a downturn

2 March

We all know that the public finances are in a difficult state, and things are unlikely to get significantly better over the coming years as whomever is in government will have to make tough spending cuts. Therefore government will need to make tough choices to spend its money for maximum effect.

At the same time, politicians of all colours are recognising that government cannot meet its social goals alone in relation to the big global issues of the day - UK people need to be engaged and take action themselves in partnership with government. The Conservatives have talked about the 'Big Society' taking the place of the 'Big State', and Labour have talked about the need to engage citizens in 'co-producing' (horrible word) social outcomes. But how do you make this happen?

We have released a new report today which argues that government investment in educating UK people about global issues makes sense in a downturn, as it is catalytic spending that unlocks social and environmental action. In other words, the spending has a multiplier effect - a small amount spent educating the UK public about development issues means they are more likely to donate to NGOs or make purchasing decisions which are more ethical - an effect likely to far outweigh the initial spend. Similarly, education about climate change can unlock citizens taking action on this agenda. I won't go into the data of the report in this blog, but it shows that global learning leads to greater support for overseas aid, creates agency

around climate change and counteracts a discomfort about racial and religious difference. To read the research report, click here.

Community cohesion in action

1 March

At the beginning of February QCDA published its curriculum guide for schools ‘Community cohesion in action'. This document aims to help schools build community cohesion into the learning experience for all learners, illustrating ways in which the curriculum can play a key part in promoting community cohesion within a school, its local community and the wider world.

The guide draws out many of the shared aims of community cohesion and global learning, including learners who are empowered to engage with controversial issues, comfortable with their identity and sense of belonging and effective participators who engage in school and community activities. Focusing learning on the cross-curricular global dimension is identified as a good practice approach to organising learning, and it is of note that a global dimension is mentioned in almost all of the case-studies included, for example:

At Breeze Hill School, Oldham, staff have been looking to develop the global dimension in the curriculum. Several staff have been on study trips to Pakistan, particularly to Mirpur, the area where many pupils' families are based, and have formed linked with schools there. Geography, art, drama, ICT and English have used these links as a basis for creating cross-curricular modules of work.
Recognising shared heritage is integral to science and history schemes of work for years 7, 8 and 9 at Burnage Arts and Media College, Manchester. The idea is to show that civilisation and knowledge, particularly scientific and technological developments, are not the possession of any one group of people but have acted as a bridge between communities and countries throughout human history.
Helmshore Primary School, Lancashire has been part of a project called SLIDE, run by Lancashire Global Education Centre. The project's aim was to appreciate, value and explore the differences and similarities between people and places through school linking.

The strong relationship between global learning and community cohesion is highlighted in DEA's recent research by Ipsos MORI. DEA offers important additional support for educators seeking help on the practice and theory of teaching community cohesion.

To read more about community cohesion and the National Curriculum visit the relevant primary and secondary sections of the QCDA website.

Parliamentary meeting considers support for development in a downturn

10 February

This morning DEA held a parliamentary breakfast hosted by Geoffrey Clifton Brown MP, a Shadow International Development Minister, to discuss how to maintain public support for development in a downturn. There was a high quality discussion about the issues.

Martin Kirk from Oxfam made the point that we needed a new set of metaphors, beyond the concept of aid, by which to talk about development. Jo Kitterick from CAFOD made the convincing argument that we need to invest in leaders at all levels in society who can champion development in their community. Glen Tarman from BOND noted the need for a shared and galvanising vision of a population committed to development, and the need to think about the roles of business, media, educators and civil society in making this happen. DEA will be looking at ways of building the coalition to make this happen. Our Global Learning Charter is a starting point for this, and we are delighted to now have 200 signatories, including local authorities, universities, trade unions, businesses, schools and NGOs.

Critical thinking and community cohesion in religious education

10 February

A recent study from the University of Warwick finds that religious education teachers in many schools are placing a high priority on the development of personal and social values, positive attitudes towards those of other religions and critical thinking in RE lessons.

The study found little evidence of explicit work on community cohesion in relation to world religions. However, case studies suggest that "school responses to the community cohesion agenda were various including learning about differences, developing the idea of community within the school, transforming life chances, community partnerships and social action. In different schools links are made between RE and all of these areas."

The study notes a lack of expertise on world religions amongst many teachers of RE, meaning that they are heavily reliant on the reliability of outside teaching resources. Electronic resources are becoming increasingly popular, according to the study.

