Global Citizenship

May 30th, 2011

Scottish Learning Festival 2011

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: events, slf2011
 : Categories citizenship, europe, international, sustainable development

The programme for the Scottish Learning Festival 2011 has been published online, and potential visitors can check out the range of presentations, seminars, school showcase sessions, and side events. The conference programme is complemented as usual by a big exhibition featuring providers of commercial and non-for-profit services for educators and pupils.

This year the key theme for the festival is “Curriculum for Excellence: Learning, Teaching and Assessment, making the connections”. There is a strong showing for Global Citizenship, with practitioners and development officers leading sessions on citizenship, international education, and sustainable development. For example, there are seminars on Climate Change, Games Legacy, Rights Respecting Schools, and much more.

In the Exhibition Hall, there will be a Global Village stand, and our Global Citizenship team will be delighted to talk to teachers and visitors who drop in to find out more about activities in schools and the support we can provide. Come and join us at the show!

The event will be taking place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd September 2011. We’re expecting thousands of Scottish education professionals to join us, and we will also welcome several hundred international visitors who come to explore aspects of Scottish education policy and practice. An international reception on the Wednesday evening provides an occasion for networking between overseas visitors and Scottish staff.

Come and join us !

May 26th, 2011

Refugee Week and Global Citizenship

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: asylum seekers, refugees
 : Categories citizenship, international

Refugee Week in Scotland takes place from 20th to 26th June 2011, with the Scottish Refugee Council taking the leading role in coordinating and promoting events and debate. There will be face-to-face meetings, workshops, exhibitions and a mini film festival showing videos made by/about refugee and asylum seekers living in Scotland. The richness of the contribution made in Scottish society by refugees and asylum seeker groups is a conspicuous theme. Organisations which are putting on events can add their details to a database to alert people to the opportunities.

Many parts of Scotland now have significant numbers of ‘new Scots’ living in the community, having come to Scotland for a variety of reasons, and schools often utilise this people resource to enhance their teaching about Global Citizenship; for example, by having parents work with teachers to have African dance or music in the classroom.

Additional support for educators to address Refugee Week is provided by a variety of organisations. Here’s a few examples:

Glasgow Film Theatre is running a special screening of ‘Persepolis’, an animated movie about an Iranian exile, accompanied by new short films made by young refugees.

British Red Cross has published video diaries produced by young refugees.

Christian Aid has a resource for teachers and youth leaders about Refugees.

‘Teachers TV’ is no longer broadcasting but an archive of their educational documentary programmes is now online at the Teachers Media service. There are many videos relating to Global Citizenship education, including several programmes about refugees living and being educated in Britain.

May 26th, 2011

Developing Global Citizens – Open day study visit programme proves highly successful

kmayer

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

Schools around the country have been opening their doors to practitioners in order to share their successes in embedding global citizenship in the curriculum. This encompasses environmental issues, aspects of citizenship and international education. Participants explore the educational benefits of global citizenship as a highly relevant and challenging context for improved learning and teaching across the 3 – 18 curriculum.

14 schools across the country have already taken part in the programme by hosting around 200 practitioners and education managers. Key themes included: ‘Leadership – global citizenship at the heart of curriculum for excellence’; Games Legacy in Scotland’; ‘Sustainable development education and eco schools’; and ‘Stirling Council – a local authority approach’.

Due to the success of the programme further events are planned at Bellahouston Academy (6 June), Lawthorn Primary School (15 June) and Woodacre Nursery (tbc).

Up-take and feedback from participants have provided an overwhelming endorsement for this innovative and highly effective programme of professional development.

Participants commented:

I found that actually being in a school and observing their good practice was invaluable. Seeing another school doing what I would like to do enabled me to take away and pass on real practical solutions and ideas that were tried and tested. It was a very inspiring visit, ……”

Very welcoming school with extremely polite pupils. Vibrant learning environment. I am going away feeling very inspired – thank you!

May 23rd, 2011

Energy efficient demonstration houses are worth a visit

imenzies

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

The ground-breaking Glasgow House project is a unique partnership between City Building, Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) and PRP Architects to deliver the first energy-efficient, highly insulated prototype house in Glasgow.

The Glasgow House prototypes incorporate high levels of insulation and air tightness, efficient heating systems and solar gain through the use of sun rooms and solar thermal panels. Tests have shown that they comfortably exceed both industry standards and project targets for both energy efficiency and air tightness.

