home
SAY IT LOUD !
bringing the Johannesberg Summit home
A London Environmental Co-ordinators Forum Website
|
Consultation forums Two daytime forums and three twilight forums took place. Two were in London, one on the London/Surrey border, one in Winchester and one in Milton Keynes. The forums were extremely useful not only in bringing together different 'stakeholders' but also in raising issues that were not included in the original questionnaire interviews. One issue raised at all the forums so far has been the need to bring about changes to the national curriculum and to try and influence OFSTED. Another issue has been the quality of development education, and the need to avoid perpetuating bad practice that can reinforce stereotypes. The forums also gave teachers the opportunity to discuss their own practice and share ideas. Tower Hamlets (East London) In Tower Hamlets the need for formal recognition of the global dimension was raised, both within and across the curriculum. The strategy was seen to need both an up-down and a down-up approach. Participants recommended that there be a structured organisation to co-ordinate all sectors, including those represented at the forum and representatives from government. The strategy should involve a wider cross-section including parents and governors. Cluster groups of teachers should be set up to share good practice. Support should be delivered at the borough level, with a database of resources and named contacts. They should meet the borough specific needs of the school and community. NGOs should bring resources into schools rather than just sending flyers and catalogues, and they should offer teacher training. A fuller report on this consultation day can be found in Appendix (iv) Winchester The main focus of discussion at this session was the need to involve the whole community, not just schools. Participants expressed the need for government to 'turn rhetoric into practice', for the Treasury to fund global initiatives and for DFID and DFES to communicate better. LEAs should be involved at all levels, including councillors as well as different officers and advisers. There should be involvement at the level of the economic regions, the district, county and local governments. Professional Associations should be targeted as well as the teachers' unions, other professionals, community groups, business, arts groups and the media. Pupils and parents should be listened to, especially in poorer areas where people are more sensitive to global and environmental issues and power should be given to children in decision-making. The process should be circular, from the schools to society and back into the schools. NGOs should put more
emphasis on what they can offer and less on why schools should
be doing DE. More forums should be set up with a high profile
and participation from government. They should be daytime sessions
with funding for cover for teachers. 19
Milton Keynes Many of the same issues were raised at Milton Keynes. There was stress on the need to involve senior management of schools and school governors. It was suggested that residentials should be put on at the end of the summer term offering a choice of subject areas so that teachers can pursue their own interests. All training and events should be exciting, innovative and fun. It was stressed that
any new strategy should not involve change, but rather development.
It was important to build on what works rather than re-invent
the wheel. Evaluation should be used as a tool for development
and improvement rather than a complete change of practice. Importance
was attached to outreach work, which should not be dependent on
the production of resources, and funding should reflect this.
Again, emphasis was put on the need for teachers' groups for sharing
ideas and that cover was required for this. There was a great deal of sharing of ideas and 'peer education' at this meeting. It was felt that this was the best method of awareness-raising and training. Other ideas included week events after school. Ideas for good practice included the use of simulation games and sharing the outcome of pupils' work (e.g. by publishing on the web). Support was seen as offering advice on funding opportunities, particularly for school visits abroad, lobbying for funding for training, and making available relevant TV documentaries. Websites were seen as important, with portals for each local authority. The website address should appear on DFES documents. It was felt that a differentiated strategy was needed, with one model for those committed teachers that need concrete support and another for those that are not committed A fuller report on this consultation day can be found in Appendix (v) Coulsdon, Surrey This was a small meeting, probably due to a teachers' strike on that day. However, it raised some interesting new ideas, such as a centralised telephone enquiry point, which has advantages over a website. It also discussed the tension between supporting the committed teacher and motivating those without interest. There was some criticism of NGOs in the sense that corporate pressure on agencies to follow their own specific agendas was a problem, and staff were not as collaborative as they could be. It was pointed out
that schools should get accreditation for their work on global
issues and that exam specifications really set the pace of change
in the curriculum. There was some sharing of good practice and
ideas about using extra-curricular time, for example 'theme of
the week' in assemblies, one-day events and MUNGAs (Model United
Nations General Assemblies). 20
Conclusions and Implications for Strategy There is clearly enormous scope to increase the effectiveness of support to the formal sector. However, there is evidence to show that the support that is available is not being widely taken up by teachers. There are a number of reasons for this: · Many teachers
