Case Studies

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Sharing Our Resources

Our resources have been used by members of school communities, youth groups and individuals with an interest in issues such as social justice, human rights, Fairtrade, the environment, cultural diversity and international development.

 

  "Wow,  thanks for the delightful books!"

 

 Our resources support education which has a global dimension whilst fulfilling the requirements for citizenship and education for sustainable development.

To help schools and community groups see a selection of what is available for loan and to purchase we have brought resources to them.

Liaison with school librarians in Redcar and Cleveland Secondary Schools has led to resources being displayed in a number of schools in the area including Rye Hills Secondary School and West Redcar College.                            .

 

Raising Standards

 Through

Development Awareness Project:

The First Two Years.

 

For two years the Raising Standards through Development Project has worked to support 4 schools in adding a global dimension to their curriculum, policies, practices and ethos.

 

THE FOUR SCHOOLS

Viewley Hill Primary School in Hemlington, Middlesbrough

St Peter's CE Primary School in Brotton, Redcar and Cleveland

King Edwin School in Norton, Stockton

Ormesby Comprehensive School, Middlesbrough

 

YEAR 1 WHAT DID WE DO?

Year 1 saw a frenzy of activity as staff at the Teesside One World

Centre worked with staff, governors and students from all four schools to assess just what they would most gain from having a global dimension and how best to go about it.

Training sessions took place with staff in school, governors meetings discussed the project and student council activities looked at global issues.

Baseline Assessments in Reception, Years 4, 7 & 8 helped to paint a picture of how globally aware students were and where the gaps in learning lie. 3 main areas were assessed: knowledge &understanding, skills, & attitudes and values.

 

 Reception

 

"What will Mary do when she grows up?

 

"Have a baby...called Jesus."

 

"Why doesn't Mary write on paper?"

 

"Because they aren't as fortunate as us and if they could they could buy fancy clothes and buy some things to eat."

 

 Year 4

 

"Have you seen or heard

something on the news that you think is unfair?"

 

"Innocent people in Iraq getting injured."

 

"Refugees coming into our country"

 

Year 7

 

"Would you like to know more about what is happening in developing countries?"

 

"No because it's their fault. And I do not care about people because they have brought it on themselves."

 

"Yes, because they might die of hunger."

 

"Yes, because I don't think it's fair."

 

  

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

The Baseline Assessments gave a general picture of what students knew about the world, how they saw the future and their role in it. In all 4 schools levels of global awareness were low, reflecting amongst other factors, and the monocultural nature of the areas the children live in.

Although each school was unique in the global awareness shown by the students there were a number of similarities.

  • Students expressed views and attitudes that what was happening around the globe was not relevant to their lives.
  • Differences between people from different cultures were mentioned more frequently than similarities.
  • Whilst students were suspicious of the media they had few media literacy skills.
  • The environment was generally seen as important but global environmental issues were not linked to the everyday actions of young people.
  • The ability to empathise was low in most children.

The Baseline Assessments demonstrated the students' levels of global knowledge and to an extent the attitudes, values and skills they hold. Attempts to find the best way of assessing all of these areas continue with the aim of producing a toolkit for global awareness assessment in schools.

 

WHAT HAPPENED IN YEAR 2?

At the beginning of Year 2 work took place to devise Individual School Action Plans. These include the areas of global awareness and academic subjects that will be the focus over the next two academic years. These Individual Action Plans came into action in September 2003.

 

Each school has taken an individual pathway to a global dimension and have been working throughout the year to achieve this.

 

Viewley Hill Primary School has worked with students in Year 5, KS1 and Reception at global issues.  Students in KS1 have done some lovely work on global celebrations through Design and Technology. Reception students have explored similarities and differences in habitats around the world with the help of Gobi the Camel.

 

King Edwin School have covered a range of issues of sustainable development with a global dimension in their residential after school programme.  The students have had visits from UNICEF workers on the rights of the child, investigated fair trade and investigated poetry from other cultures as part of their curriculum entitlement.

 

Ormesby Comprehensive School

Students have tackled areas such as global trade and tourism through a set of simulation games and had a visit from a Head Teacher from Ghana to learn first hand about life in a Southern country.  The school has established a link with a school in Brazil and staffs have been supported by training from the DFID Global School Partnerships programme.  To introduce students to some elements of culture in Brazil they have been visited by Estrela, an arts based group from Gateshead, who ran a workshop on Forum Theatre.

 

St Peter's CE Primary

Adding a global dimension has taken a whole school approach at St Peter's.  Work has been covered in cross curricular themes such as food, celebrations and refugees and involved all members of the school community. They have also done considerable work on fair trade and activities have included visits to the local COOP and a session which was filmed as part of the Family Xchange series for BBC1.

 

End of Year 2 Conference

March 2003 saw the first project conference "Celebrating a Global Dimension in Schools" which gave the four schools a chance to come together and share the good practice and wonderful experiences they had had during the year.  It was very much about rejoicing in the work they had already done and learning from each other.  The day was a great success and enjoyed by all participants.

 

"It was great to attend an event where the children and activities actually demonstrate a global dimension rather than hearing some one talking about it."

 

"What I loved about your conference was the fact that the children were the main feature actually showing what a global dimension can look like in it many forms."