From a global learning perspective this research reinforces the argument in DEA's Policy Recommendations, that teachers are keen to offer good quality global learning to their students, but that it can be a challenge to do so. Therefore it is important to support teachers to encourage critical and creative thinking about subjects of which they do not have direct knowledge, through initial teacher training and continuing professional development.

Leading Sustainable Schools

1 February

The National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services has published a new Thinkpiece, Every Child's Future: Leading the Way.

Written by Jonathon Porritt, David Hopkins, Anna Birney and Jane Reed, leading thinkers and researchers in the fields of leadership and sustainability, the Thinkpiece argues for a model of sustainable schools that puts sustainability at the heart of the school's purpose and embeds this into all the key elements of the school, from school improvement through teaching and learning to curriculum frameworks. To realise this model, strong system leadership is needed, leadership that is 'born of a moral purpose that is at the heart of education and of the concept of sustainable development'.

The Thinkpiece is supported by research by Forum for the Future and the Institute of Education involving a study of 56 schools that are leading the way in developing sustainability. The research suggests that leadership in these schools has contributed substantially towards them becoming sustainable, and outlines 7 key characteristics of sustainable schools.

Sustainable schools:

Give attention to their broader social and ecological footprint;
View their ethos and purpose within a broader global context, and develop an understanding among stakeholders, including students, of that purpose;
Create positive benefits for pupils including student engagement, participation and leadership;
Allow the development, integration and connection with other educational policies and initiatives;
Provide direction and focus that bring about school improvements including the ECM outcomes, and supports raising achievement and attainment;
Focus specifically on improving the learning of children;
Engage in curriculum change and development as sustainability is embedded across the whole curriculum.

The research shows that when a school places sustainability at the core of its activity, it supports adults and young peoples' learning, their contribution to and improvement of their community and the sustainability of our planet.

The value of critical thinking

28 January

Youtube has a 5-minute video on the value of critical thinking, available here.

It can be challenging to explain clearly why critical thinking is so important in tackling the global issues we face, such as poverty and climate change. This video makes the argument well, and is worth watching and sharing with others.

Citizenship Established?

25 January

This month Ofsted published Citizenship established? Citizenship in Schools analysing citizenship provision in secondary schools over the last three years.

This report builds on the 2006 publication Towards consensus? which provided a picture of citizenship as an emerging presence in schools, with many gains since its introduction in 2002 but with considerable barriers to be overcome. Citizenship established?, based on a similarly sized sample of schools, shows steady progress as citizenship becomes more widely understood and acquires depth in the light of experience, but also highlights what schools need to tackle if citizenship is to be firmly established.

Particularly relevant to global learning, the report notes that quality provision includes links between the school and the community locally, nationally and globally, and that work around global links can help bring the curriculum to life. In all but two of the 23 primary schools visited provision was found to be good or outstanding, with strengths including pupils' understanding of the community, sustainability, global links and human rights. Also of note, the report emphasises the importance of good discussion, based on knowledge and guided by clear ground rules. Outstanding teaching of debating skills was seen in one school where a team of teachers used a philosophical approach to discussing sensitive and controversial issues.

Primary School of the Year tackles prejudice through international dimension

20 January

Caedmon Primary School, Grangetown, Middlesbrough, last year won Primary School of the Year in the TES Schools Awards. Last week, a feature article in the TES highlighted the school's work to develop students' world views. Responding to high levels of racial prejudice in the majority-white former steelworker local community, Caedmon Primary has worked hard to give every part of the curriculum an international dimension as a way to encourage students to appreciate, understand and celebrate ethnic and cultural diversity. A significant part of Caedmon's approach has been setting up international school partnerships with schools in Denmark, Greece, Nigeria and South Africa. More recently, the school is forging relationships with Claremont Community Mosque and a Muslim school in Bradford.

Ofsted highlights the positive impact of learning for sustainability

17 December

Learning about sustainability engages young people in learning and improves teaching and learning across the board according to evidence published yesterday by Ofsted.

In the report, Ofsted offers several evidence-based observations about the value of learning for sustainability.

Most importantly, the report emphasises that learning about sustainability improves a whole range of school outcomes, including attitudes to learning, better behaviour and higher achievement. This evidence is supported both by head teachers and by direct lesson observation:

Learning about sustainability captured the interest of children and young people because they could see its relevance to their own lives. The most successful schools gave their pupils the opportunity to take part in a wide range of practical activities, both within and outside the classroom, and to initiate their own projects for improving sustainability. The pupils reacted very positively to being able to work collaboratively, to conduct research and to take part in debates and discussion. In several instances, this led to more positive attitudes to learning in general, better behaviour and attendance, and to improved standards and achievement.

