The global dimension in action: a curriculum ... - ESD in the UK

The global dimension in actionA curriculum planning guide for schools

ContentsSection 1: Introduction 1The purpose of this guide 1What is the global dimension? 2How does the global dimension fit into the curriculum? 2What can the global dimension do for us? 3What do learners think about the global dimension? 4What does Ofsted say about the global dimension? 5Section 2: Practical activities 6What are you trying to achieve? 7How will you organise learning? 8How well are you achieving your aims? 10Section 3: Case studies 12Hamsey Green Junior School 14Ingleby Mill Primary School 16Shaw Wood Primary School 18Wyche Primary School 20Deptford Green School 22Langdon School 24Leigh City Technology College 26Chopwell Primary School 28Deedmore School 30Hagley Primary School 32Kigulya Primary School 34Hove Park School 36Hornsey School for Girls 38The Ridings High School 40Section 4: Further support 42QCA wishes to make its publications widely accessible. Please contact us if you have specific accessibility requirements.First published in 2007 © Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 2007ISBN: 1-84721-582-3Reproduction, storage, adaptation or translation, in any form or by any means, of this publication is prohibited without prior written permission of thepublisher, unless within the terms of the Copyright Licensing Agency. Excerpts may be reproduced for the purpose of research, private study, criticism orreview, or by educationa linstitutions solely for educational purposes, without permission, provided full acknowledgement is given. Printed in GreatBritain. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is an exempt charity under Schedule 2 of the Charities Act 1993.

The purpose of this guideThis guide should be used in conjunctionwith the following publications:This guide will help you as teachersreflect on the global dimension inyour curriculum. It provides a cleardefinition of the global dimensionand suggests ways in which thisdimension can be built into yourcurriculum.There are some practical activities tohelp you stimulate a conversationabout the global dimension in yourschool and decide on ways forward.The activities focus on three keyquestions.123What are you tryingto achieve?How will you organiselearning?How well are youachieving your aims?Case studies show how differentschools have answered these threequestions. They also offer examplesof the global dimension in action,and should help you makedecisions about how you wouldlike to develop it in your school.This guide ends with a briefoverview of the organisations andagencies that can support yourglobal dimension work.Developing the global dimension inthe school curriculum shows how theglobal dimension can be integratedinto both the curriculum and the widerlife of schools. It provides a cleardefinition of ‘global dimension’, whichincorporates the concepts of globalcitizenship, conflict resolution, diversity,human rights, interdependence, socialjustice, sustainable development andvalues and perceptions. It puts thecurriculum within a broader, globalcontext, showing how all subjects canincorporate the global dimension.This publication can bedownloaded as a pdf file by usingthe search function atwww.dea.org.uk.Putting the world into world-classeducation provides an internationalstrategy for education, skills andchildren’s services. It identifies threeinterrelated key goals for a worldclasseducation, which can besummarised as: equipping children and adults fora global society and economy working with other nations andregions for their benefit and ours maintaining an education systemthat can further our globaleconomic objectives.This publication can bedownloaded as a pdf file fromwww.globalgateway.org.uk/PDF/International-Strategy.pdf.Used together, these two publications can help schools create a curriculum that isinfluenced by international thinking and action. The global dimension in action: Acurriculum planning guide for schools illustrates how schools have used theseother two publications to plan the global dimension in their curriculum andevaluate the impact of the work on their learners.1

What is the global dimension?The global dimension explores what connects us to the rest of the world. It enableslearners to engage with complex global issues and explore the links between their ownlives and people, places and issues throughout the world. The global dimension canrelate to both developing and developed countries, including countries in Europe.It helps learners to imagine different futures and the role they can play in creating a fairand sustainable world.Global communications bring up-tothe-minutenews, sport and cultureinto learners’ lives and enable themto experience the impact of eventshappening thousands of miles away.Education for the global dimensionencourages learners to evaluateinformation and events from a rangeof perspectives, to think criticallyabout challenges facing the globalcommunity such as migration, identityand diversity, equality of opportunityand sustainability, and to exploresome of the solutions to these issues.Learning about the global dimensionoffers opportunities for schools toaddress their duty to promotecommunity cohesion.The global dimension addressessocial, political, environmental andeconomic issues that are of directconcern to young people.Considering how they can affectthese issues helps them understandthat both action and inaction haveconsequences. This can helpdevelop positive attitudes to thewider world and its challenges, andequip young people to makeinformed judgements and act withintegrity.How does the global dimensionfit into the curriculum?A 21st-century curriculum needs toprepare learners to live and work inthis fast-moving, interdependent,global society. It should enable allyoung people to become successfullearners, confident individuals andresponsible citizens, and shouldcontribute to the achievement ofthe five outcomes for childrenidentified in Every Child Matters.Each school should have a uniquecurriculum that meets the needs,interests and aspirations of itsparticular learners.All subjects provide rich opportunitiesfor global learning, and the casestudies in this guide highlight currentinnovations in subjects such as history,modern foreign languages and ICT.However, subjects by themselvescannot provide the complete range ofexperiences and practicalopportunities learners need. This iswhere the cross-curriculum dimensionshave a contribution to make.Cross-curriculum dimensions reflectthe major ideas and challenges thatface society and have significance forindividuals. They are non-statutory,but they can provide the unifyingthemes that give education relevanceand authenticity, and help youngpeople make sense of the world.The cross-curriculumdimensions include: identity and cultural diversity healthy lifestyles community participation enterprise global dimension andsustainable development technology and the media creativity and critical thinking.These dimensions provideopportunities to integrate learningacross subjects, events andactivities. They can make learningtopical and engaging and provideopportunities for in-depthunderstanding.2

What do learners think aboutthe global dimension?These perspectives were captured through interviews with learners in primary andsecondary schools. They indicate the high levels of enthusiasm, motivation andcommitment learners often feel for work relating to the global dimension.The world is changing all thetime. I want to look forward,to keep trying new thingsand see how to make theworld a better place.Even though I’m youngI want adults to take myviews seriously. If theydon’t believe I can makea difference, how can I?I want to think about thefuture and how I canhelp make the world abetter place.I want to feel involved inprojects and to find out aboutissues myself. I don’t alwayswant teachers to tell me whatto do or how to do it.I know the world’s problemsare huge. I want to speakwith real people who areliving through these problemsso I can relate to what’s reallygoing on and what it meansfor people in other places.I want to learnabout real thingsthat are happening inthe world.The problems in theworld seem massive andscary. I want to makesense of them and whythey are happening.4

What does Ofsted sayabout the global dimension?The following extracts are taken from the latest Ofstedreports for some of the schools that have provided casestudies later on in this guide. They show the impactdeveloping global learning opportunities has had on thelearners in these schools.Ingleby Mill Primary School, May 2004: Pupils’ writing is givena very high profile throughout the school, featuring in mostdisplays. Real purposes are often found for writing… the lettersyear 6 wrote to the chancellor, as part of a global campaign foreducation for all, showed a sophisticated use of language.Shaw Wood Primary School, October 2006: First classinternational links with European schools provide pupils withexcellent opportunities to broaden their experiences. Theteaching of Spanish and Japanese to all pupils adds even greaterdepth to this outstanding curriculum.Wyche Primary School, March 2007: Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and culturaldevelopment is outstanding… Themed days, for example, the 'Food and Fair TradeDay', occur regularly and engage the pupils’ interests to give them a greaterunderstanding of national differences and how the way we live impacts onother cultures.Langdon School, May 2006: The opportunities offered to students are exceptional.Inspectors spoke to students who had represented the London Olympic bid inSingapore, who had travelled to Edinburgh and addressed 250,000 people at theMake Poverty History rally on behalf of the global campaign for education, andstudents who had accompanied the chancellor of the exchequer to Mozambique.Hagley Primary School, May 2007: Parents praised the strong links the schoolmaintains with schools in The Gambia and China. These pervade the school's day-todaylife, and give pupils a real insight into life in other countries through theircorrespondence and the books they make about the differences in the life of childrenhere and abroad… Links with The Gambia include reciprocal visits by staff here andfrom the partner school. These give pupils an exceptionally good understanding oflife in other parts of the world.The Ridings High School, November 2006: The international flavour of the school isdemonstrated by the high proportion of pupils who study a modern foreign languageto GCSE level… The international links are appreciated by the pupils, as are the verygood facilities for information and communication technology. These came togetherwhen the school represented Europe in a United Nations video link with schoolsaround the world.5

Shaping the global dimensionin your curriculumEvery school will find its own way to build the global dimensioninto the curriculum. But it can be daunting trying to find out whereto start or how to get the conversation going with colleagues.This section includes activities that other schools have founduseful in helping them to build the global dimension into theircurriculum. There is one activity for each of the three keyquestions that need to be considered during any curriculumdevelopment work.123What are you trying to achieve?How will you organise learning?How well are you achieving your aims?Activity 1 will help you to explore what difference you can make toyour learners through the global dimension. This is an importantstarting point as it will drive the decisions you make about how toorganise global learning (Activity 2) and enable you to evaluatethe impact of changes on your learners (Activity 3).The case study section of this guide will give you examples of howother schools have answered these three questions and may alsobe useful resources for stimulating discussion in your school. Anoverview of the case study schools is provided on page 13.6

What are you trying to achieve?Activity 1: Visualising your global learnersCreate a picture to help you visualise the skills and attributesyou would like to see in global learners.Activity instructionsReflect on your activityWork in groups of three or four and draw a picture of one of your learners inthe middle of a large sheet of paper. Around the outside of the picture, writedown examples of the knowledge, skills and attributes you want your learner tohave once the global dimension of your curriculum is working effectively.Display the pictures around the room and discuss whether there is a sharedunderstanding of a global learner. Work together to create one picture; a picturethat reflects all the desirable characteristics of a global learner in your school.Look at the picture below to see what the learners in the case study schools said.What do you want global learners toknow? What do you want them to beable to do?What do the words in your picturesuggest about global learners? Arethey positive?Do the words relate to skills,knowledge and understanding, or toattitudes and attributes?Do the characteristics of a globallearner vary at different key stages?Circle each skill or attribute in adifferent colour depending onwhether it is a strength currently seenin: most learners (green); somelearners (amber); or few learners (red)in your school. From this, can youagree your priorities fordevelopment?7

