The NAEE website has had a global learning theme over the last few days; see, for example, here, here and here. A key element of this has been the work of Harriet Marshall (who works for the Global Learning Programme – GLP). In a blog she addresses the practice of global learning in England, and identifies five common themes:
- the SDG framework is often used as the starting point to engage students, school leaders, and other staff. ...
- the core values of the SDGs are often linked to schools’ pre-existing values and ethos statements. ...
- the idea of a global learning ‘journey’ is often at the heart of approaches to engagement with the SDGs in schools – especially those that build in models of behaviour or attitudinal change, and knowledge development. ...
- the the SDGs provide a useful framework for bringing in more complex or controversial local or national issues into the classroom. ...
- many methods of engagement with the SDGs in schools are aligned to critical thinking and the need to promote associated pedagogies like critical literacy and critical numeracy. ...
Not all of these possibilities are unique to global learning, but the fit is remarkably good nonetheless. It does better, for example, than environmental education does in this regard.
The GLP is a rare thing these days: a national, cross-curricular educational project. Even more rarified, it's UK-wide although there are, of course, four versions of the programme. All this is only possible because its funded by DfID. It's managed by: Pearson (lead), the Geographical Association, UCL Institute of Education, Oxfam UK, the Royal Geographical Society, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, and Think Global. Pearson says that about 5500 schools are involved across the UK, adding:
GLP supports teachers to help pupils learn about the challenges our world faces and think critically about issues such as poverty, inequality and sustainability. It helps pupils make sense of the world in which they live and understand their role in a global society.
"By using global learning to enrich the curriculum, GLP schools are finding that global learning is helping to develop critical thinking skills, promote SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural development), and foster values such as respect and empathy."
This is, of course, in many ways quite laudable, so why do I worry about it? I suppose there are three main reasons:
- it's run by DfID and not the mainstream (and largely disengaged) DfE – try looking on the DfE website for 'global learning'
- its view of global is unbalanced – its main emphasis is on social justice and not on sustainability in the round. Try searching for 'species loss' and 'ocean acidification' on the GLP website.
- Surely helping "pupils [begin to] make sense of the world in which they live and understand their role in a global society" is the role of school as a whole, and not some here today, gone tomorrow project, no matter how well-connected and impeccably correct.
Actually, these reasons are not unrelated as [2] can be seen as a consequence of [1] and because of the built-in interests (ie, biases) of the management group, and [3] is only possible (some say necessary) because DfE has lost interest in curriculum. All this reminds me of TVEI in the 1980s when the Manpower Services Commission [sic] threatened to set up its own schools if the Department for Education didn't take an active interest. How have we got into this (another fine) mess?
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