Learning for sustainability is most successful when schools embed it in all they do, rather than seeing it as an add-on, or limited to a particular subject:

In the most successful schools, sustainability was an integral element of a well-planned curriculum and all staff, not just a dedicated few, saw it as their responsibility to develop it. As a result, it imbued the culture of the school.

In addition to this, learning for sustainability allows pupils to drive improvements in school premises and become agents of change in their local area:

Over the course of the survey, most of the schools succeeded in improving their premises, using energy more efficiently and reducing waste...The commitment, enthusiasm and initiative of young people were also a spur to members of the wider community to re-examine their own lifestyles.

Lastly, the report offers specific strategies that allowed the schools in the study to improve learning for sustainability - these can provide pointers for other schools to follow.

DEA welcomes this report as a useful addition to the evidence base of the value of global learning in schools. In light of its positive value, there is a clear case for Ofsted to offer training to all schools inspectors in learning for sustainability. This will allow inspectors to spot good quality learning for sustainability across the whole schools sector, and properly reward these approaches in inspection reports. In turn, proper recognition of the value of learning for sustainability would incentivise all schools to meet DCSF's target of being a sustainable school by 2020.

School at top of primary league attributes success to global focus

4 December

Hampstead Norreys CE Primary School in West Berkshire topped the outstanding schools table in the primary school achievement and attainment tables 2009, released earlier this month. This year, at Hampstead Norreys 93 per cent of pupils reached the higher level 5 in English and all did so in maths and science. The headteacher, Alex Butler, attributes this to the schools' adoption of the International Primary Curriculum (IPC), an international curriculum that provides a cross-curricular teaching structure. Miss Butler explained that "The IPC is about backing up knowledge with skills. I also liked the fact it is international, that our children in this small village 10 miles from Newbury have an understanding of how children are living in other parts of the world" (TES, 4/12/09, p17).

DFID's new report on public attitudes towards development

2 December

DFID have just published their latest poll on public attitudes to development. The poll, conducted in September 2009, emphasises once again how important it is to encourage learning about global issues in order to encourage positive action.

The results showed a mixed picture in relation to public attitudes: on the positive side, the proportion of the population categorised as ‘active enthusiasts' (those most engaged with global poverty) has bounced back from a low of 11% in February 2009 to 16% in September 2009. The proportion of the population who say that they are ‘very' or ‘fairly' concerned about global poverty has remained broadly stable in recent years, at just over 7 in 10 people, although the proportion who are ‘very concerned' has dropped from 1 in 4 (25%) to 1 in 5 (21%) over the past six months.

Of further concern, support for increased Government action on global poverty has dropped from half of the population (49%) a year ago to only 2 in 5 (42%) today. At the same time, the proportion of the population who believe that ‘most aid is wasted' has jumped by almost 10%, from 47% a year ago to 55% today.

These surveys indicate that those most engaged in learning about global issues, ‘active enthusiasts' also tend to be more active global citizens. Active enthusiasts:

are more than twice as likely to be ‘very concerned' about global poverty as the rest of the population (56% of active enthusiasts as against 21% of the general population);
are almost twice as likely to agree that the Government should do more to fight poverty (75% of active enthusiasts say more should be done, compared to 42% of the general population);
are more than twice as likely to donate to a charity providing aid for people in poor countries (45% of active enthusiasts say they have done this, as against 20% of the general population);
are more likely to take personal action to combat poverty than the general population, on a whole range of issues including:
- Donating to charities fighting poverty/providing humanitarian aid
- Shopping ethically/buying Fair Trade or other ethically sourced goods
- Buying goods from poor countries
- Keeping informed about what is happening in our interdependent world
- Calculating my carbon footprint and reducing the energy I use
- Doing volunteer work\being involved in groups working on behalf of poor countries
- Encouraging school to have a link with a school in a poor country
- Putting pressure on politicians to increase aid to poor countries
- Letting decision makers, friends know I care about global justice
- Inspiring others to take action
- Travelling to a poor country as a tourist
- Getting involved in campaigning for a fairer world

These results further strengthen the argument in the DEA Global Learning Charter that learning about global issues is crucial if we are to see leadership and innovation from all members of society, not just the 16% currently seen as active enthusiasts.

Research on linking

1 December

Researchers at the Institute of Education have recently published the final report of a two-year DfID-funded research study into the influence of North South School Partnerships.