How will you organise learning?Activity 2: Planning compelling learning experiencesDesign a learning experience that will help your learners todevelop the skills and attributes they need as global learners.Activity instructionsLook at the picture of the global learner that you developed in Activity 1.If you want your learners to develop the same skills and attributes youvisualised, what kind of learning experiences will they need to have?In small groups, share ideas about the kinds of compelling learningexperiences that would benefit your learners. Learners need to try newthings and meet new challenges to help them understand the globaldimension. Here are some suggestions:PlaceGarden at your schooland partner school,indoor area for indoorplants, classroom performance – through drama, choirs, orchestras, public speakingand sports taking responsibility – undertaking leadership and support roles inevents and activities such as sustainable approaches to managing theschool site, peer mediation and 'buddy' programmes collaborating and participating in events – such as mini-enterpriseactivities, environmental or history projects, clubs and visits, communityaction, student council, students as researchers and school newspaperResourcesTools, display materials,ICT, seeds and plantsfrom other countries,preferably exchangedwith a partnerschool encountering challenging and unfamiliar contexts – such as residentialand community-based work, work-related learning and working withprofessionals and experts working in partnership with schools and learners around the world.If you need inspiration, look at the case studies in this guide or contact anyof the organisations listed on pages 42–45. The key to success for many ofthe case study schools was to make the global dimension learningexperiences an integral part of their curriculum.The following example shows how one school helped their learners tounderstand differences, similarities and connections with places far away, bycreating a school garden with a partner school. You could use a mind mapapproach to plan a learning experience to suit the needs of your learners.Curriculum linksGeography, science, designand technology, citizenship,PSHE, art and design,English, history, ICTand RE8

The same compelling learning experience takes place in England and Japan.See case study 8 for further information.PeopleLearners, teachers,non-teaching staff,parents, partner-schoolpeers, supportingorganisationsand businessesTimeHalf-term focus in lessonsplus six Monday afternoonsChoose one learning experience andthink about: What resources would berequired – time, staff, equipment,space and learning materials?Qualityand standardsChecks against ouroutcomes for global learners(Activity1), feedback frompeers, self-assessment What teaching and learningstrategies will you use? Wouldthis learning experience be mosteffective if it was organised for agroup of children, one class, awhole year group or for thewhole school? Which subjects and themes(dimensions) will be covered? What quality measures will youneed to evaluate the experience?Compelling learning experience:Creating a school gardenwith a partner schoolTeaching andlearningapproachesInstruction, enquiry,investigation, activeexperience, independentresearch, observationOtherdimensionsIdentity and cultural diversity,healthy lifestyles, sustainabledevelopment How might you build onthis learning experience tofurther develop the knowledgeand understanding, skills,attitudes and attributes of yourglobal learners?9

How well are you achieving your aims?Activity 3: Has the learning experience made a difference to learners?Explore different ways to evaluate your compelling learning experience tosee if it has it made a difference to your learners.Activity instructionsDesign an evaluation tool to measure learners’ skills and attributes before and after theirinvolvement in the learning experience. Work in small groups and be creative! Think aboutusing video, vox-pop interviews, surveys, diaries, creative writing, pictures or modellingwork to demonstrate what your learners gained from the experience. Don’t forget to planin time to analyse the information you collect.Here are some examples of evaluation tools.Global learning skills chartLow score 1 2 3 4 5 6 High scoreLost confidenceGained confidenceWorked on my own with difficultyFound working on my own easyFound working with a group difficultFound contributing to discussionsdifficultExpressed my own opinionwith difficultyFound listening to other people’sopinions difficultFound challenging opinions difficultDid not negotiate wellWorked easily as part of a groupContributed easily to discussionsExpressed my own opinion easilyListened to other people’s opinionseasilyChallenged my own/other people’sopinions easilyNegotiated wellDid not make decisionsMade decisionsDid not reflect on ideasReflected on ideasDid not make a differenceMade a differenceSource: Get global! A skills-based approach to active global citizenship, published by ActionAid, 200310

Collecting people's viewsGroups you want to collect views from:(for example learners, parents, governors, Ofsted)Reflect on your activityDoes your evaluation tool: involve learners, colleagues, andmembers of the widercommunity?What informationdo you wantfrom them?How are yougoing to collectthis information?When are yougoing to collectthis information?How often?How are yougoing to analyseit to extract keymessages? have a built-in mechanism forassessing ongoing progress? have the flexibility to build on theunexpected?How often will you use it?At what points would it be good toanalyse the information?How could the learners be involved inhelping with the analysis?Who are you going to share theinformation with and how?11

CasestudiesSeeing the global dimension in actionThese case studies show the practical approaches different schools havetaken to planning and integrating the global dimension into theircurriculum. Whether yours is a primary, secondary or special school, thesestories will offer inspiration and some practical tips for developing theglobal dimension in your curriculum.Each case study illustrates the school’s answers to the threekey curriculum questions:123What are you trying to achieve?How will you organise learning?How well are you achieving your aims?Many of the schools featured sharecommon aims. All are keen for theirlearners to make sense of complexglobal issues, to explore theinterconnections between the localand the global, to share experienceswith people from diverse cultures andto enable learners to participate inschool and beyond as active andresponsible global citizens.Schools have organised globallearning in a range of ways. Somedevelop joint curriculum partnershipswith schools in other countries, othersorganise separately timetabled globalactivity weeks, some revise theirschemes of work to include a globaldimension across subjects or topics.Despite these diverse approaches,schools report remarkable similaritiesin their achievements.Many schools report increased pupilability to challenge their ownperceptions about controversial issuesand to explore diverse viewpoints.Others describe the work as having apositive impact on learners’ outlooksand confidence. In particular, learnerswho are given the chance to speakout about important issues at school,at local and national level, develop abelief that they have a positive andimportant role to play in the widerworld. Schools involved in long-termpartnerships report increased ability inlearners to communicate with peoplefrom a range of cultures, to considerissues from other people’sperspectives and to question theirown beliefs. Others have found thatthe direct and personal nature ofschool partnerships helps pupils tobegin to see the world as one place,not separate parts, and to developconfidence in themselves asglobal citizens.These achievements do not comewithout challenges – as teachers inthese schools have discovered. Someteachers find that pupils respond todiscussions around global issues bygiving answers that they think are‘right’, for example ‘we should all buyfair trade goods’. Pupils may feeloverwhelmed by the sheer scale ofissues being discussed, which canlead to a feeling of helplessness. Animmediate response by learners toglobal problems may be to fundraiseto help others. While fundraising canplay an important role in developinglearners’ life skills, it can also promotea simplified analysis of the need tothrow money at problems, and lead to‘us and them’ attitudes. Good globallearning involves pupils thinkingcritically about issues from a variety ofperspectives, discussing a range ofsolutions and building awareness ofpositive change, how it occurs andhow individuals can contribute.12

Hove Park School receives DCSF International School AwardHamsey Green Junior School, SurreyMake changes in your school’s dailylife and tackle some of the world’sbiggest problems.ActionAid, British CouncilDCSF Teachers’ InternationalProfessional DevelopmentIngleby Mill Primary School,Stockton-on-TeesChallenge perceptions of othercultures through school linking.Oxfam, Link CommunityDevelopment (LCD)Foreign Language AssistantsShaw Wood Primary School,DoncasterImmerse learners in other languagesand enrich their knowledge of newcultures.Pygmalion, British CouncilComenius, Foreign LanguageAssistantsDCSF International School AwardWyche Primary School, CheshireDevelop learners’ voices and theirdesire to tackle wider-world problems.Cheshire Development EducationCentre, OxfamDeptford Green School, LewishamBuild global citizenship skills throughmaximising pupil participation.British CouncilComenius, DFID Global SchoolPartnerships, Foreign LanguageAssistants, InternationalPlacements for HeadteachersFind out about funding opportunitiesat www.globalgateway.org/fundingLangdon School, NewhamEmpower young people to becomeagents for positive change.ActionAid, British Council, GlobalCampaign for EducationDreams + Teams, ForeignLanguage AssistantsLeigh City Technology College, KentUse vertical tutor time to explorechallenging global issues.ActionAid, British CouncilAnglo-French Programme,Foreign Language AssistantsChopwell Primary School,GatesheadConnect with real people and placesthrough information technology.Japan21, British CouncilDCSF International School AwardDeedmore School, CoventryEnable children with learningdifficulties to explore other culturesthrough sensory experiences.Link Community DevelopmentHagley Primary School,WorcestershireChange learners’ attitudes towardsother cultures through a globalpartnership.British Council, University ofWorcesterComenius, DFID Global SchoolPartnershipsKigulya Primary School, UgandaDevelop confident, literate learnersthrough linking with a UK school.Link Community Development,British CouncilDFID Global School PartnershipsHove Park School, Brightonand HoveRelate issues like sustainability andinjustice to real people and placesthrough global partnerships.British Council, The FiankomaProjectDCSF Teachers’ InternationalProfessional Development,Comenius, DCSF eLanguages,Foreign Language AssistantsDCSF International School AwardHornsey School for Girls, HaringeyA one-off Peru Day turned into a fruitfullong-term relationship for staff andstudents at Hornsey School for Girls.British CouncilComenius, DCSF InternationalSchool Award, DCSF Teachers’International ProfessionalDevelopment, Foreign LanguageAssistantsThe Ridings High School, SouthGloucestershireA school develops internationalrelations with the help of expertpartners.British CouncilDCSF Teachers’ InternationalProfessional Development, SchoolLinking Visits, InternationalPlacements for Headteachers,Foreign Language Assistants,Fulbright UK/US Teacher ExchangeDCSF International School AwardKeyPartner organisationsFunding schemeAward13

