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INTRODUCTION
Global
issues are part of young people’s lives in a way that they never
were for previous generations. Television, the internet, international
sport and increased opportunities for travel, all bring the wider
world into everyone’s daily life.
Society today is enhanced by peoples, cultures, languages, religions,
art, technologies, music and literature originating in many different
parts of the world. This provides a tremendous range of positive
opportunities to broaden pupils’ experience and knowledge.
However, whilst there have been huge improvements that have changed
the lives of millions of people, one in five of the world’s population
still lives in extreme poverty. They lack access to basic healthcare,
education and clean water, with little opportunity to improve their
condition. Moreover, there is increasing acknowledgement of the
far-reaching impact of levels of global poverty. Environmental damage,
for example, which is exacerbated by poverty, does not stop at national
boundaries.
Economies around the world are more than ever interdependent on
both trade with, and investment from, other countries.
The importance of education in helping young people recognise their
role and responsibilities as members of this global community is
becoming increasingly apparent.
Including a global dimension in teaching means that links can be
made between local and global issues and that what is taught is
informed by international and global matters. It also means that
young people are given opportunities to examine their own values
and attitudes, to appreciate the similarities between peoples everywhere,
to understand the global context of their local lives, and to develop
skills that will enable them to combat prejudice and discrimination.
This in turn gives young people the knowledge, skills and understanding
to play an active role in the global community.
The National Curriculum and the school
curriculum
The revised National Curriculum offers more opportunities than
ever before for a global dimension to be incorporated into the life
and work of schools.
It includes, for the first time, a detailed overarching statement
about the values, aims and purposes of the curriculum. The values
and aims which relate to a global dimension are:
| “Education
is… a route to equality of opportunity for all, a healthy and
just democracy, a productive economy, and sustainable development.
Education should reflect the enduring values that contribute
to these ends. These include valuing ... the wider groups to
which we belong, the diversity in our society and the environment
in which we live… The school curriculum… should secure commitment
to sustainable development at a personal, national and global
level.” |
The statement of values, aims and purposes also reflects the growing
need for young people to be educated to live in a world characterised
by rapidly increasing communications:
| “
…education must enable us to respond positively to the opportunities
and challenges of the rapidly changing world in which we live
and work ... we need to be prepared to engage as individuals,
parents, workers and citizens with economic, social and cultural
change, including the continued globalisation of the economy
and society, with new work and leisure patterns and with the
rapid expansion of communication technologies.” |
Some programmes of study, such as geography, history, art and design
and music, ensure that a global dimension is included. For other
subjects, it is the individual school curriculum, developed around
the framework of the National Curriculum, which offers opportunities
for including a global dimension.
| “The
school curriculum should contribute to the development of pupils’
sense of identity through knowledge and understanding of the
spiritual, moral, social and cultural heritages of Britain’s
diverse society and of the local, national, European, Commonwealth
and global dimensions of their lives.” |
Over
the key stages pupils’ awareness and understanding of global issues
might progress as follows:
At
key stage 1 pupils begin to develop a sense of their own worth
and the worth of others. They develop a sense of themselves as
part of a wider world and gain awareness of a range of different
cultures and places. They learn that all humanity shares the same
basic needs but that there are differences in how these needs
are met.
At key stage 2 pupils develop their understanding beyond their
own experience and build up their knowledge of the wider world
and of different societies and cultures. They learn about the
similarities and differences between people and places around
the world and about disparities in the world. They develop their
sense of social justice and moral responsibility and begin to
understand that their own choices can affect global issues as
well as local ones.
At key stages 3 and 4 pupils develop their understanding of their
role as global citizens and extend their knowledge of the wider
world. Their understanding of issues such as poverty, social justice
and sustainable development increases and they realise the importance
of taking action to improve the world for future generations.
They critically assess information available to them and challenge
cases of discrimination and injustice.