are unaware of the existence of outside support. These problems, though interconnected, will require different, but parallel strategies. They have implications at the national and local levels as well as the regional level. These will be looked at by sector. Schools Many teachers are unaware of the existence of outside support. The 'cold calling' approach taken in the research has indicated that many teachers were unaware of the support that is available for teaching global issues. In that sense, the exercise has been a useful piece of outreach work. However, most DE providers, particularly DECs, feel they lack the capacity to deliver the support required due to insufficient staff and funding. Given greater capacity, there are ways of reaching teachers that have not been fully exploited. For example, greater use could be made of the Schools Library Services, particularly in terms of making links with the suppliers. There is a willingness on the part of librarians to stock more resources, provided they come with a recommendation from a recognised authority. Another way to reach teachers is through strategic work with head teachers and senior management in schools. This is also the best route for involving governors and parents, who might be influential in integrating the global dimension into the schools' development plans, and making it part of the school ethos. They might also instigate a school link and encourage its use in a more integrated way across the curriculum. INSET is also a useful tool, but it needs to be integrated into existing programmes that are priority areas for teachers. In-school support is a more effective way of reaching uncommitted teachers. Teachers themselves can be used as a tool for disseminating information, particularly through 'cluster group' peer education. Regular teachers' group meetings would be a good way to share ideas and information. However, such meetings need administrative support and funding for cover. 21 The global dimension is not a high priority in relation to the national curriculum The bottom line for most over-stretched teachers is that they will not include a global dimension if they are not required to do so. There is a strong argument, therefore, for well co-ordinated lobbying work to put pressure on the DFES to give a higher priority to global issues in the national curriculum. This also implies working closely with the QCA to include a global dimension in schemes of work across the curriculum, which should be constantly reviewed and updated. Alongside these measures, there would be pressure on OFSTED to take the global dimension seriously as a means of identifying good practice. This requires a co-ordinated effort on the part of DE providers and a central organisation to take the lead at the national level. However, there is a counter-argument to this approach, which needs to be taken into account. It is recognised that many teachers are currently doing global education in a tokenistic way, reinforcing stereotypes and misconceptions. To make it obligatory would risk extending bad practice. It is therefore equally important to have a strategy for capacity building and giving more 'hands-on' support to the teacher in the classroom. These will be addressed in relation to the issues below. The support that is offered is difficult to access because it requires contacting a number of different organisations Teachers are frequently frustrated by the fact that there are so many different organisations offering resources and often it is difficult to find the right person to talk to. A number of solutions to this problem were supported. One was a centralised source of information with links to all the organisations that offered support. This could be in the form of a website containing a database of the different kinds of support offered (including speakers, INSET etc.) and a brief description of resources, clearly identifying their links to the curriculum. It could be an England-wide or even a UK-wide project, but with portals for each borough to support local needs. It could be done through the local library service. It was clear, however, that a central source of information was not sufficient in itself. Teachers needed to be able to browse through materials and talk to people about how to use them. There was an overwhelming need for personal face-to-face contact, preferably on the school premises themselves. The strategy therefore needs to address this question and find a way of covering the need for personal contact. Several suggestions arose in the course of the research. Local centres were favoured as long as they really were easily accessible, i.e. within short travelling distance from their schools. A popular idea was that of a mobile unit or 'global bus' which brought resources and people to the schools. Another was for DE providers to attend staff meetings or contribute to existing INSET days. Teachers missed the role that LEA advisors used to play in coming into schools to advise on how to improve their teaching. They would appreciate someone coming in to play that role and advising them on how to incorporate a global dimension. It was suggested that this could be someone attached to an LEA or be part of the remit of an LEA officer (provided they received outside funding). 