Linking classroom learningto positive actionWhat did the school want toachieve?Staff at Hamsey Green Junior Schoolwere concerned that children werenot learning enough about big globalissues. Much of the curriculum waslimited to the UK, and althoughevents such as Red Nose Daytouched on global issues, they werenot followed up in lessons. TheDeputy Headteacher, LindaEtheridge, had just returned from anActionAid visit to Chembakolli inIndia and wanted to bring issues likesustainable development and povertyto the children’s attention. In additionto building a more global curriculum,staff also hoped to engage thechildren in participatory activities thatdeveloped their critical thinking andenquiry skills.How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?In 2006 the school heard about theGlobal Action Schools project set upby the charity ActionAid. The projecthelps schools integrate globalissues into the classroom and findways of contributing to a moresustainable world.Linda attended a training sessionabout the project’s learningmethodology, ‘learn, investigate, act’.'Learn' introduces pupils to the issue,for example climate change and itsimpact on global poverty in countrieslike Bangladesh. During ‘investigate’,learners look at their own school, forexample measuring the amount ofenergy it uses. The third step, ‘act’,helps learners think about whatconcerned them most from theirinvestigation, what they would mostlike to change in their school and howthey will go about it.Back at Hamsey, teachers decidedthat the school assembly would bethe most effective way ofimplementing the ‘learn’ aspect –raising awareness of global andsustainability issues like fair trade andclimate change. As Emma Savage,year 4 teacher, explains, ‘Ourapproach can be summed up as“assemblies outwards”. Parents comein on Fridays so the message travelsquickly. We’ve done a massiveamount on human rights, globalwarming, rights and responsibilities toname a few.’In one such assembly, a year 5 classraised awareness about the linksbetween climate change and globalpoverty. After the assembly childreninvestigated energy use across theschool and then developed a schoolposter campaign encouraging peopleto switch off lights.Children collaborated with their peersin Global Action Schools across sevenother countries via online discussionforums. As a result, some classeschose to investigate where theschool’s food comes from. Theyworked with the school cook,investigated suppliers, costs andpricing, and used their research tohelp introduce fair trade products inthe canteen.How well is the school achievingits aims?Teachers report that almost all thechildren have been engaged andmotivated by the wider range ofglobal learning experiences on offer,and are beginning to appreciatethe importance of sustainableresource use – particularly throughsaving energy within the schooland introducing recycling. Manychildren are so inspired that they stayon after the end of the day tocomplete activities.The opportunity to learn in differentways and with new audiences hasdeepened the children’sunderstanding of the wider world.‘They have had to find ways of doingthings that they’ve not done before.When they had a discussion with aThai school, they had to think quicklyand concisely to communicate themain messages,’ says Vicky Philips,who teaches year 6.Children have also developed a widerange of problem-solving and14

CASE STUDY 1Hamsey Green Junior SchoolHamsey Green’s ‘assemblies outwards’ approach introduces global issues during assembly time,using them as a starting point for classroom learning that can be applied to real life.Hamsey Green Junior School whole-school assemblyworkplace skills. They have gainedmarketing, costing, and peoplemanagementexperience, as well asdecision-making skills surroundingissues of pricing fair trade food inthe canteen.The Global Action Schools projecthas also had a positive impact oneveryday school life. ‘We have a moreunited school,’ says Linda. ‘Bothteachers and children know they canmake a difference.’What does the school plan todo next?Hamsey Green is embarking on anextensive evaluation process withActionAid, and lessons from this willbe incorporated into a revisedschool curriculum. Meanwhile,teachers involved in the project aresharing lessons learnt with staffacross the school via trainingsessions, and have been involved increating a global learning portfolio– a shared curriculum resourcecontaining schemes of work suitablefor all year groups. The school isalso applying for the DCSFInternational School Award(Intermediate) to receiveaccreditation for its work.15

Local to globalWhat did the school want toachieve?Ingleby Barwick, in the leafy, suburbanoutskirts of Stockton, is said to beEurope’s largest private housing estate.As acting Deputy Headteacher LizShaller explains, it would be easy for aschool in such an environment tobecome cut off from the wider world.‘The nature of the area that we live incould encourage an insular world view,’she says. ‘With few ethnic minorityfamilies here, we aim to broaden pupils’horizons and encourage them toexperience other people’s perspectives.’Ingleby Mill Africa Week displayThe school wanted links with the localand the global community to be animportant part of its mission andethos, and staff decided to includelearning about global issues as partof everyday teaching.Ayuusi-Yine pupilsHow did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?In 2001, as part of Link CommunityDevelopment’s (LCD) Global TeacherProgramme, Liz went on a teachingexchange to Ayuusi-Yine PrimarySchool in a remote part of northernGhana. After her return, a staffworking group planned thecurriculum using the Oxfam guideEducation for global citizenship as atemplate. Each year group now has awritten scheme of work that buildsand extends the children’s knowledgeand understanding of global issues,and makes them reflect on their skills,values and attitudes.Frances Smith, a reception teacher,reflects: ‘At first we felt that global16

CASE STUDY 2Ingleby Mill Primary SchoolLinking with schools abroad makes learning about globalissues more vivid and broadens pupils’ outlook.issues would be too challenging forkey stage 1 pupils, but we haveaddressed this through focusing onawareness of self and others,exploring similarities and differencesand listening to others’. By key stage2, children are ready to move on tomore challenging concepts. They lookat the unfairness that exists in theworld and investigate current globalissues. As part of this, all children takepart in Send My Friend to Schoolactivities each year.All the children are involved in theschool’s link with Ghana, which playsa key role in their global learningexperiences. Liz believes that bothnorthern and southern participantsbenefit from the link. ‘While itis very difficult to have an equalpartnership with a school in such aremote, poverty-stricken area,’ sheacknowledges, ‘it is what we all strivefor. We develop activities andmaterials together which focuson our similarities as wellas differences’.A yearly postcard exchange,facilitated by LCD and focusing ontopical issues, takes place betweenthe schools. Three Africa Weeks havebeen held, incorporating globalissues into every aspect of thecurriculum from art and craft to mathsand big business.How well is the school achievingits aims?Teachers feel the broad range ofglobal learning opportunities theynow provide across the curriculum hasAyuusi-Yine pupils receive letters from Ingleby Mill pupilsopened up learners’ minds and made on. Local MP Dari Taylor has visitedthem aware of their interdependence the school three times, heard pupils’with the wider world. The direct views about children’s right to go tolinks with another country have school, and delivered letters on theirbroken down stereotypes and made a behalf to the prime minister.big impact on both children andtheir parents.What does the school plan todo next?‘Children here gain a huge amount Staff plan to work with Ayuusi-Yinefrom the link,’ reflects year 6 teacher and LCD to develop a partnershipGillian Forbes. ‘This includes greater agreement. The aim is to have anknowledge and understanding of open dialogue between the twoanother culture, developing global schools so that they understand thecitizenship skills and further insight partner school’s expectations and caninto the geographical features of define their own contributions.another country.‘Ingleby wants to set up links andParticipating in pupil-led activities share best practice with othersuch as Send My Friend to School has schools in its local area that are alsodeveloped the children’s critical twinned with Ghanaian partners.thinking and communication skills and Within the school itself, the teachershas given them a sense ofplan to keep the work innovative byempowerment – particularly when looking for new ideas and issues totheir views are listened to and acted use in the classroom.17

Citizens of the worldPupils investigating GhanaWhat did the school want toachieve?A few years ago Shaw Wood was afairly insular, close-knit communityschool in South Yorkshire. ‘We werean ex-mining community whichlooked inwards rather than outwards.Pupils were achieving poor results,’recalls Headteacher Paul Prest. Themajority of children at the school hadlittle understanding of the worldbeyond the local community. ‘Weneeded to broaden our pupils’horizons,’ continues Paul. ‘Torecognise that different cultures andways of life exist, and to explore otherpeople’s perspectives.’How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?Teachers began debating how toincorporate global issues into learningacross the curriculum. They were keento immerse learners in other culturesand experiences, and decided todevelop links with schools in Spain,Japan and Ghana. Languages werevital to the school’s approach, andeach child could choose betweenSpanish and Japanese.Patrick Corroll, the school’sInternational Coordinator, explainsthat the first link was with a Spanishschool, to help children think ofthemselves as European citizens. ‘The18

CASE STUDY 3Shaw Wood Primary SchoolOne school’s look at global issues has led to a genuineunderstanding of global interdependence.children then thought about beingworld citizens through linking with theschool in Japan, and then we feltready to explore our role as “widerworldcitizens” and some of theissues facing developing countrieslike Ghana.’Teachers at Shaw Wood trialledcross-curricular themes with theirclasses. Year 3, for example, workedon an ‘exploration and discovery’topic relating to the British Empire.Working with a Ghanaian partnerschool, children examined letters andother evidence relating to the slavetrade and British rule and exploredthe 200th anniversary of the abolitionof the slave trade. At both schools,children debated perspectivesthat they had not previouslyconsidered, and challenged theirown perceptions.In 2006 the school became involvedin a global citizenship curriculumproject. Participating schools wereasked to pilot innovative projects tointegrate global citizenship acrossthe curriculum.The next step was to develop aglobal challenge for learners. Year 4children, teachers and parentsdecided to find out about chocolate –how it is grown, manufactured anddistributed, and the impact this hason cocoa bean farmers in adeveloping country like Ghana.This project extended well beyond theclassroom. The children wrote tomanufacturing companies to obtaininformation, created leaflets for theirparents and developed a school postercampaign. They then communicatedwhat they had learnt and felt about fairtrade to their peers at Konadu Yiadom,their link school in Ghana.Patrick Carroll emails his colleagueSolomon in Ghana at least twice aweek. ‘We both found that by usingthe chocolate theme children in eachschool learnt about so many globalissues they had not even consideredin relation to the manufacturing andproducing of fair trade products.’How well is the school achievingits aims?Shaw Wood is described by Ofsted ashaving ‘first class international links’that ‘provide pupils with excellentopportunities to broaden theirexperiences.’ ‘Staff and childrenbelieve anything can be achieved,’says Paul. ‘If there’s a hurdle, childreninstinctively think “let’s find a fewways over it” – an unbelievablechange from a few years ago.’Teachers feel their approach to globallearning has had a positive impact onchildren’s understanding of the widerworld. They recognise that what theydo affects others, and what others doaffects them. The curriculum projecthas also increased children’sPupils investigating Ghanaconfidence: ‘When you tell morepeople about things, it changes. Likefair trade: when more people knowabout it, it can help other people faraway,’ says one pupil. Shaw Woodalso achieved the full DCSFInternational School Award in 2007 inrecognition of its successfulintegration of the global dimension.What does the school plan todo next?The school intends to develop aglobal dimension across the wholecurriculum. This will include PE, RE,PSHE, citizenship, Spanish, Japanese,science and mathematics.Shaw Wood is also developing avirtual learning environment toimprove communication with schoolsin other countries. Children will beable to communicate safely,uploading and downloading pictures,videos or documents.19

