Cornwall College

Cornwall College offers a variety of teacher training courses, which focus on the needs of further education and adult learners. With support from Cornwall Association of Development Education (CADE), this pilot project was located in the college's School of Education and Training where it was expected to have a high impact within the college and throughout the community.

A three-stage strategy was adopted:

  • Conduct two one-day seminars with the DEA's project funding to develop the expertise of teachers in the post-16 sector to disseminate global educational values throughout the college and the community.
  • Gather and disseminate the learning outcomes within the college and the wider community to enable greater participation in the agenda of development education.
  • Capitalise on the current reforms of teacher education in the post-compulsory sector to embed global perspectives in teacher education and training curriculum which in turn will provide the basis for continuing professional  development throughout the college.

The seminar took the form of an action learning workshop targeted at trainee teachers undergoing their Post-Graduate Certificate in Education – Post-compulsory Education PGCE(PCE). Thirty key staff (including trainee teachers, Advisory Teachers and a Teacher of the Deaf) were invited to take part in the first seminar to investigate methods of introducing global perspectives into the existing curriculum through the use of four questions:

  • What is development education?
  • What do global perspectives mean for me as a teacher?
  • How can I incorporate development education into my teaching?
  • How might we develop global perspectives across the curriculum?

Discussion, debate and small group work provided the basis for the participants to explore their understanding of development education and suggest practical ways in which they could facilitate the global dimension into the curriculum.

Through the initial stage, the project has:

  • Enabled the college community to deepen their understanding of the contribution that development education can make towards the realisation of the educational objectives of the college.
  • Provided an opportunity for the college to develop relationships with new partners such as the DEA and CADE.

The responsible college managers are very conscious that they are in the initial stages of the development of an ambitious project, but are encouraged by the positive beginning that has been made.


Future plans:


  • Establish links between the teacher training and education programme with 'natural supporters' of the agenda within the college such as Access Course Organisers and others.
  • Disseminate the learning outcomes of stage one through verbal and written reports to College Managers, an article in 'Teach Magazine' and postings on the college website.
  • Extend internal support in the college to incorporate global perspectives in the curriculum.
  • Prepare and deliver INSET for post-compulsory teachers in the region to explore and promote global learning and development education within the college and throughout the community.

More examples of practice:


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