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FEATURE


The NASUWT’s professional conference brought together teachers and education professionals to examine the role global learning should play in preparing students to be successful learners and informed citizens. Teaching Today looks at some conference highlights

the Global Classroom

Globalisation is having a huge impact on all our lives, but too often teachers are not being supported effectively to bring the lessons of the wider world into the classroom, delegates attending the oneday NASUWT Global Classroom conference agreed.

A lack of time, knowledge and assistance from managers and local authorities are hampering the efforts of many teachers to introduce elements of global learning to their pupils, despite a clear awareness from teachers of the critical importance of teaching students about concepts such as global citizenship, diversity and sustainable development.

At a time when technological developments and ecological challenges are bringing the world closer together, schools are failing their pupils if they do not provide a global perspective, Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary [right], told delegates, saying: “Whatever education is for, it is surely meant to be a preparation for life, whether that is within our own communities, going out into the world of work or as preparation for civic life.

“Teachers are shaping tomorrow’s citizens who will be our global leaders and these leaders must be outward facing and able to make connections with people with languages other than their own.

“The current economic crisis is having a worldwide effect, threatening the fight against climate change and global poverty, to name just two effects. It is even more critical then that schools ensure they incorporate global learning into the curriculum.

“Each of us is being called on to pay a high price to deal with the deficit in the nation’s finances,” Dr Roach said.

“We need to consider the legacy we are leaving very carefully because global learning should be about learning lessons from history as much as anything else. Our actions today will have consequences that will reverberate around the world for generations.”

(Photo of Dr Roach)

Dr Roach called for more support and resources for teachers to promote global learning in schools, pointing to research that shows that children exposed to such teaching are more open-minded and accepting of difference and that teachers working in schools where global learning is part of the curriculum are more motivated to remain in their jobs.

“The current economic crisis is threatening the fight against climate change and global poverty…It is even more critical that schools incorporate global learning into the curriculum. “

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