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Critical Thinking through the World Peace Game
John Hunter puts all the problems of the world on a 4'x5' plywood board and lets his 4th-graders solve them. At TED2011, he explains how his World Peace Game engages children in critical thinking to solve global issues. http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html
73% of teachers are uncomfortable with some fundraising methods in schools
Times are tighter for charities and as fundraisers launch ever more public focused campaigns, some teachers have sounded concerns that some fundraising approaches make them feel uncomfortable. Now a group of charities working in international development and humanitarian action have committed to helping make good practice in fundraising with young people easier. Think Global have been working with a number of international development charities and produced a Free poster for schools to support good fundraising activities.
Global Teaching Conference 2011
Teachers from Primary and Special Schools in Essex are invited to the Global Teaching Conference - "Reaching Out from the Classroom" on Friday 17th June 2011 9.30am -3.30pm at the Colchester Curriculum Development Centre.
- Find out how education with a global dimension has enhanced teaching and learning within Essex schools.
- Learn how global partnerships have provided excellent opportunities for global learning and community cohesion.
- Be inspired and equipped to embed the global dimension within your own teaching and within the whole school community
Cost: £30 including lunch, usable teaching materials and excellent resources to take away For all enquiries and bookings please contact; carolbatchelor@devedessex.org.uk Tel. 01206 790677.
Few spaces left on our Global Learning Programme
We have a few remaining spaces on our innovative Global Learning Programme for Primary Schools. The first session will be held in Cambridge on 30th June. See http://global-thinking.org.uk/what-we-do/global-thinking-global-learning-programme for more details.
New report from Pearson on changes to the Primary curriculum
Global Thinking welcomes a new report from Pearson on changes to the primary curriculum
Pearson, the owner of the Edexcel exam board, have published a new report which looks at whether primary schools should structure learning around subjects or themes and argues for five priorities in primary schools: a holistic approach; strong subject knowledge; strong pedagogical knowledge; a creative approach to getting the basics right and high expectations. These priorities complement Think Global and Oxfam's response to the review of the national currriculum, available here: www.think-global.org.uk/resources/item.asp?d=4550
The Pearson report is available here: www.pearsoncpl.com/2011/04/subject-to-change/ and has been mentioned in the TES here: www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6077921
Mind the Gap
This video by Ya Basta Films raises some interesting debates about the motivations and implications of gap year organisations. http://www.vimeo.com/20281526
Excellent new film on poverty and health in Kenya
A short film based in Kenya shows how complex issues of poverty and health impact on the lives of individuals. The Guardian is producing a series of films about some of the global issues that feature in Christian Aid's manifesto for change, Poverty Over . The first one at http://www.guardian.co.uk/povertyover is filmed in Mombasa, Kenya and tells the story of Melvin who brings up his younger sister alone on his earnings from prostitution. It shows how discrimination towards gay men in Kenya affects their access to medical treatment for HIV/Aids.
A good film for Secondary Citizenship/PSHE, Geography or R.E. or if your school has a partnership with Kenya perhaps.
Can you live on £1 a day for 5 days?
Think Global are launching a new fundraising campaign in association with Global Poverty Project. The campaign is called 'Live Below the Line' and asks people to live on £1 a day for 5 days - the same amount that 1.4 billion people live on around the world. More details are available here: www.think-global.org.uk/news/item.asp?n=12300. There will be special activities that enable schools to get involved too.
Parents want schools to teach children how to think globally
Think Global are launching new research about what parents want from schools conducted by YouGov. Parents believe that schools have a crucial role to play in preparing their children to live in a globalised world. Almost three-quarters of parents agree that it is important for schools to help young people to think globally (71%) and be responsible global citizens (72%). The detail of this new research can be found in the full report What Parents Want: the role of schools in teaching about the wider world available from: www.think-global.org.uk/resources/research.asp
New Reports from the Global Student Forum
Global Student Forum - impact reports show students are inspired and confident to educate others and take action
Global Student Forum has published further impact reports on its website - www.globalstudentforum.org/gsf-impact.
These include a report on the lasting impacts of the GSF2010 national sixth form conference on students and the outcomes of this conference in schools, and a report on the immediate impacts of GSF2010 regional conferences which took place in November.
A consistent theme in these reports is the way in which students' experiences of GSF inspire a commitment to taking action on global issues, and equip students with the knowledge, understanding and confidence to engage their peers, politicians and the media in relation to these issues.
The squashed tomato challenge for KS2-5
A great idea for National Science and Engineering Week
The Problem: how to transport tomatoes from the mountainside to the market below.
The Challenge: to design and build a model system that can transport tomatoes without squashing them.
A wide range of support materials are provided including teacher's notes, student info sheet, student worksheets, certificates for taking part, as well as links to videos and information on how it's done in Nepal using a gravity ropeway.
The challenge is suitable for a bronze CREST in a day award.
Visit www.practicalaction.org/education/squashedtomatochallenge to find out more.
Changing Education Paradigms
There is a great animated video on the RSA website called Changing Education Paradigms. It illustrates an RSA talk given by education expert Sir Ken Robinson.
View it here: http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/videos/
The other videos on that page are also worth a look.
BBC World Service: The Forum
I caught an interesting discussion on World Service "the Forum" a radical rethink of the future of rich countries - 3 people including the (female) Zambian Economist Moyo discussing this from an African perspective - and another speaker an European Engineer who believes children as young as 7yrs should learn systems thinking in schools. Go to the weblink - you can listen to the whole thing or scroll down for each of the speakers "60 second idea to change the world".
SEAL and the Global Dimension
Over 20 teachers recently attended the first SEAL and the Global Dimension CPD day for the the East of England. The event was organised by Global Thinking and facilitated by Clive Belgeonne and Nickey Brown from Developmwnt Education Centre South Yorkshire. Participants explored practical teaching tools and methods for enhancing the global dimension within the SEAL programme. Due to the popularity of this CPD, Global Thinking will be providing an additional CPD day on Thursday 17th February at Milton Country Park, Cambridge. Please contact for more information.