Positive change
In this unit we look at ways of finding out how and to what extent teaching the global dimension across the secondary curriculum raises pupils' achievement and contributes to positive results for the whole school:
... you can see a positive change in the overall atmosphere of the classroom and school. This is surely a good thing for all involved in the daily experience of school life and a highly convincing argument for [global education].
(Steiner, 1993, p. 21)
This 'positive change' was noted as a result of research for the world studies 8-13 project into the active-learning methodology associated with global education.
Now complete the activity on the right, which will help you and your colleagues think about the end result (or outcomes) you are looking for when bringing the global dimension to your teaching of a particular age range.
Activity Resources:
- Images
- Interactive
- Sound
- Text
- Video
Activity
- Discuss with a colleague (or think about this on your own) what you would like pupils to learn and become as a result of bringing the global dimension to teaching for your age range. Think back to the ideas of the pupils on being a global citizen in the preceding activity and include them too. Try to crystallise the results of your discussion into two or three sentences or statements.
- Click on the Text icon and read pages 14-17 of Developing the Global Dimension in the School Curriculum (DfES, 2005). Even if you are working in an area where the National Curriculum for England does not apply, you might still find it useful to look at, adapt and use some of the ideas raised in these pages. Teachers in Northern Ireland and Wales should additionally refer to the relevant curriculum documents for their country.
- Discuss the overarching statement at the top of page 14 with a colleague. To what extent are the ideas similar to those that you agreed on? Adjust your own sentences or statements if you wish.
- Look at the examples of a specific outcome for the different subject areas. Choose one or two subjects (probably those that you teach) and work with a colleague to create more subject-specific outcomes that reflect the aspects of your overarching statement. Aim to end up with not more than five key outcomes per subject.
- Try to create an opportunity for other staff in the same and different departments to do the same task so that more subject areas are covered. There may be some overlap of outcomes which you can map. You could try doing this by means of a large spider diagram. Put your overarching statement in the middle of a very large sheet of paper. Put each outcome for each subject on a separate different coloured piece of paper. Stick them around the statement, clustering them where there are similarities. Draw links as appropriate. Resist letting the diagram become too complicated.
- Remember that the objective is to create a sense of the interrelationship of outcomes across the curriculum. You should end up with a picture of what pupils will know, do, feel and believe as a result of bringing the global dimension across one or more subject areas of the curriculum.