The research is significant in its scale (hundreds of schools in the UK, Africa and Asia were surveyed in the first year and 17 pairs of schools studied in the second year), and because there currently exists a relatively small literature providing evidence on school partnerships. Such research could play an important role in the debate around school linking, helping schools and organisations involved to identify quality practice and avoid some of dangers around linking.

The report includes a wealth of findings about the impact of partnerships, including on teachers' and students' skills, knowledge, understanding and enjoyment. The factors and conditions common to six ‘high-momentum' partnerships are identified, and recommendations made for teachers, supporting organisations and policy makers.

One pertinent recommendation points towards the benefit of teachers and students having direct contact with peers and colleagues in partner schools. In this light, DEA welcomes the start of another major research project, led by Dr Fran Martin at Exeter University, into the influence of North-South study visits on teachers' professional development.

Development Journalism

27 November

The Guardian published a fascinating article on development journalism earlier this week. The piece offers an eloquent summary of what good global learning looks like in a media context, as well as some of the challenges associated with reporting accurately on development issues.

The article covers many of the distinguishing features of good global learning, including recognising that there are no easy answers or simple stories, and that it is vital to take a critical approach to prevailing views about the nature of development and the developing world:

Ford considers that development journalism means getting behind the cliches of starving children and getting people to tell their own stories: "We are looking at big policies affecting developing countries and looking at how this relates on the ground to those who expect to be benefiting."

"A good journalist must not only describe, but delve, debunk and decode. International development is complex, slow, non-prescriptive and uncertain. It requires the reporter to appreciate and explore the interplay of diverse realms such as health, education, environment, governance, local and national economics, and culture,"

The piece suggests, however, that all too often foreign reporting does not live up to that ideal:

What foreign reporting has often meant is disaster journalism - people being "parachuted in", reporting, leaving, and possibly returning to do a follow-up piece...It has meant a quick search for the most tragic story, the most dramatic images, shown without context, scant explanation of why the disaster happened, and with no background information on how that country or community became so troubled in the first place.

Part of the purpose of DEA's work is to help educate the public to recognise and demand a more nuanced approach to development issues in the media. This helps to ensure that there is demand for high quality development journalism, and therefore that journalists have the resources and space to take the more nuanced approach advocated by the Guardian. At a time when public support for development is being squeezed by the recession, this is more vital than ever.

NFER citizenship research published

20 November

As many of you may know the National Foundation for Educational Research is seven years into a nine year evaluation of citizenship education (CE) in England, carried out on behalf of DCSF. The Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS) began in 2001 and is tracking a cohort of young people from age 11 to 18, who entered secondary school in September 2002 and became the first students to have a statutory entitlement to CE. In late October Embedding Citizenship Education in Secondary Schools was released, the seventh annual report of the study.

The research suggests that, overall, CE has become increasingly embedded and established in secondary schools in England. It is more visible in school structures and processes and school leaders and teachers are more aware of and supportive of its impact and wider benefits for schools, students and local communities. However, closer examination at individual school level reveals that the situation is more uneven, bumpy and fractured.

Of particular relevance to global learning are findings that:

Schools are increasingly choosing to deliver CE through discrete time slots.
Active teaching and learning methods are perceived to be the best suited for delivery of CE and students report that CE lessons tend to involve more active participation than lessons in other subjects. However, teaching is still predominantly delivered through less active teaching and learning methods across all subjects, including CE.
School policies and structures for facilitating student participation within and beyond school have become stronger since 2002.Teachers have become more positive about the extent to which students have a voice in their school. Students are moderately positive about classroom climate and the democratic processes in place. Challenges remain in providing opportunities for students to engage in real decision-making processes in schools.
Some schools struggle to cover CE topics: reasons include difficultly in engaging some students with some topics (government, politics and voting, diversity, identity and global issues are all mentioned in this context).

DCSF plans to reform the primary curriculum

19 November

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has confirmed plans to undertake a major reform of the primary curriculum, based on Sir Jim Rose's recommendations earlier this year. DEA welcomes the new curriculum plans, particularly the promise of more flexibility for teachers and the opportunities for greater linking between subjects, which can enable global learning. However we believe for the curriculum to be truly fit for the 21^st century there needs to be a stronger emphasis on sustainability and global perspectives throughout.

The curriculum announcement includes compulsory teaching of evolution in schools and the introduction of sex education and media outlets have focused on these (Times, Guardian). Beyond this, however, the plans entail a major shake-up of the way in which primary schools approach subjects, with six ‘areas of learning' replacing 13 individual subjects from September 2011. More flexibility for schools and teachers has also been promised, and is much needed.