The driving force behind the construction of the energy efficient homes is to tackle fuel poverty and deliver modern, attractive and affordable low-carbon, social housing for the people of Glasgow. It is hoped that the Glasgow House concept will be rolled out on a larger scale as Glasgow knocks down its high rises and regenerates its housing stock across the city.

The concept of sustainable communities is at the heart of this project in other ways too. Young people who have struggled to find employment are being taken on as apprentices and are being trained in construction techniques for the new houses at the City Building Skills Academy. The furniture and timber kits are also being manufactured by the Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries (RSBi), one of Europe’s largest supported employment facilities which provides valuable employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

To book a tour of the Glasgow House for your school then phone 08456 001 323 or email: [email protected]

See the video at: http://www.gha.org.uk/content/default.asp?page=s43_11

May 23rd, 2011

Young Masters Programme on Sustainable Development

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: climate and energy, CPD, research
 : Categories ICT, sciences, sustainable development, technologies

The Young Masters Programme on Sustainable Development is a global web-based education and learning network. It is free of charge and is open to students (16–18 years old) and their teachers from all over the world.

Extensive online teaching material gives the students a thorough understanding of sustainability issues and solutions. Challenging assignments in their local communities inspire students and enhance their interest in the studies.

Teachers and students from all corners of the world are brought together in virtual classrooms to compare and discuss their results, and to receive and give feedback on their assignments. In the online community, students learn from each other by sharing first-hand information with their peers in different countries. They also gain an understanding of common sustainability challenges and what different local perspectives and solutions exist.

The Young Masters Programme has been developed at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University in Sweden and is an integral part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005–2014) led by UNESCO. The programme is managed by an independent, non-profit foundation, the Young Masters Programme Foundation (YMPF). Close ties and collaboration with Lund university and the international scientific community ensures that the basic course content is reliable and in concordance with the latest scientific knowledge.

Find more information about the YMPF at www.ympfoundation.org

Enrol in the programme by visiting http://www.goymp.org/

May 18th, 2011

School open day: Lawthorn Primary School, North Ayrshire, Wed 15 June 2011

kmayer

Comments: none Tags: Tags: community, events
 : Categories sustainable development

9:30am – 2.45pm

Main focus: Sustainable Development Education.

The highly successful programme of Developing Global Citizens study visits to schools around the country continues with Lawthorn Primary School, winner of the Best Sustainable School Award 2010.

Participants will have the opportunity to find out for themselves how the school’s systematic approach to global citizenship education acts as a key driver for enriched learning across the whole curriculum . and discover how this has transformed the attitudes of pupils and the wider community.

The visit will allow practitioners to find out about:

• implementing a highly effective carbon reduction scheme using the LTS online ‘global footprint calculator’ administered by pupils
• utilising green spaces surrounding the school as ‘outdoor classrooms’
• building strong partnerships with parents and a wide range of local community groups and businesses.
• planting trees and growing food in the school allotment
• the impact of active and vibrant pupil- led ‘eco’ steering groups which drive many initiatives and campaigns. This includes sustainable school travel, waste minimisation and support for wider sustainability education programmes .

For more information see: School open day programme Lawthorn PS

Or visit our LTS Sustainable Development Education Glow group.

Flyer and programme : Lawthorn Primary Open day

How to book

Places for this event are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.

To book, please email: [email protected] or phone 0141 282 5172.

This event is free of charge.

May 13th, 2011

African connections

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: Fairtrade
 : Categories africa, international

Hundreds of Scottish schools are involved each year in fundraising with charities that are active in Africa, and many have a partner school which is the focus for this activity. The money raised enables development in the southern partners, and exposes Scottish students to some of the realities and inequalities of life in other countries. Our young people get engaged with issues of global citizenship and become active contributors to a better world.

This week’s Times Educational Supplement Scotland has two news pieces about Scottish schools’ achievements with enterprise, fundraising and African engagement.

- Stonelaw High School in South Lanarkshire won the ‘Young Persons’ category in the annual UK-wide ‘Social Enterprise Awards 2011′. Enterprising work in areas such as Fairtrade generated large amounts which the school used to support the education of AIDS orphans in a deprived area of South Africa.