Global learning posterboardEvery Child MattersWhat did the school want toachieve?In January 2003 Wyche PrimarySchool was moved into specialmeasures. The current Headteacher,Deana Aldred, was appointed in2005. ‘When I first came here,’ shesays, ‘it was easy for teachers to feelde-skilled and to lack in confidence. Ifelt we needed to bring in somethingcompletely new to lift spirits andimprove motivation’.Wyche wanted to empower childrento make a difference in their learning,their school, their community, and theworld. It also wanted to tackleunderachievement and raisestandards, in part by valuing children’spersonal needs and development asmuch as academic success. ‘Literacyand numeracy strategies on their ownwouldn’t do the trick,’ expands Deana.‘Bigger issues needed to be resolvedand we hoped global learning wouldhelp us to look out rather than in. Weliked the idea of starting with thepersonal and moving out to the global.’How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?Wyche made Every Child Matters thebasis of school improvement anddeveloped a whole-school globallearning programme to facilitate it.Wyche worked with CheshireDevelopment Education Centre(CDEC) to develop a project called‘Aiming High.’ They began bymatching the school’s aims to the fiveoutcomes of Every Child Matters,focusing particularly on ‘Enjoying andachieving’ and ‘Making a positivecontribution’. They then integratedglobal learning into the schooldevelopment plan and set aboutembedding it across the curriculum.PSHCE and citizenship have beenreorganised into a series of themeddays including ‘Children’s rights’,‘Food and fair trade’ and ‘Refugees’.‘The “Food and fair trade” day wasgreat fun,’ explains a year 6 child,‘and everyone learnt to think beforethey buy something at thesupermarket. We made fair tradeT-shirts and wrote letters to shops toask them to sell fair trade goods likebananas and footballs’.Whole-school activities such asassemblies also promote activeglobal learning. Children decide onassembly topics and regularly inviteCDEC in to facilitate them. Theyrecently requested an assembly toaddress ‘What is poverty?’ and wantto extend their thinking to explorequestions like ‘Are poor people lesshappy?’ and ‘How do people grow inpoor countries when they haven’t gotmuch food?’New teaching and learningmethodologies have been introducedto improve levels of consultation withchildren, supporting them to expresstheir views, consider other people’sviews and make informed choices. Achild in year 6 sums it up as follows:‘When you start to listen you can geta bit wiser and more independent.You can sort out different problemsby interacting with people’.How well is the school achievingits aims?The school has successfullyreorganised learning to enrich thecurriculum, enhance creativity andfun, and raise self-esteem andstandards. Wyche has challengedstereotypes and discrimination.Ofsted’s 2007 report noted that‘Students’ spiritual, moral, social andcultural development is outstanding…the care and consideration they showto others, as well as their appreciationof other’s needs, demonstratematurity beyond their years’.20

CASE STUDY 4Wyche Primary SchoolUsing outside expertise helped Wyche Primary to make learning start with thepersonal and move outwards, developing learners’ voices in the process.Learners design a posterboard to demonstrate their global learningStandards have been raised bydrawing on the school’s vision ofempowering children and usingoutside expertise, including CDECand Oxfam, to link individual learningto global contexts. As Helena Ward,the school’s PSHCE coordinator,notes, ‘Every child really does matterhere. Their voices are listened to andthey make big decisions in school.And this is why they feel they canmake a difference to the world’.What does the school plan todo next?In 2008 PSHCE Days will explore theUnited Nations eight MillenniumDevelopment Goals. Wyche’s ecocommitteeis already investigatinghow to link its school-based activitieswith Millennium Development Goal 7,‘Ensure environmental sustainability’.All staff will receive on-the-jobtraining in ‘Philosophy for Children’,and Tuesday afternoons will be setaside for pupil-led discussions as partof this.Global learning, concludes Deana, ‘isso important, because it will stay withchildren. It’s never finished or selfcontained,and we’re always learningfrom the unexpected. If we can helpchildren to feel safe and happy and toquestion everything, it will take themeverywhere’.21

Global citizenshipschoolWhat did the school want toachieve?Staff at Deptford Green School werelooking for a sustainable, innovativeand holistic way to address thespecific social issues the school’sdemographic presents: the school isin an area of significant socialdeprivation, and many students areentitled to free school meals, comefrom minority ethnic backgrounds orhave learning needs or disabilities.Deptford Green was already ahumanities specialist school, so staffdecided to incorporate globalcitizenship across the school – and tocampaign to be the first UK schoolwith citizenship specialist status.‘We wanted to empower youngpeople to become critical agents ofchange,’ explains Lee Faith, Head ofCitizenship. ‘To develop a sharedvision and ownership of the schoolbased on human rights; to promoteand advocate social justice within ourwider community and the world.Including citizenship within ourschool’s specialism was essential toachieving this.‘How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?Pupil participation and ownership ofprojects is crucial to the school’scitizenship aims. Over the past twoyears pupils in years 7 to 9 have setup and run a fair trade tuck shop.With the support of the citizenshipdepartment they have developed thisidea further by campaigning tobecome a fair trade school. Severalpupils have set up a steering groupand are working towards meeting theFairtrade Foundation’s criteria, whichinclude writing and adopting awhole-school fair trade policy andensuring the school is committed toselling, promoting and using fairtrade products.To foster students’ role as ‘criticalagents of change’ Deptford Greenhas pioneered using students asassociate governors. ‘Getting pupilrepresentation at the highest level isimportant to our philosophy, ethosand future,’ says Lee.Developing global links has alsoplayed an important role in theschools’ global citizenshipprogramme. Since 2003 DeptfordGreen has been involved in aneducation partnership with St KizitoSchool in Uganda. The partnershipdevelops students’ global citizenshipskills through collaborative projectsand exchange visits.Year 9 pupils in both countries wereasked to represent a globaldimension theme through a collectivepiece of art to be displayed at anexhibition in Uganda. They chosesustainable development andtransport as the theme, and produceda large piece of artwork that waspresented at St Kizito school duringan exchange visit in June 2007. Theythen worked with the St Kizito pupils,comparing the art techniques usedand discussing similarities anddifferences in transport in bothcountries as depicted in the workdisplayed.In addition, ten year 10 students tookpart in a Global Citizenship Exchangewith students from St Kizito in June2007. The students had a range oflearning experiences includingcollaborative lessons on human rights,visits to an HIV/AIDS communityproject and an exploration of the localenvironment and issues facing localpeople. ‘This experience has changedmy life!’ says one of the students.How well is the school achievingits aims?Ofsted praised the school’s‘pioneering citizenship programme,’which ‘contributes significantly tostudents' outstanding spiritual, moral,social and cultural development’.The global dimension promotes amore cross-curricular approach byfocusing on concepts and issues ratherthan subjects. The link with Uganda,22

CASE STUDY 5Deptford Green SchoolGaining citizenship specialist status helped maximise pupil participationand develop global learning skills at Deptford Green.Expressing sustainable development through artfor example, incorporated globalissues into art. ‘It made me thinkabout the different facilities open topeople in various parts of the world,’says one pupil. ‘We understood howour actions affect others.’‘Linking with others from differentcultures and backgrounds helped thestudents learn more about others,widen horizons and expectations, butmost of all it taught students aboutthemselves,’ reflects AssistantHeadteacher Wendy Bisiker. ‘I believeall who have been involved so far atDeptford Green and St Kizito in thecurriculum project and the youthexchange have changed the way theythink in some way.’What does the school plan todo next?Deptford Green will host a return visitfor St Kizito students in June 2008.The programme will mirror the visit toUganda, with classroom time onglobal citizenship themes, a trip outof London to see the Englishlandscape and a range of culturalexperiences.The citizenship team is planningglobal learning for other curriculumareas, including music and the newscience for the 21st-centurycurriculum. Above all, DeptfordGreen will continue to emphasiseparticipation, giving studentsownership of their work.23

Agents of changeWhat did the school want toachieve?Langdon School serves areas ofsignificant economic deprivation, withstudents from a wide range ofacademic and cultural backgrounds.Its students felt overwhelmed by thescale of global poverty and struggledto see how they could make apositive difference.The school’s previous approach toglobal learning was fragmented:although topics like sustainabledevelopment and human rights weretaught in individual subjects, therewere no meaningful links across thecurriculum. As Assistant HeadteacherVince Doherty explains, ‘We wanted toraise students’ awareness of themselvesas global citizens. Not to live in abubble, but be part of something farbigger. We value what young peoplethink and what they can actually do tomake a difference to themselves and topeople living far away.’How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?Staff at Langdon developedseparately timetabled activity weeks,during which students would linklearning about global issues with theirrole as active world citizens.In 2005 the school took part in SendMy Friend to School. Supported byorganisations like ActionAid andComic Relief, students learnt aboutthe 80 million children globally whoYear 10 learners address crowds at Trafalgar SquareStudents meet Nelson Mandelamiss out on schooling. In one activity, chosen to launch the Make Povertystudents made hundreds of paper History campaign in London’s‘buddies’ to represent these children, Trafalgar Square in February 2005,which they sent to world leaders. sharing the stage with NelsonMandela and speaking to overMany students began spending a lot 20,000 people about the importanceof time researching and working on of education.the issue. They signed up to theLangdon volunteering register, which Teachers have built on the project’shas around 60–70 students each year success by developing similarwho help in many ways from tidying projects across geography,up or showing visitors around to humanities, citizenship, PSHE and REtaking part in campaigns. Several programmes. The citizenshipstudents on the register were then department has focused on24