However, we believe that DCSF has missed an opportunity to develop a curriculum that would allow primary age children to think critically about the major global challenges of the 21^st century: global poverty, climate change and sustainability, and community cohesion.

Global learning can help schools with their statutory duty to promote community cohesion and so counteract extreme political voices at a time when they are growing louder.

Primary age children are clamouring to learn about what we can do to counteract climate change and make progress towards sustainability; incorporating this into the curriculum would help to turn fear into agency for change as has been shown by the Cambridge Primary Review.

And for a generation that will grow up in a truly interdependent global economy, learning about international development and poverty is an essential prerequisite to developing global citizens who are engaged in promoting a more just world.

We will be working with DCSF and statutory education agencies in the coming months to continue to make these arguments and to support teachers to make the most of the promised curriculum flexibility to embed global learning.

Critical thinking about our identities

13 November

It's been a busy week in the office. Aside from promoting DEA's Global Learning Charter, which has been getting a great reception from schools, charities, education bodies and businesses, Sarah and I have been drafting a policy briefing on young people, identity and culture for NCVYS' Exchange magazine.

It's a fascinating topic. We are drawing on social psychological research from the Sustainable Development Commission and others which suggests that the more that people's identities are based on financial success, image and popularity, the lower their well-being and the less environmentally sustainable their behaviour.

Part of DEA's core purpose is to foster critical and creative thinking for a just and sustainable world. The SDC's research highlights that an important component of this critical thinking is a debate about whether too much of our identities today are bound up with what we buy rather than what we do and, if this is the case, what we can do about it.

Sarah and I suggest in the briefing that the Global Youth Action project co-ordinated by DEA is one way to respond to the research findings. By giving young people an opportunity to frame their identities in terms of pro-social or pro-environmental action on global issues, global youth work can counteract consumption-based identities and in turn improve participants' well-being and stimulate further action for sustainability, potentially creating a virtuous circle.

If you're interested in reading more about this, the Identity Campaigning blog set up by Tom Crompton at WWF has some fascinating insights on this topic. Tim Kasser, the author of the SDC report cited above, also has an excellent book entitled ‘The High Price of Materialism'. Both are well worth reading.

Max

DEA Global Learning Charter

11 November

DEA's has developed a Global Learning Charter to highlight the vital need for global learning across the whole of society in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

We are using the Charter to build a coalition of support behind the belief that learning can help tackle some of the big issues that we collectively face such as climate change, intolerance and poverty.

We've just started promoting the Charter and have had an excellent response so far, with the Eden Project, Oxfam, the Royal Geographical Society and the new economics foundation amongst the signatories.

To find out more, to read the Charter and to sign up your organisation, click here.

Global Learning: The role of local authorities

3 November

A number of articles or reports have been published recently that have got us at DEA thinking about how best local authorities can be supported to promote global learning, particularly learning about climate change.

The first is a news piece on the Local Government Information Unit website, in which LGiU sustainability policy analyst Gemma Bradshaw notes that "local government's response to climate change is hampered by a lack of information and financial support on practical actions and changing public perception."

The second is a survey by the Local Government Chronicle and the Carbon Trust. The survey highlights that most (though not all) local authority councillors and senior management recognise the vital role that local government plays in our response to climate change, but that "there's a need to build momentum in the sector", and that responding to climate change needs to become one of the leadership tasks for a local authority.

The third is a press release from Friends of the Earth announcing a coalition campaigning to put climate change at the heart of the planning system. One of the coalition's proposals is to set up an education programme on climate change for councillors and planners.

What does this mean for DEA? In the past, we and our members have focused on building relationships with Councils in order to encourage them to promote global learning in schools. But these reports make clear that there is also growing demand for global learning within local authorities themselves.

The Government responds to Aid under Pressure

26 October

Earlier this year, the International Development Select Committee in Parliament published Aid under Pressure, a set of recommendations to the Department for International Development (DFID) to ensure that public support for development remains high during the economic downturn. Today DFID responded to the recommendations, and part of the response relates to global learning.

The International Development Select Committee recommended that DFID investigate the possibility of extending its work with young people beyond schools into youth work, and higher and further education. DFID responded to say that it will look again at its work with young people once the Building Support for Development (BSD) consultation has been completed.

This recommendation is in line with DEA's response to the BSD consultation - we look forward to hearing how DFID responds in the next weeks and months.