- Kemnay Academy in Aberdeenshire has been raising funds with the Scottish charity ’500 Miles’, which provides artificial prosthetic limbs for disabled people in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Students took part in a charitable challenge initiative developed by a local company, which provided additional support and business expertise.

May 13th, 2011

Bellahouston Academy, Open Day visit, Monday 6th June 2011

kmayer

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

9:00am – 3.45pm

Main Focus: Sustainable development education, Citizenship, Secondary

A unique and exciting opportunity for teachers and education managers to find out about the success of Bellahouston Academy’s inspirational global citizenship education programme. This visit includes first hand experiences of learning programmes/lessons as well as insight into the planning and structural set-up of an integrated approach to developing global citizens within the school.
During your school visit you will be given insight into the ethos and structure that lies behind the transformational learning experiences permeating the whole curriculum. An innovative, learner centred approach to citizenship education and sustainable development allows all pupils to engage with issues such as fairness, justice, cultural diversity and the environment in a meaningful and often practical way.

Partnership working is an integral part of the school’s successful global citizenship education. Contributions by partners such as the John Muir Trust, Duke of Edinburgh, the Garden Initiative or Glasgow School of Sport have been timetabled into the curriculum. Many other organisations such as the British Council, Eco Schools Scotland, the NHS, the Iona Community, Rights Respecting Schools etc provide rich contexts for learners to connect their theoretical studies with real life.

Some examples of the rich learning experiences and activities you will be able to find out more about during your visit include:

• How to make global citizenship education and sustainable development sustainable
• How to manage a school garden to include all pupils and departments
• How to utilise green spaces surrounding the school as ‘outdoor classrooms’
• How to work Duke of Edinburgh into the curriculum
• How tweaking the PSE programme can create strong relationships with partners, parents and the wider community
• How to incorporate partnership working with schools in other countries into the curriculum
• How to capitalise on the work done in Modern Languages departments to strengthen global citizenship education
• What are Rights Respecting Schools and what is involved in becoming one
• The power of an active and vibrant Eco-School pupil steering group responsible for many initiatives and campaigns to encourage sustainable school travel, minimise waste, support wider sustainability education programme.

How to book

To book, please email: [email protected] or phone 0141 282 5193.

Bellahouston Academy Open Day Programme

This event is free of charge. Places for this event are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment

May 12th, 2011

Micro-finance and Global Citizenship

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: micro-finance
 : Categories ICT, international

Talking to schools and teachers on a frequent basis, we often come across examples of innovative approaches to learning about global citizenship. In recent months I’ve seen more teachers introducing their pupils to the concept of micro-financing, a way of lending small amounts of money to entrepreneurial individuals in developing countries to help them move out of poverty. So a school class might raise a modest sum through charitable efforts, and then commit that money in small loans to local people in nations in Africa, Asia, etc. Loan repayments can be reinvested with other individuals. Involvement in such a programme can help young people research and understand life and poverty in other countries, and make a direct contribution towards improving the lives and communities of other people. The young students also learn more about financial education and planning and about enterprise. Here are two examples.

St Vincent’s primary school in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, took part in a challenge activity with the Wild Hearts charity. A video interview with three pupils describes the process and what they learned from the experience.

And the Kiva not-for-profit organisation in the USA is used by other Scottish schools as a channel to support local development. Langlands primary school from Angus were an early adopter of this approach. The recent report of the Curriculum for Excellence ‘Modern Studies Excellence Group’ comments on Kiva as an example of real-world citizenship action.

Nick

May 11th, 2011

Global citizenship, poverty and food

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: poverty
 : Categories citizenship, international

The ‘Live Below the Line’ campaign is challenging people in the UK to commit to five days in May of living on less. With a food budget of just one pound per day, participants will have an experience which helps them to understand better the challenges faced by people living in extreme poverty. The campaign will raise funds for charitable use, working with major charities which are active in anti-poverty initiatives in the UK and in developing countries. The website gives information about aims and participation, and explains how the money raised will be used.

Another approach is that adopted by Mary’s Meals, a charity which runs feeding projects in a number of African and European countries, enabling thousands of children to attend school and get an education. A BBC news story provides a recent update, and a Scotsman article reported on the involvement of Scottish singer Annie Lennox.

Schools can encourage discussion and debate about the needs of people in poverty and the ways of adressing those needs, and students learn more about global citizenship through research, discussion and the formation of informed viewpoints.