22 Resources are difficult to use, largely because they do not relate closely enough to the national curriculum Although NGOs were named as the main source of support for teachers, there was a widespread feeling that the resources on offer were difficult to use. Since the subject matter was largely determined by the NGO's own agenda, it often did not fit well with the curriculum. Related to the difficulty of access, teachers felt overwhelmed by the quantity and variety of resources and found it hard to choose the specific resource that would meet their needs. This has implications for the production of resources and the criteria for producing them. It implies the need for greater rationalisation and closer attention to the requirements of the curriculum. Teachers have suggested that they should be much more closely involved in the production of resources. It also raises again the question of having someone in an advisory role going into schools to explain how the materials can be used. As TV was named by so many as an important resource for global education, and since IBT (International Broadcasting Trust) is no longer producing in-house, there is a greater need for DE input into programmes, and to make videos of relevant documentaries available to schools. Some teachers also suggested that it would be useful to be able to access some TV documentaries. This would suggest that a centralised video library of relevant programmes would be a useful resource. Some teachers lack the confidence or knowledge to teach the global dimension Whilst this was identified by some teachers as a problem they recognised in themselves, it was more frequently seen as a problem that 'other' teachers had. It manifested itself in either omitting the global dimension completely or teaching in a way that reinforced stereotypes. This presents a challenge to DE providers in terms of awareness-raising and training. Attempts to provide INSET have not always been successful due to the low priority given to global issues in the curriculum. However, some suggestions were made as to how this problem can be overcome. One solution is to 'piggy back' on existing INSET sessions dealing with more mainstream subjects. Teachers are unlikely to go to an INSET on global issues, but they would go to an INSET on literacy and numeracy, for example, where the examples of good practice involved incorporating a global dimension. It was important that global issues should not be seen as an add-on but rather as a way of improving the delivering curriculum subjects. It was also important that the INSET be given a high profile, which means daytime sessions and funding for cover. Most teachers believed that the initiative and funding for this needed to come from the NGOs. Most LEAs were under-resourced, and what resources they had went to the priority areas. Another popular means of capacity building was seen to be peer education. There were many teachers who had experience that would be beneficial to other teachers. They would like regular meetings for sharing of ideas and skills. The high number of teachers who ticked further involvement through teachers' working groups on the questionnaires confirms this. However, such meetings require administrative costs and funding for cover. This would also need to be resourced from outside the school or LEA. 23 LEAs and PDCs Much of the above is reflected in the research with DEAs. Like schools, they see themselves as over-stretched and under-resourced and the global dimension is not a priority area. However, like many teachers, LEA officers do see global education as important. They see their role as brokers or intermediaries liaising between the DE sector and schools, rather than as providers themselves. Many would be glad to incorporate a global dimension in the services they offer, such as INSET, provided they were not responsible for delivery themselves. LEAs therefore, should be seen as a useful means of gaining access to schools. Teacher training ITT/E has been identified as a high priority area, both by the formal Sector and by the DE sector. Some college staff seem willing to work collaboratively with DE on joint projects to ensure their relevance to their needs. Rather than the activity packs produced for schools, more pedagogic and academic books are needed for PGCE. These should be made known to tutors and recommended for the college libraries. Summary A strategy for effective support to teachers in the South East would involve working at the national, regional, borough and local levels. It would involve lobbying work at the national level, with a national co-ordinating body. It would need information provision at the national level with differentiated information at the regional, local authority and borough levels and links to the schools library services. It would involve capacity building using key people at the regional, borough and local levels, with an emphasis on face-to-face contact in schools and colleges and peer education. The emphasis needs to be on developing current provision, working closely with committed teachers and LEA officers. There needs to be training for committed teachers and outreach work for the uncommitted, with less emphasis on resource production and time-limited projects. Funding needs to be rationalised to avoid wastage on resources that are not accessed and not always relevant to the curriculum. Closer partnerships need to be forged between DE and the formal sector and the DE providers themselves, to rationalise provision and ease access for teachers. A structure needs to be put in place with key people or organisations working at different levels. There needs to be clarity about where the regional strategy relates to the national strategy, other regions, and the borough-specific strategies responding to local needs. This research needs to be the starting point for an ongoing process of consultation, evaluation and development. 24 Strategy 'brainstorm' The participants in the consultation process met to discuss the results of the research and the implications for the development of a regional strategy. The main points to emerge showed that the strategy needed to: · promote better
communication between DFID and DFES |