Reflections on the Cambridge Primary Review

23 October

As many of you will know, the Cambridge Primary Review was launched last week. Despite the widespread media coverage, it's worth reading the report itself, or at least the summary booklet to get the full picture. Two aspects of the findings are of particular relevance to global learning, as follows:

The report "celebrates the research evidence on just how much young children know, understand and can do, and argues for an education which heeds their voices and empowers them for life as both learners and citizens." While launching the report, its chief author Robin Alexander specifically emphasised the role of global issues in empowering children, noting that "fear turns to hope when education helps [children] to address global challenges."

The report also argues strongly that the ‘basics' of the curriculum need to reflect 21^st century realities, and rejects the idea that high standards in literacy, numeracy and oracy are incompatible with a broad curriculum.

Just as interesting as the content of the report is the question of how its proposals might be implemented. Reflecting on this question raises two thoughts:

In the face of remarkably quick rejection of the findings by Government, a common plea amongst educationalists has been to challenge the soundbite culture that simplifies a 600-page report into a newspaper headline or news clip. DEA would argue that this is part of the value of global learning, encouraging citizens to engage critically with the information they read and hear, rather than taking information at face value.
The Review was launched at the RSA, whose Chief Executive, Matthew Taylor, has recently been making a very interesting argument that we need to stop looking to politicians to have all the answers; we as citizens need to ask what we can do to create a better society, not (just) what they (i.e. politicians) can do. In that light, DEA will be reading the Cambridge Primary Review in depth, and thinking about how we can incorporate its findings into our practice, as well as our policy work.

UNESCO Sustainable Development Education report

23 October

The UNESCO Global Report on Education for Sustainable Development marks the half-way point in the decade for Sustainable Development. Looking ahead to the second half of the decade, some of the recommendations people involved with global learning may be interested in are as follows:

A focus on transformative learning (i.e. learning as change) over transmissive learning (i.e. learning as reproduction), requiring permeability between disciplines, schools and the wider community
Support for initiatives that enable teachers to become Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) researchers themselves
Call for teaching methodologies that strengthen capacities in: understanding complexity; seeing connections and interdependencies; participating in democratic decision making processes; questioning dominant and taken-for granted systems and routines that appear fundamentally unsustainable
Schools, curriculum development institutions and educational research organisations should be at the forefront of the search for such methods and relationships
A call for synergies between ESD and other ‘adjectival' educations including global/development/citizenship educations

Additionally, the report found that across participating countries, Education for Sustainable Development is widely on the agenda in non- and informal learning, but little information is available amount how funds are allocated and what the impact is.

New research in support of global learning

21 October

Two interesting new papers relating to global learning have come out.

First, the Economic and Social Research Council have produced a report saying that Britain's children and young people are potential agents of change for the development of more sustainable communities in the UK.

This research supports the global learning movement's policy work on the contribution of education to sustainability. It argues for a ‘whole school' approach to sustainability. It also argues that children need both the right conditions and appropriate support to take on a more significant role as agents of change. These include adopting different approaches to learning in schools - approaches which focus on 'doing' rather than just 'knowing' and which activate children's creativity, critical thinking, problem solving skills and develop competences for action. To read more see: 'Exploring the role of schools in developing sustainable communities', carried out by Dr Barry Percy-Smith from the SOLAR Action Research Centre at the University of the West of England, Bristol.

The second report is from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and is called ‘Engaging public support for eradicating UK poverty'. Whilst focused on UK poverty, it has parallels across to international poverty as well. It shows that public attitudes towards those experiencing poverty are harshly judgemental or view poverty and inequality as inevitable. But when people are better informed about inequality and life on a low income, they are more supportive of measures to reduce poverty and inequality.

The Bigger Picture

23 September

DEA is working with the New Economics Foundation and a wide range of other organisations to put together a series of events in response to the present economic, social and environmental challenges we are facing. Titled ‘The Bigger Picture' we'll be hosting discussions, actions and exhibitions, ending with a major Festival of Interdependence in London on October 24th 2009. The festival will bring together artists, thinkers, activists for a day of learning, making, celebrating and debating, about how we can move towards a more just and sustainable world.

Speakers include the psychologist Oliver James, Richard Wilkinson who has done excellent work on inequality, Professor Tim Lang - expert on food policy, Andrew Simms from the New Economics Foundation and Claire Melamed from ActionAid. I'll be speaking on how learning and education must play a role in moving us towards a more just and sustainable world.

If you want to come along, register on the website - http://thebiggerpicture2009.org/ - I hope to see you there.

Hetan

The importance of critical thinking

20 July

A recent report has argued that an enterprise education programme in Scotland is more focused on producing the next generation of employees for big businesses than people who can question different kinds of business models. This is particularly important given the recent financial crisis.