CASE STUDY 6Langdon SchoolInvolving students in world events and campaigns bringsglobal learning to life at Langdon School in London.developing learners’ life skillsincluding self-confidence and criticalthinking. ‘Citizenship can be a longjourney for students who never leaveNewham,’ reflects Citizenship TeacherAmir Shah. ‘We don’t always expectour students to act on issues. It’s justas valid to think about an issue aslong as they are engaging criticallyand creatively.’How well is the school achievingits aims?Langdon received an outstandingOfsted report in 2006, whichhighlighted its citizenshipprogramme’s ‘valuable engagementwith the local and internationalcommunity.’Send My Friend to School was thecatalyst for engaging large numbersof students in global learning andparticipation. Students’ awareness ofother people’s lives has increased, ashas their sense of self-worth andconfidence. As one pupil said, ‘Thisexperience has shown me what isimportant. It doesn’t matter that I’myoung; it’s still possible for me tochange things.’Other opportunities have opened up.Students won the J8 GlobalCitizenship competition in 2005 andhave been runners-up since. Over thepast three years students havelobbied Tony Blair, Gordon Brownand members of the EuropeanParliament. They have appeared inYoung people reflect on what they have learnededucation films, media articles andhave even joined Nelson Mandelain Mozambique.For Amir, one of the most satisfyingoutcomes was students choosing toparticipate as active citizens, ratherthan being forced to participate.Fourteen-year-old Caroline Grayrecently won an Anne Frank Award forher ‘great personal strength, moralcourage and determination to standup for what is right.’ Caroline set upher own charity to raise funds forchildren in Nepal to go to school. Shecites classroom experiences as hergreatest inspiration: ‘I’ve becomemore considerate. It’s made merealise how lucky I am, how I was justtrundling along at school, getting onwith my own life, in my little bubble.Now, newspapers are saying I’m an“Action Hero”!’What does the school plan todo next?Over the past three years Langdonhas found space for students to learnand act on global issues outside theirusual timetabled lessons, and hasachieved fantastic results. With thesecondary curriculum review now inplace and its emphasis on unifying,thematic dimensions such as‘sustainable futures and the globaldimension,’ staff at Langdon arepreparing to include global learningacross the whole curriculum.‘We want our curriculum and schoolethos to reflect some of the majorchallenges facing society and thesignificance these have for ourlearners,’ says Vince. ‘We want tointegrate the global dimension as atheme which links subjects, eventsand our school ethos together.’25

CASE STUDY 7The Leigh City Technology CollegeUsing vertical tutor time to mix age groups and cross subject boundaries helped students atthe Leigh City Technology College get involved with schools and events around the world.five students from each year group,including the sixth form. All studentsreceive five 50-minute lessons a weekin tutor time, one of which is devotedto global learning.Karon’s aim was for students to usethis time to explore connectionsbetween their own lives and peopleliving far away, and to investigate howthey could make a difference. At firstthere was some resistance from bothstudents and teachers to mixing agegroups, but both have found positiveoutcomes. ‘The year 7s bring in newideas from primary school, and wehelp to make them into bigger ideas,’says a year 9 pupil. ‘And when someof the sixth formers in my class cameback from a trip to India they told uswhat it was really like. We ended upgetting involved with World Aids Dayand World Water Day to linkeverything up.’During tutor time, students usedcreative techniques such as ‘issueswheels’ to investigate global issuesfrom different viewpoints andgenerate discussion about the parttheir school can play in finding localsolutions to global problems likeclimate change. An issues wheel is anactivity to categorise issues: whetherthey are economic, social orenvironmental; whether their impactis local, national or global. Theactivity generates discussion ratherthan definitive answers. ‘The more Ilearnt, the more surprised I was abouthow little our school does for theenvironment,’ says a year 10 student.‘We leave computers on and the lightson and we use loads of gas in science.Now, we’ve got recycling inevery classroom.’Staff used ActionAid’s Global ActionSchools project to explore differentopinions and places, develop criticalthinking and enquiry skills, and enrichstudents’ personal development.Students developed web pages andjoined in online chats and forums tofind out what pupils in other countrieswere learning and doing. ‘We had avideo conference with a Polish school,’says one student. ‘I was surprised tohear about how different their schoolrules are to ours. We’ve all beenlearning about climate change and fairtrade, and we realised we’d come upwith similar ideas even though ourcultures are quite different!’How well is the school achievingits aims?Since the project, teachers havenoted an increase in students’environmental and cultural awareness.Students began to think about thedifference they could make in theirown school to contribute tosustainable development, forexample reducing the amount ofenergy used, the food consumed andthe paper wasted. As a result ofstudent pressure, all classrooms nowhave paper-recycling bins. Thisincreased awareness has also led to ahands-on interest in global issues andother cultures.Some post-16 students who visitedIndia in 2006 are now organising afashion show with the retail chainMonsoon to raise awareness of fairtrade within the local community.Through the project, teachers havealso developed a style that helpsstudents learn independently.Vertical tutor time has given teachersthe flexibility to explore difficultissues that might normally beconfined to particular year groups orsubjects. ‘Using vertical tutor time hasprepared teachers for project-basedlearning,’ says Karon. ‘The processof letting the kids be in charge oftheir own learning has beenvery important.’What does the school plan todo next?A move towards project-basedlearning during curriculum time isunder way. The plan is to introduce amore coherent approach tocurriculum planning with subjects likegeography, citizenship and designand technology working together.The use of cross-curriculumdimensions such as ‘global dimensionand sustainable development’ and‘community participation’, as outlinedin the new secondary curriculum, willsupport this.27

Linking LIVE,linking livesWhat did the school want toachieve?Chopwell Primary School wanted toembed global learning into school lifein order to increase awareness andtolerance of other cultures. AsHeadteacher Bernadette Fellowes-Prynne explains, the children’s socioeconomiccircumstances limit theiropportunities for travel outside thevillage: ‘They had little or no exposureto other cultures and rarely had theirideas or assumptions questioned.’Further motivation for changeincluded poor standards ofachievement at Chopwell and theneed to improve the quality ofteaching and learning. ‘We hopedthat a link to a school in a far awayplace would lift our community andinspire learning,’ says Bernadette. ‘Inthe past, we’ve been criticised forpoor results, and we wantedsomething to enable pupils tocommunicate using a variety ofwriting genres, gain understanding ofthe similarities and differencesbetween different cultures andchallenge stereotypes bycommunicating and sharing ideaswith children in another country.’How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?In 2006, Chopwell contacted the BritishCouncil, which suggested they workwith the educational charity Japan 21to create a link with a Japanese school.Japan 21 made the initial introductionbetween Chopwell and AmajiElementary School and then providedongoing support and advice. Bothschools opted to use the structuredlearning network Japan UK LIVE! as anonline tool for communication.Protected access to this websiteallowed teachers to organise learningaround a series of structured themes,including the environment, homes andhouses, and food and health.Live meetings were arranged forchildren to communicate viatalkboards, and they uploadedphotographs, films and letters.The only equipment the schoolneeded was a web camera andmicrophone. Children at the twoschools chose pen friends, andswapped bookmarks, photos, lettersand presents.Staff at both schools workedtogether to improve learners’ literacyskills by providing opportunities forchildren to write in a range of styles –letters to pen friends, recipes andtraditional tales. ‘We wrote a storyfirst and sent it to Amaji,’ says KirstyGriffiths, a child in year 6, ‘and theydid manga drawings. They are likecartoons that show their feelings.Then, they sent us “Peach Boy”[a story] and we did the mangas. Ithelps us to get more expression inour writing!’The link with Amaji is now integral tolife at Chopwell. Teachers from bothschools have visited each other, andthe children are playing an increasinglyactive role in its development. Theenvironmental theme, for example,enabled children to move quickly fromsharing ideas about issues such asclimate change to thinking about waysof reducing their own schools’ carbonfootprints. Sharing ideas and picturesof themselves taking action via thewebsite got instant results:‘Hello my name is Kirsty. In ourschool we save energy by turningoff all the lights when we go out ofa room. All the switches havestickers with a little light bulbcartoon saying “turn me OFF!”This is a photo of me saving energyand money! We also have energymonitors who go around the schoolat play time and lunchtime turningoff any unnecessary lights. SAVEENERGY! Turn out the light!’How well is the school achievingits aims?The Japan UK LIVE! website hasmotivated children to communicateand there have been markedimprovements in the standard ofindependent writing. The school’s28

CASE STUDY 8Chopwell Primary SchoolAn online school-linking tool gives a whole newoutlook to children at Chopwell Primary.Amaji learners receiving picture books from Chopwell learnersPicture book arrives from Amaji schoolSharing ideas for taking actionon climate changenational test results showed a bigimprovement in just one year. ‘I amsure the link has a lot to do with it,’says Bernadette. ‘The children are soenthusiastic about coming to schoolnow – each day is filled withexcitement and unexpected events.’Contact with Japan has given thechildren a sense of being special, andit has given classes involved a teamspirit, because they are jointly involvedin a successful project. ‘Some of ourchildren don’t have much in their lives,’says Teacher Cristina Provaz. ‘The linkhas really helped with self-esteembecause someone cares about themenough to write a letter and send agift from the other side of the world.’What does the school plan todo next?Chopwell plans to set up jointcurriculum projects for all yeargroups. The next step in the Japan 21project is to arrange exchange visitsso that the children can explore anddebate global issues surroundingrights and responsibilities.29

