Raising pupils' achievements
This unit will help you assess how using the global dimension raises pupils' achievements. You will explore some ways in which informal and formal assessment can be a positive experience when based on pupil-centred and active methodologies that are integrated with and part of the philosophy of teaching the global dimension.
You will want to assess the knowledge, understanding and skills that pupils have gained and the extent to which pupils' values, attitudes and feelings are changing as a result of teaching the global dimension. You will also want to celebrate achievements and successes.
Click on the thumbnail below and look at the two cartoons (Steiner, 1993, p. 21, and Hicks and Steiner, 1989, reproduced in Steiner, 1993, p. 21).
Is
it this?; Or is it this?How do you feel about them? Do you identify with either one or with elements of both? With neither? Would a teacher with awareness of the global dimension be different? Make notes on the questions. Alternatively, draw your own global teacher cartoon and annotate it. Don't worry, no-one will see it - but keep it for reference at the end of the unit!
Self-reflection is an important aspect of knowing what we want to achieve and assessing the progress that we are making towards our goals. It can become a useful aspect of the assessment of achievement in teaching and learning the global dimension - for you and your pupils.
Now look at the activity on the right, which you can carry out with your pupils. This activity is designed to help pupils develop a sense of what they themselves want to achieve. It also gives them the chance to reflect on their own understanding and sense of themselves and their relationship to the wider world. Self-assessment plays an important part in assessment. Motivation can be high if pupils learn to set their own goals and see their learning as a journey towards these goals.
Activity Resources:
- Images
- Interactive
- Sound
- Text
- Video
Activity
- Ask pupils to draw their idea of a 'good citizen'. They will probably draw aspects of social consciousness like picking up litter or helping old people.
- Ask them to add ideas of how this 'good citizen' uses his or her eyes, ears, hands, and so on. They can combine words and drawings, such as adding speech bubbles.
- Now ask pupils to draw their idea of a 'global citizen'. They will probably find this harder but you can prompt them by referring to the actions of the 'good citizen' and asking how these might relate to the wider world. For instance, picking up litter might lead them to think about the environment, which could lead to thinking about how a global citizen might make their own contribution to reducing global warming, such as cycling to school.
- You could make a wall display of these citizens, who would then become a community!
Taking it further
A wall display could provide a good starting point for further discussion about what we want the world to be like and the actions of people that can make a better world. It could provide stimulus for role play and drama. The display can also provide a reference point for assessment and evaluation during subsequent work incorporating the global dimension.