It shows that educational programmes have to be embedded in a framework of critical thinking, and the same applies to global learning. Promoting thinking about global issues can sometimes be restricted to thinking about what the individual can do, but critical thinking requires a broader understanding - asking what is the role of government, business and civil society as well as the individual. It's important that NGOs that work with schools and educators ensure that critical thinking underlies their work, to ensure that they are not subjected to a similar charge - that they are just trying to sell their latest campaign to young people.

A new vision for DEA

16 July

DEA has been looking at ways to communicate our vision. Trustees decided last week that our new vision should be ‘for all citizens to understand the global challenges we face and develop the capabilities to create a more just and sustainable world.’ I think this is a good step forward in communicating what DEA is seeking to achieve.

A Museum of Migration

15 July

Immigration has shaped the nation over the last 2000 years - from the Celts and Romans to more recently Polish plumbers and Russian billionaires. Emigration has also been crucial - for example shaping the history of the United States or Australia. The Institute of Public Policy Research has just released an important report calling for a Museum of Migration. They argue that migration needs to be represented in the museums and heritage sector. They propose that this could be both through the establishment of a new museum, and also through the reinterpretation of existing collections which are relevant. From DEA's perspective this is an important initiative to help bring alive the patterns of both immigration and emigration that have characterised Britain's history and made us the nation we are today.

New reports

15 July

Two interesting new papers which relate to global learning.

First is a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation called ‘Building public support for eradicating poverty in the UK'. Whilst focused on UK poverty, it has parallels across to international poverty as well. It argues that few initiatives set out to build support to eradicate poverty, and what activity there is tends to be more effective in changing perceptions and behaviour than underlying attitudes.

WWF has produced an interesting paper called ‘Meeting environmental challenges: the role of human identity'. It is primarily aimed at NGOs, and makes the argument that the environmental movement has tried to change organisations and change behaviours, but that this needs to be supplemented by engaging with our identities. It makes some interesting arguments about how NGOs can engage with human identity in order to promote sustainable development. In particular it says that NGOs should not inadvertently enhance materialistic values through their campaigns, and that they should help people develop less materialistic goals. These papers add interesting thinking to the debate about how we can promote global learning.

Impossible and Necessary

10 July

Michael Barber (who used to head up Tony Blair's delivery unit and before that was an education advisor) has recently published a pamphlet for NESTA called ‘Impossible and Necessary'.

It is a good exposition of the challenges that we collectively face, and makes the argument that education is crucial in meeting these challenges. It makes a good case that leadership and ethics must be at the heart of any educational response, although it doesn't say that much about how we might get there. Perhaps its main significance is in who has written it, giving the argument further credibility to those who are sceptical.

DFID White Paper commits to global education

8 July

On Monday DFID launched its new White Paper ‘ Building our common future'. In it they restate their commitment to education in the UK:

"...we are committed to building support for global development issues in the UK. Young people in particular need to be encouraged to think about development issues for themselves and come to their own conclusions. The government will continue to focus on promoting learning about development through the UK education system, seeking to deepen our collaboration with the education departments and institutions that influence schools and teachers in the UK."

This is welcome. In particular it is positive that DFID focuses upon longer term education (people coming to their own conclusions) rather than communicating about any particular government initiative. DEA also welcomes DFID's commitment to work more closely with education departments and institutions - something we have long been pushing for.

It is important, however, that education about the big global issues of the day is not restricted to schools. Young people learn outside of the school system and supporting this non formal activity is crucial. DEA has produced a briefing about how this could be done. More generally, it is important not to restrict global learning to young people - there needs to be engagement with adults, through a range of mechanisms including NGOs, trade unions, faith groups, further, higher and community education. There are references in other parts of the White Paper to working with some of these groups - we will continue to push for education to play an important role in this work.

Could a leaner curriculum offer room for global learning

2 July 2009

I went to see Michael Gove, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Children, Schools and Families, speak at the RSA this week on the topic 'What is Education For?' He argued that schools have lost their primary purpose in promoting learning and have been saddled with other agendas from healthy eating to community cohesion.

He argued that the purpose of education is to pass on the canon of knowledge and thinking that society has built up over time, and that the best way to do this is through traditional subjects. He argued against the 'tyranny of relevance' and against the move to thematic learning and curricula for skills. But the dichotomy between knowledge and skills is a false one. Michael Gove is right to focus on learning and education. But this approach is not undermined by asking how can we ensure that learners are prepared for today's changing world.

