Friday, July 04, 2008
English school children ask for more global learning at school
A new survey conducted by Ipsos Mori for DEA reveal children and young people in the UK have an interest in global issues but the education system doesn't always provide for this.
We often report on opportunities for schools to link up with schools in other countries and other communities in our newsletter. All schools are expected to have an established link with another country within the next three years. But how well this is done and how it fits into the teaching and curriculum within the school is crucial to the impact it has on the understanding and knowledge of children and young people. The partnerships when used appropriately and effectively are the beginning of an educationaljourney. Schools need to avoid the temptation to consider the global education box ticked because an international link or partner school has been established.
The survey of 11-16 year olds in England reveals a tendency for schools to consider global education a priority. The survey of 2,000 (approx) secondary school pupils was conducted by Ipsos Mori for the educational charity, DEA. DEA work in schools and with educators to promote effective global understanding through a network of regional organisations as well as national events and online debates.
The survey asked the respondents how often they talked about world events and issues at school? The results revealed that 1/5 had never discussed news and issues from around the world in any class at school. But when the same cohort were asked should schools educate pupils about global issues, 78% said yes.
How can schools make their global education more effective and meaningful forlearners. DEA have published a book of case-studies of the best practice as a starting point for those who read the survey findings and want to improve the quality of provision in their classroom or school. Global Matters is available to download from the DEA website.
DEA have also set up a discussion on their web-site around the key questions of how to equip children and young people for their lives in a globalised world.
Developing global literacy requires the same 'deep' learning required in the rest of the curriculum. The international links and projects need to be the starting point of a journey of learning about and through interaction with others from around the world. The interest from the children and young people is there, we need to make sure the opportunities are also readily there for them to take. The debate opened up by the DEA survey and discussion seems a good place to share visions and practical ideas.
Click here for DEA survey findings and discussion document on global learning.
Download Global Matters Case Studies here