Increasing awareness of the global dimension
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.
(Developing a global dimension
in the school curriculum,
DfEE 0115/2000.)
We often take for granted the benefits that science brings to us in our everyday lives. The outcomes of scientific research and development help to make our lives easier and safer. Yet many of these applications go almost unnoticed by the general population.
Raising a young child's awareness and understanding of how science is present and important in our world is now even more desirable as we strive towards a more sustainable future for the planet.
Media images of foreign places often focus on the negative and omit the positive developments that are taking place, especially in the 'South'. This can give our pupils a skewed perspective of a country and its people.
To keep yourself updated, you might want to make regular visits to websites such as 'Timesonline', 'Department for International Development (DfID)' or 'Oxfam' that show current developments across the globe.
On occasion, your science may be set in a planet-wide context. Alternatively, you may want to make regular but brief references to the global dimension in a science lesson to stimulate a discussion or make the subject more relevant or topical for your pupils.
The previous page addressed the eight key concepts of the global dimension. Your school's planning document for science is the ideal vehicle for ensuring you obtain regular coverage of these concepts in science.
Part 1 of the Activity on the right will help you check the incorporation of the global dimension in your science planning.
Activity Resources:
- Images
- Interactive
- Sound
- Text
- Video
Activity
- Highlight lessons/topics already planned into your science scheme, where you incorporate a global dimension. Then consider whether your current science curriculum gives regular access to the wider global dimension. (The table located under the Text icon above might be useful to record your school's current coverage.)
- Go to the Association for Science Education's 'Global Dimension' site by clicking on the link below. Global Dimension
- Click on 'Hot Issues' for current scientific international developments. Scan through the list and select two or three that you feel are relevant to the curriculum for your class.
- Though you may not intend them to be the focus of your topic, how could you introduce these developments to your pupils to raise their awareness and encourage them to think? To help you, you can find some ideas for strategies under the Text icon above.