Michael Gove said that despite his own views about what made for a good education, a Conservative government would bring in a much more slimmed down curriculum and open up the market place in schools to a variety of providers. Whilst there are potentially all sorts of problems about this, especially around social cohesion, it might also create interesting innovative spaces for schools to promote global learning and greater education for sustainable development.

White paper offers room to explore the global issues in schools

30 June 2009

Surprise news from the Government in today's White Paper that they are dropping the National Strategies for literacy and numeracy (or ‘lunacy' as one school child incorrectly conflated them). This is something that DEA been calling for as such a centralised approach restricts teacher creativity and inhibits global learning. Hopefully this reform will give schools a bit more room to be creative and explore new ways to teach about the wider world.

DEA calls for more support to build UK development engagement

16 June 2009

We have been continuing to push for the agenda to build engagement for and learning about development in the forthcoming DFID White Paper. As well as our own response we are delighted that two bodies that we have worked with have taken this on board in their own submissions.

DEA gave evidence to the International Development Select Committee's and their new report reiterates the importance of global learning, see:
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmintdev/179/179i.pdf.

BOND (the umbrella body for development organisations) has also added a section about building support for development in their submission to the White Paper review, see:
www.bond.org.uk/data/files/bond_submission_for_2009_dfid_white_paper_27_05_2009.pdf.

Both reports note the importance of building on the schools work that DFID have done and now taking the agenda out to other audiences.

Young people call for global learning

Recent research by Ipsos MORI and the Geographical Association shows that nearly two thirds of young people (63%) think that not enough time is spent in school learning about the wider world.

These support findings from DEA's Ipsos MORI research into young people's experiences of, and teachers' attitudes to, global learning. All political parties are presently thinking about how to change the school curriculum, and it’s crucial that they grapple with the fact that young people themselves are saying that school isn’t giving them enough opportunity to make connections to the wider world. We need to support young people to make these connections in order to help create a more just and sustainable world, and also to help young people succeed in a globalised economy.

Hetan Shah
Chief Executive

Welcome blog from Hetan Shah

13 May 2009

Welcome to the new DEA website. It's an exciting time at DEA at the moment. We've just launched our new Global Dimension Wallplanner and subject leaflets to help schools plan their global learning. The curriculum in England is becoming increasingly flexible and we hope these materials will encourage teachers to use that flexibility to explore global connections in the classroom, and to think about key issues such as climate change or poverty.

We've also been developing our youth work programme. Our Global Youth Action project, run with our five regional partners, has worked directly with 2,000 young people in the last three years. It has helped young people to connect local and global issues, challenge their own thinking and find ways to create change. We'll soon be launching a report sharing the lessons from our work.

We've been doing a lot of policy work recently as well. Our 9 month policy review process of the English education system led to a new set of policy recommendations which we launched in Westminster a few weeks ago. We've also been inputting to the review of the Primary Curriculum and also helping the Department for International Development review its Building Support for Development strategy.

I hope you enjoy the new DEA website, and do send us any comments you have.

Hetan

Hetan Shah
Chief Executive
DEA - Promoting education for a just and sustainable world

Community cohesion in action

At Breeze Hill School, Oldham, staff have been looking to develop the global dimension in the curriculum. Several staff have been on study trips to Pakistan, particularly to Mirpur, the area where many pupils' families are based, and have formed linked with schools there. Geography, art, drama, ICT and English have used these links as a basis for creating cross-curricular modules of work.
Recognising shared heritage is integral to science and history schemes of work for years 7, 8 and 9 at Burnage Arts and Media College, Manchester. The idea is to show that civilisation and knowledge, particularly scientific and technological developments, are not the possession of any one group of people but have acted as a bridge between communities and countries throughout human history.
Helmshore Primary School, Lancashire has been part of a project called SLIDE, run by Lancashire Global Education Centre. The project's aim was to appreciate, value and explore the differences and similarities between people and places through school linking.

To read more about community cohesion and the National Curriculum visit the relevant primary and secondary sections of the QCDA website.

DEA welcomes a curriculum that has been specifically developed to build in the flexibility teachers need to support children to explore the world around them and prepare for the challenges of the 21^st Century, such as living in an interdependent, globalised world and moving towards environmental sustainability. The curriculum is built around the central aims of supporting young people to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens, with learning organised into six areas of learning.

We have received positive feedback from members and charter signatories around the country about the opportunities the curriculum may provide for global learning - the quotes below give a flavour:

A real opportunity to integrate a global dimension through more holistic and less subject specific learning. Schools Team, CAFOD.