Global Citizenship

June 11th, 2012

Anti-Sectarian education

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: sectarianism
 : Categories citizenship, expressive arts, languages, learner voice, religious and moral education, social studies, technologies

North Lanarkshire Council secondary schools have been involved in a video-making project about the hatred and bigotry associated with sectarian behaviour in Scottish society. Students from Bellshill Academy and Cardinal Newman High School worked together to make a video about this form of prejudice and hate-crime, to deliver an anti-sectarian message to young people in the same age group. A NLC news release provides background and details.

BBC Scotland reported on the launch of this video which encourages tolerance of diversity and the eradication of sectarian actions and beliefs.

Glasgow’s ‘Sense over Sectarianism‘ programme continues to work in partnership with schools and community groups to improve the lives of local citizens.

June 7th, 2012

Join our Glow meet from Rio

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: action, climate and energy, community, democracy, events, human rights, learner voice, natural disasters, nature, poverty, water
 : Categories biodiversity, community, curriculum areas, learner voice, outdoor learning, religious and moral education, renewables and climate change, sciences, social studies, sustainable development

11am - 12pm, Tuesday 19 June 2012

What are your green dreams for the future?

What message will you send to world leaders?

How can Scotland become more sustainable?

What can we expect from this globally important event?

Over 150 heads of state and world leaders will gather in Rio de Janeiro from 20-22^nd June 2012 for crucial talks at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Stewart Stevenson MSP, Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, will be one of those travelling to Rio as part of the official UK delegation.

Education Scotland, through Glow, is giving you the chance to link with the Minister live from Rio to learn more about the event and the hopes and expectations of the UK delegation.

The conference, referred to as Rio+20, will mark 20 years since the historic Earth Summit in the same city in 1992 which put issues such as climate change and the protection of biodiversity on the map and gave birth to Agenda 21 – an action plan for a sustainable future which was adopted by national governments, cities and local authorities across the world. Rio+20 will focus on seven priority areas including: decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness.

Rio+20 provides an opportunity to move away from business-as-usual and to take bold steps to end poverty and address environmental destruction.

This will be an interactive Glow meet so get your questions, messages, ideas and green dreams ready for Rio!

• What is Scotland doing to protect the environment and promote sustainable development? What more could we be doing?
• What are your green dreams and ideas for the future? What should we have achieved by the time Rio+40 comes around?
• What messages would you like the Minister to pass onto other government officials and world leaders when he meets them for discussions?

This Glow meet will be suitable for learners in primary and secondary schools.

Visit http://bit.ly/glowrio20 to register and join the Glow meet on the day. Free Rio+20 resources are available at: http://bit.ly/JxZr5G

June 7th, 2012

SLF 2012 programme ‘live’ for visitors

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: slf2012
 : Categories citizenship, games and sport, health and wellbeing, learner voice, outdoor learning, religious and moral education, sciences, sharing practice, social studies, sustainable development

Education Scotland has published the seminar programme for the Scottish Learning Festival 2012, SLF 2012, our annual conference and exhibition for educators. The event takes place in Glasgow on Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th September 2012, and we’ll be expecting thousands of education professionals to join us at the SECC from across Scotland, the UK and the world. Free to attend, the programme offers a wide range of keynotes, seminars and opportunities for professional dialogue. The overall theme this year is ‘Creative Learning, Creative Thinking’, and delegates will be exposed to creativity in many forms.

Global citizenship themes are well-represented among the seminars. Among the list of inclusions are sessions on educational work relating to Homophobia, Sectarianism, Games legacy, environmental projects, ‘pupil voice’, and international links. The full list of sessions, with the codes necessary for booking, is provided on the event site and also in the online interactive version.

In the Exhibition hall you’ll find many organisations involved in Scottish education, from the public, commercial and voluntary sectors. These exhibitors offer support for educators in many forms, and our team will also be running a ‘developing global citizens’ stand again this year - a chance for delegates to meet us and talk about how global citizenship is developing in Scotland.

Come and join us! We will add further updates about SLF 2012 to this blog as the dates get closer.

June 7th, 2012

European football

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: euro2012, football
 : Categories europe, games and sport, health and wellbeing, international

The Euro 2012 football competition final rounds start in Poland and Ukraine tomorrow, and offer great opportunities for some more learning about global citizenship. Teams of players from many European nations (sadly not Scotland) and thousands of back-up staff and supporters will enjoy two weeks of top class sport. Details of the fixtures schedule, and coverage of the competition are on the BBC website among others.

Thousands of school pupils will have the additional benefit of learning new things in areas such as sport, health, Europe, travel, countries and languages - but also in less obvious areas such as literacy skills. An article in The Guardian describes how students can be inspired to read more. Teachers could also initiate lessons about media coverage and bias.

For themes around global citizenship, there are interesting discussions to be had about the environmental impact of thousands of people travelling from their homes to Eastern Europe, the issue of diversity and possible racism and violence at the venues, and the labour issues around production of balls and strips. One example: a teaching resource about football, fair trade and literacy.

Enjoy the games!

June 6th, 2012

Cooperatives and Social Enterprise

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: cooperatives, social enterprise
 : Categories primary schools, secondary schools, sharing practice, social studies

Global Citizenship education has Social Justice at its heart, and has clear links with the approaches taken by co-operatives and social enterprises. Both economic concepts have a focus on community benefit and well-being, and the involvement of local people in leading initiatives to improve their world.

2012 is the International Year of Co-operatives, IYOC 2012, and part of the celebrations is a big event for educators to be held at New Lanark next week. The event will highlight the contribution that study about Co-operatives and the Co-operative movement can make to implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. The organisers, the Co-operative Education Trust Scotland, has a strong track record of support for schools which includes the development of teaching resources. New SQA Awards in Cooperative Studies are now available for education providers to use with their students.

In Scotland our schools have substantial experience of developing Enterprise education, and are still innovating. A feature article in the current issue of the GTCS magazine ‘Teaching Scotland’, titled “Future Proof“, reports on programmes to support development of social enterprises in schools such as Banchory Academy, Aberdeenshire, and St Mary’s Primary, Larkhall, South Lanarkshire. The Scottish Social Enterprise Academy works with schools to develop skills and extend the vision of social entrepreneurship.

June 1st, 2012

Refugee Week Scotland, 18th-24th June 2012

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: action, asylum seekers, democracy, events, human rights, refugees
 : Categories africa, citizenship, commonwealth, community, curriculum areas, europe, international, social studies, sustainable development

Each year Refugee Week grows and increases in profile, making its mark on the UK’s cultural calendar. This year’s theme Spirit captures:

• Spirit of survival and the individual – the determination needed to flee persecution and rebuild your life
• Community spirit – the connections between refugees and local communities
• Scotland’s spirit – the cultural diversity of Scotland today

Refugee Week is all about having fun, broadening horizons and breaking down barriers. Every June the week long UK-wide festival of arts, cultural and educational events celebrates contributions refugees have made to the UK, and promotes understanding about why people seek sanctuary.

Click here to see the exciting programme of activities and events for 2012>>