Global Citizenship

February 25th, 2011

Comic Relief, Sport Relief and combating poverty

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories international

The Comic Relief charity campaign is underway in the lead up to the annual Red Nose Day on 18th March 2011. Many schools will be running activities to have fun and raise money for this organisation’s work to eradicate povertyand promote social justice in the world. Their website provides ideas for school-based fundraising, examples of previous efforts, and teacher resources.

Sport Relief will take place next in 2012 and teachers can already find out more about ways to combine physical activity with raising student awareness about global issues. The website offers descriptions of how the funds raised are spent for children’s benefit in developing countries, and teachers are encouraged to register for email updates about future opportunities. This educational aspect is also a good fit with the education programmes being offered in association with major sporting events, such as the London Olympics 2012 ‘Get Set’ programme. Schools taking part in Sport Relief activities will be able to use this to support their application for the Get Set Network.

February 25th, 2011

Holocaust education

nickmorgan

Comments: 1 Comment Tags: Tags: holocaust education
 : Categories citizenship

The Scottish Government has announced that it will provide funding for another year for Scottish school students to participate in the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ project conceived and managed by the Holocaust Education Trust. This project has already enabled hundreds of senior pupils to experience a visit to the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp and state museum in Poland, combined with preparatory sessions such as hearing the testimony of a Holocaust survivor. On their return the students commit to some peer education action in which they share their experience with school or community audiences as Student ambassadors. One recent example of such dissemination work is a short video made by students from St.Andrew’s and St.Bride’s High School in South Lanarkshire entitled ‘Auschwitz - a journey’, available on YouTube to a wider audience.

HET held an event in Edinburgh this week to celebrate the work of the Student ambassadors. The evening included a performance of a scene from a play written about Scottish missionary and Holocaust victim Jane Haining. Titled ‘A Promised Land’, theatre company Theatre Objectiv toured its production in Scotland last year.

February 23rd, 2011

Working in the energy sector - National Glow Meet

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: climate and energy, CPD, events
 : Categories renewables and climate change, sciences, social studies, sustainable development, technologies

World of Work Wednesdays - National Glow Meet

Working in the energy sector

2pm - 3pm, Wed 23rd March 2011

The energy sector is set to become one of the fastest growing sectors in Scotland, offering many exciting career opportunities for young people.

It is estimated that between 50,000 to 95,000 jobs will be created in the coming decade as Scotland realises its ambitions to become a world leader in wind, wave and tidal renewable technologies. In total, the transformation to a low carbon economy could generate an estimated 120,000 jobs.

The oil and gas sectors continue to grow too and companies in this sector are looking to recruit 15,000 new employees in the next 5 years.

The potential for exciting careers in the energy sector are set against the backdrop of the current financial crisis which has resulted in the some of the highest ever levels of youth unemployment.

Skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM subjects) will be in greatest demand but there’ll also be the need for a host of other qualified personnel from electricians, plumbers, and fabricators to media officers and receptionists.

Recruiting a sufficient number of people to the energy sector presents a serious challenge and many national strategies are being put in place to ensure that the right people with the right skills are in place at the right time.

Join this interactive Glow meet to find out more. Participants will have the opportunity to take part in challenges, ask questions and learn about the career paths taken by three individuals including:

Rob Orr, Strategic Relations Manager, Skills Development Scotland

- Key sector manager responsible for national energy sector skills development

Orla Grant, Hydraulics Engineer, Aquamarine Power

- Responsible for developing hydraulic systems for marine renewable devices from design concept to component level

Gary Hamilton, Head of Pipelines, Training and Development

- Starting initially as a foreman electrician, Gary is now responsible for 700 new employees within the group across apprenticeships, trainee engineers and graduate programmes

This World of Work Wednesday Glow meet is broadly aimed at learners in secondary schools but may be of interest to primary schools too.

Join this Glow meet on the 23rd March 2011 in the World of Work Wednesday Glow meet room at http://bit.ly/glowWOWW

Please direct technical queries regarding Glow to Jennifer McDougall on email [email protected]

All other queries should be directed to Ian Menzies, Development Officer (Developing Global Citizens) on email: [email protected] or Tel: 0141 282 5160.

This Glow event is collaboration between the Developing Global Citizens and Enterprise Teams at LTS.

Photo: Courtesy of Open Hydro/EMEC

Download Flyer: WoWW Energy Sector Glow Meet

February 15th, 2011

Europe and modern languages

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: modern languages
 : Categories europe, international, modern languages

Lots of evidence this week that Scottish school students often develop high level skills with foreign languages and use those skills as modern young citizens of Europe.

The annual secondary schools speaking competition run by the Scottish European Educational Trust has completed its regional heats and reached the last stage. It requires that participants speak on the themes of why learning a European language should matter to young people, and how language learning could be made more enjoyable. Their summing up and vote of thanks must be in a different European language. Students from five Scottish high schools will be travelling to Brussels in March to compete in the Finals at Scotland House, and will also visit the European Parliament. King’s Park Secondary, St Thomas of Aquins High School, St Margaret’s (Aberdeen), Douglas Academy and Sandwick Junior High School are the finalists.