Within
this progression, certain key concepts form the core of learning
about global issues:
•citizenship
•sustainable development
•social justice
•values and perceptions
•diversity
•interdependence
•conflict resolution
•human rights
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The
following sections give guidance on how a global dimension can be
incorporated into teaching, in ways that ensure progression through
the key stages and relate to, and develop, the National Curriculum
and religious education.
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Key
Stage 1
Pupils begin to develop a sense of their own worth and the
worth of others. They develop a sense of themselves as part
of a wider world and gain awareness of a range of different
cultures and places. They learn that all humanity shares the
same basic needs but that there are differences in how these
needs are met.
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English:
where pupils have opportunities to read, in both fiction and non-fiction
books, about people, places and cultures in other countries.
• By doing this they can deepen their knowledge and understanding
of themselves and the world in which they live.
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In a Garforth
primary school, key stage 1 pupils explored the elements of
‘story’ in ‘Our Friends in the Country’, a Big Book set in
Kenya, produced by Leeds DEC (www.leedsdec.
demon.co.uk). They examined the language patterns, the
sequence of events and the characters, and then created parallel
stories of their own lives. This increased their global awareness
and understanding of the similarities and differences between
the community in Kenya and their own communities.
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Mathematics:
where pupils begin to use number in a range of different contexts
and explore number patterns from a range of cultures.
• By doing this they can learn to appreciate the mathematical ingenuity
of other cultures.
Science: where pupils learn that everybody needs food and
water to stay alive.
• By doing this they can learn about the universality of human needs.
Design and technology: where pupils recognise the different
needs of people from a range of cultures and begin to identify ways
in which needs have been and could be met.
• By doing this they can develop an empathy for other people’s needs.
ICT: where pupils gather information from a variety of sources.
• By doing this they can learn how to access information about different
cultures and places.
History: where pupils learn about the lives of significant
people and past events.
• By doing this they can appreciate the significant contribution
made by people from all over the world to our collective history.
Geography: where pupils become aware of the wider world.
• By doing this they can begin to understand how they and the place
where they live are linked with other places in the world.
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Pupils
at an infant school in Edmonton, north London, brought in
tins and packets of everyday food. Using the labels from the
food they found out where the food had come from. They put
the labels around a world map and then drew lines between
the places and the labels. They found out what these places
were like and how they would travel to them. In doing this
the pupils learnt that we depend on other countries for much
of our food, and began to develop an awareness of the wider
world.
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Art and design: where pupils talk about and begin to understand
differences and similarities in art, craft and design from different
cultures and traditions.
• By doing this they can begin to develop an understanding and appreciation
of the richness of cultures from around the world.
Music: where pupils listen and respond to music from different
cultures and begin to recognise and compare different styles, as
well as becoming familiar with instruments from a range of different
countries and musical traditions.
• By doing this they can learn to take an interest in and value
different cultural traditions.
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Pupils
from four Nottingham primary schools explored traditional
and contemporary music from Zimbabwe and the UK through a
series of practical workshops. Through whole class discussion
and experimentation in small groups, they created their own
compositions. The workshops were led by a musician from Harare
who was working in Nottingham. The project encouraged pupils
to value diversity, to involve and include others and to recognise
the contribution of other cultures to the lives of young people
in the UK.
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PE: where pupils play simple games and create and perform
dances from different cultures.
• By doing this they can learn to co-operate with others and appreciate
the role of dance in other cultures.
PSHE and Citizenship: where pupils learn about themselves
as members of a community, with rights and responsibilities for
themselves, for others and for their environment. They learn about
their own and other people’s feelings and become aware of the views,
needs and rights of other children and older people. They begin
to recognise that they have an active role to play in their community.
• By doing this they can develop an understanding of the universality
of human rights, and begin to appreciate that they belong to a wider
community. They can also develop their ability to empathise.
RE: where pupils learn that people in their own community
and around the world have different belief systems which have some
things in common.
• By doing this they can begin to develop an awareness of, and respect,
different points of view.
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