Personal to globalWhat did the school want toachieve?Deedmore is a special school forchildren with learning difficultiesincluding challenging behaviour,autism and Down’s syndrome.‘Working with children with learningdifficulties presents many challengesas their lives revolve mainly aroundthe concept of self,’ explains AssistantHeadteacher Kalvinder Rai. ‘Wewanted pupils to develop anunderstanding of the world beyondtheir own experiences.’In addition, staff wanted to developtheir own knowledge and confidencein how to plan and deliver globallearning. They felt their existingschemes of work were limited andthat they had little first-handexperience of life in other countries.Headteacher Yvonne McCall and herstaff decided to bring a globaldimension to existing schemes ofwork, audit their resources and takepart in any external global activitiesthat could extend and personaliseexperiences for children and staff.How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?Through Link CommunityDevelopment (LCD), Kalvinder spentfive weeks in 2005 at Jeeja School inUganda focusing on teaching literacyand numeracy in an interactive way. ‘Iwanted to experience teaching in adifferent country and life in an Africanvillage. Then I aimed to bring mylearning back, share it with staff, helpcreate new resources and buildpupils’ understanding of their role inthe wider world‘, reflects Kalvinder.Before the placement, all staff tookpart in a review of current schemes ofwork. Schemes were redeveloped toinclude a global aspect to all topics.The new schemes particularlyemphasised geography, music andart, and giving children sensoryexperiences of other culturesthrough use of artefacts, story tellingand role play.Following an audit of resources, theschool bought and created additionalmaterials, including photographs,videos and artefacts from Uganda.‘Artefacts worked really well,’ saysKalvinder, ‘particularly sturdy objectswhich pupils could handle such asmasks, musical instruments, baskets.I also created presentations toaccompany topics ranging fromhomes to journeys to school life. Theyall contained pictures of myself invarious settings in Uganda. This madeit easier for pupils to engage with adifferent culture because they couldrelate to me being there.’All year groups were involved andeach class worked on different topics.Some children recorded songs tosend to their peers in Uganda. Theymade and exchanged postcards,pictures and resources. Receptionand year 1 children worked on ‘Myschool, my local environment,’comparing and contrastingDeedmore and Jeeja at a verysimple level.Year 5 investigated customs, habitatsand clothes in different Africancountries. Simple starting points wereused, including visually richstorybooks such as Handa’s surprise.Children were encouraged to tastefruits described in the story and thenfollow Ugandan recipes such Ugalicornmeal porridge.How well is the school achievingits aims?Continuous assessment showsthat the children’s awareness of thewider world has increased. Childrenhave also started asking questionsabout other places and developingthinking skills.However, the biggest lesson for staffhas been to not underestimate thechildren because of their learningdifficulties. ‘At first I thought thatbecause Africa was so far away fromCoventry the children would havedifficulty acquiring knowledge andthe concepts I wanted them to grasp,’says Suzanne Kavanagh, a year 5teacher. ‘However, all the children30

CASE STUDY 9Deedmore SchoolUsing artefacts and photographs as classroom resourcesbrought Africa to life for children at Deedmore School.African artwere excited and motivated. We cansee a development in their vocabularyand their thinking skills. They havetaken pride in their work and aredelighted when visitors express anopinion about their work.’What does the school plan todo next?Next year Deedmore is looking toapply for the DCSF InternationalSchool Award.Staff will continue to reviewschemes of work and introduce theglobal dimension through crosscurriculartopics. They also intend tomake links with other schools and thewider community and to keepparents and governors informed ofnew developments.Teacher tipsCreating global learning resources Artefacts help develop pupils’ sensoryexperience of everyday life in other cultures. Use sturdy objects like masks, musicalinstruments and baskets that pupils can handle. Get pupils to take photographs of their owndaily lives, school and local area. Work with pupils to create a ‘big photo book’ tosend to the partner school. When visiting your partner school, takephotographs of people’s homes, journeys andclassrooms with yourself in them. Use the photographs as a basis for developingpresentations to introduce topic work.31

Learning fromnew perspectivesLearner’s reflectionsWhat did the school want toachieve?Hagley Primary School is in a largelyaffluent area. ‘We felt it was importantfor our children to appreciate whathappens in other parts of the worldand to view it positively,’ says SuzanneShackleton, International LinksCoordinator. Staff wanted the school toevolve into a well-informed communitywith a balanced understanding ofglobal issues. Hagley’s long-term aimwas to become actively committed toreducing global poverty.How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?Headteacher Kevin Bailey decided toset up a curriculum-focusedpartnership with a school in Africa.‘We aimed to start with a manageableproject involving a partner school inan unfamiliar place, to creatively useour similarities and differences to helpstaff and children look at learningfrom new perspectives.’Hagley found a partner in Jan JanBureh Primary School in the Gambia.With support from the DFID GlobalSchool Partnerships programme, stafffrom Hagley visited Jan Jan Burehearly on to start buildingrelationships. As Suzanne explains,‘Personal contact is key, especiallywhen schools are without electricityand the internet. Once we visit eachother, teachers feel a new level ofcommitment to the partnership.’The school wanted a joint globallearning curriculum to be the focus ofthe partnership. Children have beenheavily involved in designing fourcurriculum resources that explore thesimilarities and differences betweenlife in the UK and the Gambia.The children are encouraged tobecome independent, responsiblelearners who think carefully and makeconnections between local and globalissues, as the following quote from achild in year 4 illustrates: ‘Jan Jan32

CASE STUDY 10Hagley Primary SchoolCreating an equal, mutual partnership with a school in the Gambia hasdeveloped real global awareness in children at Hagley Primary School.Bureh School is on an island in theRiver Gambia, and it keeps gettingflooded. They say it’s because ofglobal warming. We had floods inWorcester last month and we think it’sto do with the same thing. So, we’regoing to send a text to the Gambiato see what we can do about it.’Hagley has also set up a Gambiacommittee of 20 children from acrossthe school. It recently had to dealwith the tricky issue of fundraisingwhen some children wanted to raisemoney for Jan Jan Bureh – bothschools have learnt that suchactivities need to be mutual.Children at Hagley knew that Jan JanBureh children did not have pens,pencils and paper so each childdonated a pencil-case. In return, theGambian children made dolls,models and everyday utensils forchildren to use in school. Thisallowed children at both schools torecognise that the others are just likethemselves – people who give andwant to learn and share.The partnership has inspired a clusterof other schools in Worcester and theGambia to form links. Hagley and JanJan Bureh support these initiativesand offer tips.How well is the school achievingits aims?Global learning is now an integral partof Hagley’s identity. As Ofsted recentlyreported, it ‘pervades the school’s dayto-daylife [and] as a result, students’cultural awareness is first rate.’In an exercise set up by the Universityof Worcester to explore the impact ofglobal partnerships, children fromHagley described the Gambia withpositive words such as ‘friendly’ tobalance negative words such as ‘poor.’This was very different to the largelynegative responses in schools withoutglobal partnerships. Hagley pupilsalso presented difference in terms ofwhat intrigued them rather than fromthe perspective of fear, for example, ‘Iwas surprised because they eat cerealin the mornings like I do’.Teachers have also benefited,because the project encouragesreflection and challenges values andTeacher tipsBuilding successful partnershipsattitudes to education. Many havegrown in confidence anddemonstrated an ability to becomeinvolved in activities that wouldotherwise not have been possible.The wider community is also involvedin the partnership: one parentre-created a Gambian town in theform of a huge piece of corridor art.What does the school plan todo next?Hagley intends to invite moreWorcester schools to createpartnerships with the Gambia. Itbelieves that reaching outwards andcreating new opportunities will helpmaintain momentum. Start off with a small, manageable project. Work hard at developing a close and effective workingrelationship with the headteacher or coordinator of thepartnership. Be clear about expectations for both sides of the partnership(draw up an agreement early on). Communicate regularly with your link school (text is awonderful way if email is not available). Encourage staff, children, parents and the wider community tobe actively involved. Plan activities and visits carefully but also have the flexibility toenable new ideas to evolve.33

View from UgandaSharing ideas, stories and lettersWhat did the school want toachieve?Kigulya Primary School started life in1981 when local parents built twograss-thatched classrooms for theirchildren. Today the school has sevenpermanent classrooms and 561pupils. As with other schools inMasindi District, a rural area in midwesternUganda, it faces a numberof challenges, including a lack ofteacher training, low teacher andpupil attendance, and poorpupil performance.However, Headteacher LillianByakagaba was determined toimprove attendance and academicperformance. She hoped that a link tothe wider world would motivatepupils to come to school. ‘Our aimwas to develop a link with a UKschool to learn about another cultureA class in Kigulya schooland to motivate our children to wantto learn,’ reflects Lillian. ‘We wantedto improve our pupils’ literacy skills bycommunicating with real childrenabout interesting issues from anotherpart of the world. As teachers weaimed to develop our knowledge andskills by working on shared curriculumprojects with English teachers.’How did the school organiselearning to achieve its aims?The opportunity to link with the widerworld arose in 2003 when aperipatetic support teacher fromGloucester spent five weeks onplacement with Kigulya. When theteacher returned to England, shelooked for a link school for Kigulya. In34