The European Commission runs a Young Translators contest each year, with a winner in each member state. In 2011 the winning UK student is from a Scottish school, Morrison’s Academy in Crieff, Perthshire.

And finally, a group of Scottish secondary students has just returned from participating in Euroscola, a European Commission initiative which encourages collaboration among young people from across the EU. They meet in Strasbourg and discuss real issues of the day, such as the environment, using their language skills to communicate views and summarise positions with clarity. A TESS piece ‘Scots find political feet on international stage’ reports on the latest round of Euroscola, and the Euroscola Online blog describes the 2011 Scottish experience.

February 11th, 2011

New sustainable development education videos and resources from LTS

imenzies

Comments: 1 Comment Tags: Tags: CPD, resources
 : Categories CPD, curriculum areas, early years, primary schools, secondary schools, sharing practice, sustainable development

Learning and Teaching Scotland has just published a new suite of online resources to support the development of sustainable development education within Curriculum for Excellence.

This new content includes useful background information and six high-quality videos on the following themes:

• What is sustainable development education?
• What is a sustainable school?
• Sustainable development education in early years
• Sustainable development education in primary schools
• Sustainable development education in secondary schools
• Making a difference

You can view these resources at: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningteachingandassessment/learningacrossthecurriculum/themesacrosslearning/globalcitizenship/about/sustainabledevelopment/introduction.asp

It is hoped that they prove to be a valuable CPD tool for practitioners, schools and local authorities. All videos can be downloaded and are accompanied by a ready-to-use PowerPoint presentation.

February 9th, 2011

Scottish Learning Festival - come and join us

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories CPD, citizenship, international, sustainable development

The Scottish Learning Festival 2011 will take place in Glasgow on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd September at the SECC. The theme for SLF 2011 is ‘Curriculum for Excellence: Learning, Teaching and Assessment, Making the
Connections’ and the conference secretariat is now calling for seminar proposals from potential participants. The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday 4th March 2011.

Our annual conference and exhibition event provides practitioners with an opportunity to enhance their skills and knowledge to enable them to offer young people deep and connected learning that will nurture the knowledge and understanding they need for life and learning. In 2011 it will bring together examples of educational practice, leadership and management strategies from across the Scotland and beyond.

To help us deliver a high quality conference programme that showcases the work of the education sector from across Scotland, we need schools and teachers to put themselves forward. Why not think about how you could showcase your own area of work at the show? Our global citizenship team is very keen to see proposals from teachers doing innovative and engaging work with their students in areas such as Sustainable Development, Citizenship, International work, and Games Legacy activities.

Further information on the theme for 2011, along with a link to the Call for Participation, are available from the SLF website at www.scottishlearningfestival.org.uk If you would like to further discuss any aspects of SLF 2011, please contact Martin Jack on 0141 221 7423 or email [email protected]

We’re also delighted to have educators join us for the show from countries around the world. In 2010 more than two hundred international delegates participated in this free event, and we were all richer for it.

Come and join us. Nick

February 9th, 2011

Science education and CERN

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories europe, international

This week a group of Scottish secondary teachers and students has been exposed to advanced scientific research in particle physics at the CERN facility in Geneva, Switzerland. They were part of an international visit led by Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, described in a Scottish Government news story “Pupils see science in action“. Mike Russell also blogged about the experience of being at CERN, the benefits of international collaboration, and the importance of science education. Visits such as this also highlight the variety of jobs in the world of work, and the opportunity for young people to widen their life experience by working abroad as a young citizen of Europe.

Professional development of the teacher workforce is an important part of the Scottish Government’s Science and Engineering Action Plan. Visits such as this, to the home of the Large Hadron Collider , will help to inspire and support the teaching of Physics and the use of real-world examples in education.

Photo credit: Scottish Government

February 6th, 2011

Holocaust Memorial Day 2011

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: holocaust education
 : Categories citizenship

This year hundreds of Scottish primary and secondary schools commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day in a variety of ways. There were special school assemblies, presentations by Holocaust survivors, art works produced by pupils, and much more. This annual event is an opportunity for learning about prejudice and discrimination, and remembering the victims of genocide and the people who contributed to a better future.

The national Holocaust remembrance event in Scotland was hosted by Craigroyston Community High School in Edinburgh, at which school students organised a powerful programme of presentations and music to mark the day. First Minister Alex Salmond spoke of the importance of remembrance and the building of communities which reject racism and discrimination, and of Scotland as one nation with many cultures. Video of the presentation is available on the Scottish Government website.

In Falkirk, Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss spoke to students at Larbert High School about her experiences before, during and after the Second World War. A BBC news story reports on this visit.

There are many educational resources about the Holocaust and genocide produced for teachers, with charities such as the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and the Holocaust Education Trust especially active each year. A newly published American resource, ‘Women and the Holocaust’, adds to the wealth of material which helps teachers to deal with this important topic.