Of the 185 organisations contacted, 59 responded as follows: 23 NGOs, 8 DECs, 12 Arts organisations, 5 Community organisations, 3 Youth organisations, 3 Faith organisations, 2 Media organisations, 2 Government organisations and one private organisation. Responses varied according to size and aims of the organisation. 24 were interviewed in person (40%).

Responses from NGOs are presented here in some detail. Information on other organisations is recorded mainly where it differs significantly from NGO responses or is of particular interest or relevance.

NGOs

A. Current provision

Of all NGO respondents, 74% already worked with schools and the remaining 26% would consider doing so. The focus of education work was overwhelmingly determined by the overall agenda of the organisation, though over half also gave importance to teacher demand or other factors, including opportunities for working with other organisations (39%) and funding opportunities (39%).

The kind of support offered varied with each organisation. The majority offered speakers or visitors (78%), followed by teaching materials. Just over half were involved in lobbying or advocacy and just under half offered events and INSET, followed by classroom support for teachers, resource centres or other forms of support. The majority promoted DE through websites, followed by flyers and review articles, using their own circulation lists and LEA contacts. Just over a third used catalogues.

Most NGOs produced their own materials in-house, mainly activity-based packs and information brochures, followed by audio-visual materials. 65% said they developed materials with teachers and 60% with other organisations. 60% had some form of evaluation system, covering, in roughly equal measure, the number of schools/students reached, identifiable changes in attitude and 'other' means.

B Ways to improve support

NGOs were more or less equally divided on whether or not they felt they had enough capacity to meet demand from schools, teacher training institutions and LEAs. There were also different views about the most effective ways of increasing support to teachers. 60% indicated both greater collaboration among providers and a more prominent position for DE within ITT/E. Just under half favoured an analysis of training needs and well-resourced local centres across regions and 35% favoured greater collaboration among funders. There was less support for a training register.

In terms of collaboration, most support was given to joint lobbying (65%), followed closely by shared catalogues, a jointly owned website, the rationalisation of production and the rationalisation of funding (40%).

Anecdotal information

The smaller NGOs felt that lack of funding restricted their capacity to work and were in favour of rationalisation, but one NGO expressed the fear that this could make DE become static and that a mix of funding resources would be needed to maintain a level of dynamism. There was a strong feeling that links between NGOs and schools should be strengthened and that there should be more collaboration between NGOs and other providers. Some expressed the view that there was a surplus of resources available and that providers should pay more heed to the needs of teachers.

DECs

Eight organisations completed the questionnaire and five of these were interviewed in person.

Six of the eight cited funding opportunities as well as their organisation's agenda as determining the focus of their work. The majority provided support in terms of events and teaching materials, followed by INSET then classroom support for teachers and visitors. A higher proportion of DECs than NGOs worked with teachers in the production of resources. Most used LEA contacts as well as flyers and website as their main means of promoting support.

Six DECs cited well-resourced local centres as the most effective way to increase teacher support. Six also cited the need for it to become a statutory part of teacher training. Five cited greater collaboration among funders and four favoured greater importance by OFSTED and greater collaboration among DE providers. Only 1 cited an analysis of training needs and three favoured a training register.

A jointly owned website was seen as the most effective area of collaboration, followed by a rationalisation of production and a rationalisation of funding, then shared catalogues and a joint training register. Only four identified joint lobbying.

Anecdotal information

DECs generally needed more core funding to spend time with teachers. All felt they were working beyond capacity and lacked the resources to reach out to new schools. They felt that DE should be more tailored to teachers' needs and more relevant to the curriculum. One pointed out the need for greater 'clout' through recognition of DE in the national curriculum. Another wanted more co-operation between DECs.

Community organisations

Five community organisations completed the questionnaire. Of these, 4 were interviewed in person.

Of this group, only two organisations already worked with schools. Another two would consider it and one would not. Three cited Development Education as a focus of their work and two did not. All five cited the demand from community or civic organisations as determining the focus of their work. Four provided speakers or visitors, three provided teaching materials and events. Two had resource centres and two were involved in lobbying. Only one gave classroom support to teachers or INSET, though two mentioned LEAs as a means of promoting support.

Only two had sufficient capacity to meet demand from schools and none had sufficient capacity to support schools, teacher training institutions or LEAs. Well-resourced local centres, an analysis of training needs and greater collaboration among providers were seen as the most effective way to increase support by four of the organisations, though becoming a statutory part of teacher training was prioritised by three of them. Whilst none favoured a joint training register, three identified collaboration in shared website, catalogues and lobbying and also in the rationalisation of funding

Anecdotal information

Black and Ethnic Minority organisations in the provision of DE felt they didn't dispose of as many resources as their British (sic) peers. They did not have the capacity to meet demand and felt that they could promote DE in schools through encouraging greater participation in their community events. Better networking between community organisations could also be used to build on the outreach work to schools.