CASE STUDY 11Kigulya Primary SchoolSharing ideas, stories and letters improves literacy andmotivation at Kigulya Primary School in Uganda.Kigulya learning in action2004, Link Community Development(LCD) facilitated a link with KingsholmPrimary School in Gloucester. Thepartnership has also been stronglysupported by both the districteducation office in Masindi and bythe local authority in Gloucestershire,and has benefited from funding fromthe DFID Global School Partnershipsprogramme.The first step was for the two schoolsto exchange annual curriculum plans.Lillian worked closely with KingsholmHeadteacher Jan Buckland to identifythemes that would be relevant topupils in both countries.The final result was a series of topicsranging from daily life and water use,to food and the environment.Primary 1 pupils at Kigulya workedwith year 1 children at Kingsholm toshare information and investigateeach other’s homes and daily lives.Kigulya pupils wrote letters toEngland explaining the type ofhomes they lived in and how far theywalked each day to school, andreceived reciprocal mail from theirUK peers. Kingsholm children thencreated models of Ugandan homesbased on the descriptions theyreceived and also challengedthemselves to walk to schooleach day.Primary 5 pupils introducedKingsholm children to Ugandanculture and at the same timedeveloped their English languageand literacy skills. They wrote thebeginnings of Ugandan folk storiesTalking pointI have visited Kingsholm and learned lots of new things but it is sometimeshard for me to drive the partnership. Although I have changed my point ofview, lots of people here think the same way. They look at tangible things likea new radio or television so when I come back from my visit they say to me ‘sowhat have you brought back?’ Sometimes we hear of local schools gettingnew things or money from their English partners so our teachers expect a lotfrom me. They do not see that new ideas are more important than objects.Headteacher Lillian Byakagaba, Kigulya School, UgandaHow can schools create equal partnerships based on learning andshared values?for the Kingsholm pupils to complete, How well is the school achievingand received the introductions of its aims?English folk stories, which theyKigulya School has benefited from thethen completed.link in many ways. The pupils aremuch more interested in languagesReciprocal staff visits are organised as now and also more confident abouta development tool. During a visit to sharing their ideas. Kigulya teachers’Kingsholm in 2005, Lillian wasefforts to improve literacy have paidinterested in positive behavioural off. The pupils can now read andmanagement such as givingwrite letters well and enjoycertificates in assembly, star charts or corresponding with their pen friends.rewards for the class with the bestattendance. Later that year reciprocal What does the school plan toINSET training was organised in do next?Kigulya and attended by Kingsholm Lillian will continue to drive forwardteachers. ‘Kingsholm teachers taught the partnership with Kingsholm and tous about positive discipline,’ says make her peers aware of the values ofLillian. ‘My teachers have taught the a curriculum-focused, educationalEnglish teachers about respect and link. Lillian hopes that a teacher fromlove. Respect for older people and Kigulya will visit Kingsholm tolove for trying to help the pupils. Our develop reciprocal curriculum workteachers also explained how to be next year. Her greatest hope is tocreative when teaching. Even when create more interaction betweenthey have little, they use things from pupils: ‘I hope some day maybe somethe local environment to help them of Kingsholm's students can visit orteach – bottle tops, sticks, anything study at our school because our pupilscan become a resource.’have so many questions for them.’35

Globalpathways tosuccessAn active global learning experienceWhat did the school want toachieve?Although Hove Park is a languagespecialist school, it wanted tooverturn the misconception thatlanguage colleges offer curriculumopportunities and overseas trips onlyfor language teachers and learners.‘We needed to create a very differentvision,’ explains international directorCharmian Hartley. ‘We wanted todevelop an international ethos toenhance teaching and learning acrossthe whole curriculum, bringingbenefits to staff, pupils, partnerschools and the wider community.‘The school wanted to give learnersfirst-hand experience of globaldimension concepts such as sustainabledevelopment, interdependence andrights and responsibilities by workingwith other schools around the world onshared global issues. ‘A significantnumber of our students are fromdeprived, challenging backgrounds,’says Headteacher Tim Barclay. ‘Mosthave never been abroad. We wanted togive them an experience within thecurriculum that broadens their outlookand brings them into direct contactwith other cultures.’How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?Staff at the school developed a hugerange of global connections: in total theschool is working on around 40 differentprojects and has links with schools in 15countries, including France, Germany,Italy, Mexico, Poland, Hungary, theCzech Republic and Ghana. Hove Parkhas installed videoconferencing as acost-effective communication tool formany of the projects.Students and teachers areencouraged to experience othercultures and pressing global issuesfirst hand. In 2007 geographystudents visited Iceland to studyclimate change, and other studentsmeasured yearly air pollution inBrighton and Hove and comparedtheir findings with representativesfrom several European schools.Charmian’s role is to ensure allcurriculum areas have a globaldimension. ‘I try to find projects whichappeal to the interests of particularstaff and which have relevance to thecurriculum area they need to deliver.Then I plant seeds and watch themgrow.’ One such seed was head ofhistory Judy Cooper’s visit to Ghanain 2005. ‘The history of slaveryconnected well with Ghana’s past andpresent,’ explains Judy. ‘Weinvestigated how children from placeslike Ghana’s Cape Coast were used asslaves. We then explored modern-day36

CASE STUDY 12Hove Park SchoolHaving multiple projects and links with 15 different countries has given students atHove Park School a new perspective on international issues and global learning.Taking a break from renovating a school in MexicoLearning about sushislavery. Pupils were able to thinkcritically about a current globalproblem which they might otherwisenever have explored.’Year 9 pupils linked up with a schoolin Ghana and then created a websiteabout slavery. ‘We had a lot ofinvolvement in the project,’ says onepupil. ‘It wasn’t about a teachertelling us what to do. We looked atthe issue of slavery and then decidedto summarise the history and tell thestory from different perspectives onour own website.’ Pupils in bothcountries used slavery as a startingpoint for exploring issues such asbullying and climate change.How well is the school achievingits aims?In recognition of its impressive rangeof global links and projects, HovePark won the TES/HSBC Make theLink Award for International School ofthe Year in 2005 and has also receiveda DCSF International School Awardfor good practice in the internationaldimension.Staff report a positive impact onstudents’ learning, and particularly ontheir ability to think and reflectcritically. Students are making linksbetween local and global issues,valuing diversity and developing asense of identity as ‘active globalcitizens.’ They can relate abstractissues like poverty to real people,such as their contacts in Ghana.Staff at Hove Park are also promotinggood practice within the widerteaching community. For the past twoyears they have organised a nationalconference, Global Pathways toSuccess, giving 80 teachers practicaltips on implementing the globaldimension across the curriculum.What does the school plan todo next?Future plans include a link to Chinavia the modern foreign languagesand geography departments, and anonline project with a school in SouthKorea following a successful visit to afood college in Thailand.37

The worldin ourclassroomof the rainforest that has really broughtglobal learning alive for students.Hornsey first heard about La PastoraSchool in 2003 when a Peruvian Non-Government Organisation contactedthe school about raising money for awell. ‘Many children were too sick togo to school because their watersupply was contaminated with poisonsfrom a nearby mine,’ says Eleni. ‘Wedecided to organise a one-off PeruDay with year 8. We had noexpectations of this evolving into awhole-school cross-curricularlinking project!’What did the school want toachieve?Back in 2003, Hornsey School for Girlswas concerned that many of itslearners, 90 per cent of whom arefrom minority ethnic backgrounds,were unsure of their place in theworld. International links coordinatorEleni Karaoli explains: ‘Many of ourstudents had an identity crisis. Theyweren’t sure of their roots and feltdisplaced. Refugee and asylumseekers especially felt lostbecause they’re disconnected.’Attendance and behaviour werealso problems.Hornsey decided to bring the worldinto the classroom, introducingglobal perspectives through linkswith other schools. The long-termgoal was for students to appreciateother cultures, be aware of the widerworld and participate in theglobal community.How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?Over the past five years staff havemade links with schools all over theworld and have introduced globallearning across all areas of thecurriculum. Students have done workexperience in France, attendedseminars in Germany and e-twinnedwith a school in Turkey through theEC's eTwinning programme. Teachershave participated in a range ofinternational curriculum visits.However, it is Hornsey’s partnershipwith a Peruvian school in a remote partSince then, global learning with aPeruvian emphasis has been integratedacross all year groups and severalcurriculum areas including modernforeign languages, enterpriseeducation, PSHE and citizenship, ICTand English.During an enterprise week studentscame up with innovative ways of raisingmoney to help sustain the Hornsey–LaPastora link. They funded a new schoolbuilding for La Pastora, sold Peruvianjewellery to buy a school minibus forHornsey, and joined up with nearbyschools to create ‘Operation PeruChild,’ which sends gift boxes to LaPastora. They studied Peruvian poetryin English, investigated water issues ingeography and even tried to crack theInca code in maths. GCSE food38

CASE STUDY 13Hornsey School for GirlsA one-off Peru Day turned into a fruitful long-term relationshipfor staff and students at Hornsey School for Girls.Grade two pupils (6–7 years old) at La Pastora schooltechnology students even turned theirclassroom into a Peruvian restaurant fora day, serving the Peruvian culturalattaché and local councillors. Theevent received local press coverageand sparked donations from localbusinesses for La Pastora.Language learning played animportant role in pupils’ experiences.Hornsey introduced pupils to Spanish,which enabled them to startcomparing their lives with their peersin a Spanish-speaking country.Students chose to communicate vialetter writing. ‘It’s a big deal whenone [a letter] arrives,’ says a pupil inyear 8. ‘We get really excited and itbecomes like an artefact.’How well is the school achievingits aims?Hornsey won a DCSF InternationalSchool Award in 2004, and wasdescribed by Ofsted as having‘exemplary international links’ in 2007.The school is a member of the NorthLondon Schools InternationalNetwork, with a seat on the councilof management.The link with La Pastora has helpedstudents labelled as ‘disaffected.’‘They’ve drawn on profoundempathetic skills and talk of seeingsomething of themselves in theirPeruvian friends,’ says Evelyn Forde,Head of Year 8. ‘Lots of girls havefound a meaning for themselvesthrough the link, and a belief thatthey can make a difference.’What does the school plan todo next?In the future, Hornsey and La Pastoraintend to create learning centres inboth schools with educationalresources from different countries.Students will manage fundraisingefforts and work alongside staff toplan cross-curricular activities.Hornsey has developed new linkswith two schools in Nepal and a ruralschool in Rwanda, and is alsoparticipating in the US/UK Fulbrightteacher exchange programme,administered by the British Council.39

