Global Citizenship – Page 2 – Learning for Sustainability

Global Citizenship Primary Conference

The national recommendations on learning for sustainability (LfS) require all practitioners to embed LfS in their everyday values and practice. SCOTDEC is hosting a free one day conference on Thursday 14^th May, entitled ‘Global Citizenship Matters’. It is aimed at primary practitioners and leaders, providing a space to share, reflect and network. Practical workshops including storytelling, numeracy, health, sustainable living and rights and participation will provide an opportunity to explore a range of global contexts and LfS themes and approaches.

Click here for further details and booking information.

Earth Hour 2015

Earth Hour 2015 takes place this Saturday (March 28) when people around the world are encouraged to switch off their lights for one hour from 20:30 to 21:30 as a symbolic gesture of support for global action on climate change.

Organised by WWF, Earth Hour is an annual international event involving hundreds of millions of people who care about our planet.

In 2014, Earth Hour in Scotland included landmarks such as Edinburgh Castle, the Forth Rail Bridge, the Falkirk Wheel, Stirling Castle, Scottish Parliament and the Glasgow Emirates. Internationally 162 countries took part and included iconic buildings such as the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House and the Empire State Building.

All local authority areas in Scotland took part, as did 21 other public bodies and national organisations. Many of these agencies, including the Scottish Government, have signed up to show their support again this year.

Earth Hour presents an excellent opportunity to connect the curriculum to events going on beyond the classroom. It provides a reminder of how concerted local action can have far reaching global consequences. Learners may be aware of stories in the national media about the environmental impact of climate change and the measures society puts in place to try and address it. These issues lend themselves to exploration through many curricular areas. They provide rich, real world contexts that allow learners to make meaningful connections between their everyday choices and the long term sustainability of our world. These types of learning experiences are at the very heart of great learning for sustainability.

Click here for further support and resources linked to Earth Hour and the wider subject of sustainability.

Primary pupils get animated about sustainability

Pupils from Kinnaird Primary School, Larbert, are sharing their learning for sustainability work with the wider world. Gemma Douglas, principal teacher, and Brenda Bennie, class teacher, have been using WOSDEC global storyline resource, Our Crop, Our Land with their Primary 5 and 6 classes to explore the issues of food security and land grabbing. Their animation on the use and production of Palm Oil explores the far reaching consequences of our everyday choices. It has already had hundreds of hits on YouTube much to the excitement of the illustrators, animators and voiceover artists from Kinnaird. Great work team!

For more on this story and a chance to see the children’s animation, click here.

Global Citizenship Matters – Primary CLPL

WO SDEC and the Global Learning Programme Scotland have organised a free professional learning event for primary teachers entitled Global Citizenship Matters: Rights, Global Citizenship and Learning for Sustainability.

Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, and Ellen Doherty, General Teaching Council Scotland, will deliver keynote speeches.

When: 15 May 2015

Where: TouchBase, Sense Scotland, 43 Middlesex Street, Glasgow G41 1EE

The conference aims to support teachers in making the links between rights, global citizenship and learning for sustainability by providing:

an opportunity to develop professional understanding of and confidence around learning for sustainability
practical classroom tools to enhance learning & teaching for global citizenship
space to share and reflect with colleagues

Practical workshops will cover:

Children’s rights and participation
Assessing global citizenship
Values
Planning for learning for sustainability (LfS)

To reserve a place contact: wosdec@btconnect.com

Global Learning Programme Scotland

Overheard conversation between two young learners in a Scottish primary school this week – Learner 1: “I want to go to the rainforest and tell them to stop cutting it down.” Learner 2: “Don’t go yet. You’re too wee. Wait till we’re bigger and we’ll both go.” The potential of where this conversation and these aspirations will lead to is intriguing. Many learners are making connections between rich curricular contexts for learning and their own capacity to engage with the ever changing world around them.

To engage our learners in learning for sustainability requires teachers who can confidently weave a number of aspects, including global citizenship, sustainable development education, outdoor learning and children’s rights into their practice.

Global Learning Programme Scotland (GLP-S) supports the development of global citizenship through the curriculum and offers free professional learning for teachers. Click here to find out about the range of CLPL on offer from the six Scottish regional Development Education Centres.

You can also sign up for their online global citizenship magazine Stride at www.stridemagazine.org.uk

For more information contact Rachel Hamada at ideasforuminfo@gmail.com

Fair Trade 2015

Fair Trade Fortnight 2015is now approaching, and this year’s dates are 23rd February to 8th March.

Schools get involved in the new annual campaigns each year, but teachers also work with their students the whole year round to facilitate study and thinking about issues of justice and international development. Young people develop their understanding of the issues underlying key global problems, and come to recognise their own potential for making a difference. Fair Trade is a broad concept, and other products such as chocolate, coffee, cotton and rice are frequently seen in school activities.

The Scottish Fair Trade Forum (SFTF) supports and encourages positive action all over Scotland, and schools rise to the challenge. Extending educational activity into nurseries and early years establishments is a particular focus, with a new Fair Trade Nurseries section on the website.

The Traidcraft charity website Schools section provides resources for teachers and advice about becoming a Fair Trade School.

Just Trading Scotland is a fair trade supplier based in Paisley. Their popular 90k Rice Challenge runs again this year, challenging schools and community organisations to sell 90k of rice, the amount of rice sold that would enable a Malawian farmer to pay for a year’s secondary education for one child.