Arts Organisations

12 Arts organisations responded and eight were interviewed. Of these, 10 said they already worked with schools and one would consider it. Eleven said the focus of their work was determined by the overall agenda of their organisation. Half saw collaboration in some form as a means of increasing effective support, and a joint training register was more popular with this group, supported by eight of the twelve.

Anecdotal information

Many organisations were confused by the term 'development education' and were surprised that the work they were doing could be described in that way. They felt more comfortable with terms such as 'awareness raising' or 'work with other cultures'. All worked with schools and colleges and the major part of their work is using the arts to teach about some aspects of DE. Projects included issues such as diversity, empowerment, exiled writers, refugees, women's voices and working with artists from round the world.

Different suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of DE were generally around the theme of increased access to cultural heritage and understanding of cultural identity.

Other organisations

The three respondents from Youth Organisations all saw DE as an integral part of their work. Key areas for increasing support were identified as well-resourced local centres, an analysis of training needs and DE as a statutory part of ITT/E. All saw collaboration as useful, citing a joint website, training register and catalogue, joint lobbying, the rationalisation of funding and working together on future programmes.

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Two of the three Faith organisations that responded described their activities as Development Education and one did not. All said their main programme was 'information about global challenges which impact on individuals' lives'. Issues included sustainable agriculture and the impact of structural adjustment.

Most worked in partnership with small organisations in poor parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Their main DE focus was responding to emergencies with a comprehensive DE strategy, promoting a non-violent resolution to conflict and human rights lobbying and advocacy.

All three prioritised making DE a statutory part of ITT/E as the most effective way of increasing support.

The two Media organisations involved in DE stressed the importance of introducing DE across the curriculum. They suggested targeting the Professional Associations in relevant subjects, setting up a centralised resource centre, a task force of special subjects and an award scheme to engage young people. They suggested the need for a more dynamic entrepreneurial approach to implementing these initiatives and looking at DE within the wider European context in order to tap into EC funding.

The two Government organisations had specific Development Education programmes. Both the Central Bureau (Central Government Agency concerned with linking) and Dover County Council (Local Authority working with teachers on asylum seeker and refugee issues) agreed that well-resourced local centres were vital, that analysing training needs and setting up a training register were important. They both believed that rationalisation and collaboration on the production and distribution of resources was also important.

Additional anecdotal information from the DE sector

There were clearly significant differences between the views of DE providers and particularly between large NGOs and small DECs. However, the following is a summary of all the views expressed:

About the research

Development Education was considered to be susceptible to political whims. It was stated that perhaps for the first time the initiative for this type of research reflects an awareness, on the part of policy makers for a need to engage in global issues. However the success and long term future of Development Education within the formal education sector was dependent on how high up on the agenda it is for the politicians.

On delivery of programme to school

There is too much 'vanity' publishing printout resources. We should not build marketing activity, but have a proper delivery programmes to schools.

It would be better to work with local authorities.

The way the government had divided the regions hindered its ability to treat all schools equitably - there were not enough resources to meet the needs of an amplified catchment area. Too much emphasis is put on the administrative side and the implementation of Development Education falls to by the wayside. The opposite side to this problem occurs if a DEC focuses only on its catchment area it will inevitably exclude other schools which are remotely located from any DEC.

Worldwide Website is essential and we have to work on it.

There are tangible opportunities for engagements around arts and sports

We have to move away from negativity. There is injustice and poverty. There is also a great deal of fun, ingenuity and artistic celebration that we need to tap into.

On the rationalisation of resources

There should be an effective exchange of expertise among Development Education providers. Expertise should be shared across regional boundaries.

There was a lot of uncertainty about the future funding of Development Education. Rationalisation of fund could help to stabilise financial position for small organisations.

The principle of 'comparative advantage' needs to be applied to make good use organisations that have the expertise and the capacity to undertake the task.

Relationships between/ among NGOs and DECs

There needs to be more co-operation between DECs.

Unlike NGOs, DECs are not aiming to promote their own agenda through Development Education.

What next?

After the research it would be good to reflect on the findings. We have to get clarity about priorities.

We should organise regional and national events where this research is pulled and reflected upon.

DFID funding strategy should take account of this research. For example if Website is what is emerging then it has to be accepted.

It is important that DFID funds the strategy.

DFID has to work with DFES/QCA/TTA otherwise it will always be seen as an extra.

Teachers should be made aware of resources available. There has to be opportunities for dissemination of resource and support to teachers.

There has to be coherence and collaboration at the national level.

The role of Development Education Association should be one of a facilitator and enabler not a controller.

We have to recognise arts and sports as areas of engagement and invest and evaluate accordingly.

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