Towards aninternationalschoolWhat did the school want toachieve?The Ridings High School is aspecialist technology college on theoutskirts of Bristol. A few years agostaff ran isolated internationalprojects such as Europe Day butwanted to develop an innovative anddistinct global dimension across thecurriculum. ‘We wanted to develop a21st-century curriculum that gave ourlearners lifelong opportunities toconnect with communities around theworld,’ says Rob Ford, Head ofInternational Education. ‘Our aim wasto use ICT and the InternationalBaccalaureate to deliver aninternational education for learnersacross all key stages.’How did the school organiselearning to meet its aims?In 2002 staff used videoconferencing tocreate links with international partners.These links included a Comeniuspartnership with Norway, Germany andSpain, which immerses learners in thelanguages, traditions, communities andday-to-day life of partner countries.Students use student-led web pagesand videoconferences tocommunicate, helping to bringmodern foreign languages andhumanities to life. Over the past threeyears students and teachers havevisited their Comenius partners withthe support of the British Council.As part of a two-year British Councilfunded project in 2005, Rob Fordhelped set up a unique partnershipwith a mixed secondary school in theSiberian city of Tomsk. The projectenables teachers and learners fromboth schools to collaborate on anumber of curriculum projects with aparticular focus on languages, history,science and ICT. A videoconferencebetween Siberian and UK schools washeld in May 2006, and during the hourlonglink-up students from School 56in Tomsk gave a presentation on theircity and took questions from year 10students in the UK.Teachers regularly exchange ideasand materials, and plan joint curricularprojects. For example in 2006 theRidings introduced ‘Russian forbeginners’ to sixth formers as well as asummer Russian programme for year10 students. Their Siberian colleaguesused the language link to promotelanguage teaching across their school.In history, year 9 students from bothschools were given the uniqueopportunity to analyse and debate‘Why do we study The great patrioticwar?’ Students researched events fromboth a UK and a Russian perspective.In geography and science, studentshave linked with Tomsk to look at theeffects of climate change in Siberiaand this work has also involved apartner school in New York.In 2006 the school set up aninternational department to continuedeveloping the global dimensionacross the curriculum as well asintroducing the InternationalBaccalaureate system. The schoolworks with a number of organisationsincluding the British Council, GlobalLeap, and the Specialist Schools andAcademies Trust to ensure that theglobal dimension work remainscutting edge and innovative.Working with South Gloucestershirelocal authority the Ridings haveestablished an international centrehosting conferences for students andteachers from all parts of the worldincluding Singapore, Sweden and40

CASE STUDY 14The Ridings High SchoolA school develops international relationswith the help of expert partners.The Ridings’ students videoconference with a partner schoolRussia. Recently, the school led aninternational videoconference forlocal primary schools to introducethem to the global dimension withinthe curriculum.How well is the school achievingits aims?The school received the DCSFInternational School Award in 2005. Itreceived high praise for the depthand breadth of its ongoinginternational projects. Teachers reporta high degree of engagement fromlearners in international projects,particularly when they are able toconnect face-to-face either throughvideoconferencing or actual visits totheir partner schools. Emma, a formerRidings student, said, ‘The projectwas totally successful in that weaccomplished all we set out to do,which was to uncover cultural, socialand political differences. But whatI found the most enriching was therealisation that we weren’tanywhere near as different as onemight expect.’What does the school plan todo next?Rob Ford says, ’With our InternationalBaccalaureate and international teamin place our next challenge is todevelop further effective andsustainable international educationacross the curriculum, building onexisting good practice’.Plans are underway to widen thevideoconference programme acrossthe school to link with New York andIndonesia in 2008.41

Where to find furtherThis guide has beenproduced in partnershipwith several of theorganisations involved inpromoting the globaldimension in schools.Different organisationsnominated the case studyschools as an example ofwhat difference the globaldimension can make tolearners.Any of these organisations will beable to offer additional support andguidance as you develop the globaldimension in your curriculum. Be clearabout the difference you want tomake for your learners: what youwould like them to be like, be able todo and know when they have a betterunderstanding of the globaldimension. Reflect on how you willknow whether your efforts have beensuccessful. Use the practical activitiesin this guide to help you get startedand the ideas and expertise of theseorganisations to help you open uppossibilities and shape yourcompelling global learningexperiences.You can find out more aboutsupport available to your schoolin the two publications identifiedin the introduction: Developingthe global dimension in theschool curriculum and Putting theworld into world-class education.ActionAid offers a range of servicesfor UK schools. Use ActionAid’s award-winningresources for primary andsecondary schools. TheChembakolli materials, focusingon a small village in south India,include photo packs, DVDs and adedicated website,www.chembakolli.com. Othermaterials explore life in parts ofAsia, Africa and South America. Support class work with a talk byone of ActionAid’s experiencedteachers. The sessions make globallearning exciting and fun whilefocusing on national curriculumrequirements or individual schools’schemes of work. Join a network of Global ActionSchools taking action to makepoverty history – take part in arange of activities reducing yourschool’s impact on climatechange.For more information visitwww.actionaid.org.uk/schools.The British Council connects peopleworldwide with learning opportunitiesand creative ideas from the UK andbuilds lasting relationships betweenthe UK and other countries. It aims toraise standards in education andtraining through promotinginternational opportunities formobility, collaboration, exchange,partnership and vocational and inservicetraining. It also manages arange of international partnershipschemes and services including theDCSF Global Gateway and the DCSFInternational School Award.Details of the internationalprogrammes and funding schemesmanaged by the British Council canbe found at www.britishcouncil.org/learning.42

supportGlobal GatewayThe DCSF Global Gateway is thegateway to educational partnershipsbetween schools and colleges acrossthe world. It features a free partnerfindingdatabase of schools andcolleges worldwide, in addition to awealth of curriculum resources andlinks to a variety of supportingschemes and organisations.To find out more visitwww.globalgateway.org.Sustainable schoolsThe DCSF is working with partnersand other government departmentsto embed sustainable development inschools, the curriculum and thecommunity. By 2020 we would like allschools to be models of good globalcitizenship, enriching theireducational mission with activitiesthat improve the lives of people livingin other parts of the world.The sustainable schools area ofTeacherNet is designed to supportschools on their journey tosustainability, introducing theprinciples of sustainable developmentand offering guidance on how toembed these principles into the heartof school life.DFID Global School Partnershipssupports partnerships betweenschools in the UK and schools inAfrica, Asia, Latin America and theCaribbean. The programme providesadvice and guidance, professionaldevelopment opportunities andgrants to schools that are usingschool partnerships as a means fordeveloping a global dimension withintheir curriculum.Funded by the Department forInternational Development, theprogramme is delivered by aconsortium of the British Council,Cambridge Education Foundation,UK One World Linking Association(UKOWLA) and Voluntary ServiceOverseas (VSO).For more information visitwww.teachernet.gov.uk/sustainableschools.For a comprehensive guide to DFIDGlobal School Partnerships visitwww.britishcouncil.org/globalschools.For more information about DFID andthe United Nations Millennium Goalsvisit www.dfid.gov.uk.43

Local support: DevelopmentEducation CentresDevelopment Education Centres(DECs) are independent local centresthat offer support, training, adviceand resources for the globaldimension in education.The Development EducationAssociation (DEA) is an advocacybody with a vision of education for ajust and sustainable world. Itpromotes education that putslearning in a global context, fosteringcritical and creative thinking, selfawarenessand open-mindednesstowards difference, understanding ofglobal issues and power relationships.DEA’s global dimension website(www.globaldimension.org.uk)includes resources for schools on areassuch as climate change, poverty, waterand fair trade. There are resources forall age groups and subject areas –many free. There are also introductoryguides to global topics, case studies,and information about local support,professional development and schoolspeakerservices.DEA has some 250 memberorganisations that support schoolsdirectly through professionaldevelopment and projects.Enabling Effective Support (EES) is aninitiative that aims ‘to build capacitywithin the UK's education systems sothey respond to the challenges ofeducating young people tounderstand and help shape theglobalising and interdependent worldin which they live.’To contact your local DEC or regionalEES coordinator, visit www.globaldimension.org.uk/localsupport.Link Community Development (LCD)is a group of organisations in Africa,the UK and Ireland. LCD works toimprove the quality of education forchildren in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi,South Africa and Uganda by workingin partnership with local communitiesand education departments. It alsofacilitates partnerships betweenschools in the UK and schools inAfrica, organising themedcorrespondence exchanges andproviding a variety of materials,training and events for both teachersand children. The aim is to givechildren in the UK the opportunity tolearn about real life in Africa, to buildlasting relationships, deepen theirknowledge of global issues andstrengthen their understanding oftheir own relationship with andimpact on the world. LCD’s materialsand training are designed so that apartnership becomes sustainable andembedded across the whole school.For more information visitwww.lcd.org.uk.For more information visitwww.dea.org.uk.44

Oxfam Education supports teachersin developing the global dimensionthrough their classroom practice, incurriculum planning and as a wholeschoolconcern. Drawing onexperience from its programmesaround the world and more than 30years working in formal education inthe UK, Oxfam provides high-qualityteaching and learning resources, andworks in partnership with others toprovide relevant professionaldevelopment opportunities. TheOxfam Education website(www.oxfam.org.uk/education) has awide range of free teaching resourcesand continuing professionaldevelopment materials, including thepopular publications Teachingcontroversial issues and Education forglobal citizenship: A guide for schools(the latter includes Oxfam'scurriculum for global citizenship,which has proved a useful curriculumplanning tool for many teachers). TheOxfam catalogue for schools containsmore than 400 resources for bringingthe global dimension to life in theclassroom.QCA is committed to building aworld-class education and trainingframework. We regulate, develop andmodernise the curriculum,assessments, examinations andqualifications.QCA aims to develop a modern,world-class curriculum that will inspireand challenge all learners andprepare them for the future. Toachieve this we work in partnershipwith many education organisations,including those represented in thispublication.Global dimension and sustainabledevelopment is an importantdimension of the curriculum. To findout about more about dimensionsand their role in the curriculum, visitwww.qca.org.uk/curriculum.Tide Global Learning is a network ofteachers and other educatorsresponding to the educationalchallenges of our increasinglyglobalised society. Tide emphasisesthe need for teachers to have spaceto understand issues for themselvesand to share creativity about thecurriculum.Tide offers a range of curriculumprojects, resources, courses, studyvisits and information about thepitfalls of global learning on itswebsite (www.tidegloballearning.net).

About this publicationWho’s it for?School leaders and teachers of all subjects in all schoolsin EnglandWhat’s it about?How to develop the global dimension of the curriculumin your schoolWhat’s in it?• A definition of the global dimension and why it'simportant• Practical activities for staff, governors and young people• Case studies from schools showing how the globaldimension can be developed.Related materialsUse this publication in conjunction with:Developing the global dimension of the school curriculumwww.dea.org.ukPutting the world into world class educationwww.globalgateway.org.uk/PDF/international-strategy.pdfFor more copies:Order ref:QCA Orderlinewww.qca.org.uk/orderlineTel: 08700 606015Email: orderline@qca.org.ukQCA/07/3410