About Tide~

Tide~ Annual Report, April 2008

Introduction … from the Chair Last year I took a different approach to writing an introduction to Tide’s annual report. Instead of reflecting on and sharing the achievements of the organisation over the previous year, my introduction was designed to generate some debate around the concept of global learning. This year, I am reverting back to a tried and tested format!

However let's start by casting our minds back to last year's AGM and the issues and challenges that were raised. We proposed a new image - Tide~ global learning and explored how we might shape and establish a recognised learner entitlement to global learning. We debated how far we needed to define global learning and whether in defining it, we were in some way then limiting its scope. These discussions were taken to a wider audience at the AGM but have continued to be debated as Tide~ has begun to deliver its five year plan.

Some of the discussion at that time was clear about defining global learning as a dynamic and responsive process rather than something fixed at a given point in time. There was also an emphasis on global learning as opposed to global knowing and the need for a learning process that empowers children and young people and supports the development of their critical skills.

It is fair to say that what was explored last year has since that time taken more shape. Tide~ global learning is now more firmly established and promoted through the wide range of projects that are described further in this report. Partnerships that already existed have been further strengthened and have contributed to discussions around global learning. The past year has seen firmer foundations for partnership working with QCA through its Secondary Curriculum Review, DCSF Sustainable Schools, DfID Enabling Effective Support. An indicator of the success in getting global learning recognised as a valid concept was illustrated in a recent publication produced by QCA, 'The global dimension in action: a curriculum planning guide for schools' which used the term global learning on numerous occasions. Has global learning now come of age?

There is no doubt that Tide~ has made a major contribution to ensuring that global learning is seen as a highly relevant entitlement for the learning of children and young peopleÉ but it is not an organisation to rest on its laurels. Acceptance and recognition of global learning doesn't mean that the issues and challenges it generates go away. There is still much to be done to engage schools in what remains a highly complex area where there are no easy answers or resolutions.

What we do know and what helps is that the educational climate for taking these discussions further has never been better. The Secondary Curriculum Review provides fantastic opportunities for teachers to reclaim ownership of the curriculum and develop it so that it captures the interest and engagement of young people and focuses on developing skills for learning. Early indications of a review of the primary curriculum suggest that changes need to be made so that it doesn't narrow children's experiences but continues to open them up to the excitement of learning.

Tide~ has much to share in this current context. Part of its being has always been about teachers' engagement in innovative curriculum design and delivery through tapping into their expertise and interest. To that end the continued involvement of teachers across the West Midlands should be recognised and celebrated. Without them, there would be limited practical application of global learning.

My thanks also go the members of the Management Committee for the enormous contribution they make to ensuring that Tide~ continues to move forward. My greatest thanks go to the staff at Tide~ for their commitment to the organisation and for their continued dedication and hard work.

Rita Chowdhury
Chair of Tide~ Trustees

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Introduction … from the Director

Etienne Wenger, in this quote, makes a strong case for thinking about learning. He challenges us to think about a learning response to globalisation. He argues that “we need to focus not just on learning, but on learning capability. Increasing learning capability [individually and collectively] is the most important long-term investment for dealing with an uncertain future.” He talks about the need for a new story about learning.

One obstacle he identifies is that we in education are not used to talking about what constitutes such learning capability. This is pivotal to new thinking and new dialogue about global issues and ideas.

I propose that we take on this challenge. As a start there is a need for talk:

	about the 8 key concepts of Global Dimensions and the need to re-think them in the context of the creativity generated by Every Child Matters, the new curriculum, the Learning Outside the Classroom manifesto etc … and to make stronger links to Sustainable Schools and Cohesion policies;
	about ‘Sustainable Schools’. Perhaps using the 10th anniversary of the Holland Report on Education for Sustainability to re-visit the concepts proposed and to consider whether we are responding well to the insights they offer. This could lead to proposals for a re-worked document that is stronger on learning, that is clearer about the global context and serious about the educational challenges of climate change;
	about the danger of ‘good cause complacency’ and organisations using schools to get messages to young people rather than contributing to the learning agenda … and the building of a political consensus that such learning is important to our future;
	about how we get people talking about the potential for a new story about learning … how we make more of the fact that people all over the world are responding to similar educational challenges.

… so let’s talk!

Scott Sinclair Director

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Introduction to the report

All of our work relates to the West Midlands Coalition aims.

We have 6 objectives they relate to:

1. Strategic thinking with new partners

2. Leadership

3. In-depth work focusing on curriculum areas/issues etc

4. Synthesising and sharing

5. Professional development support

6. Sharing experience at national level

Work on leadership has been given higher priority this year. It was the focus for a conference. The Leadership for Learning group developed a background paper. A number of courses including the study visit to The Gambia and Kerala emphasised leadership roles in the selection of groups.

The liaison work bringing together advisers and others with support roles to schools from across the West Midlands has been strengthened. There has been significant work around the new Secondary Curriculum and also Sustainable Schools. New groups are forming relating to the Primary Review and to Cohesion.

Objective 4 reflects a new approach this year. It has enabled us to give priority to bringing together the work of a variety of groups to focus on:

	Global learning in primary schools
	Global learning in secondary schools
	New work on ITE and the follow up of the study visits to South Africa including the publication Comparative education and quality global learning

Sustainable development and the educational implications of climate change has also been an area for much activity … and new debate.

A partnership approach is key. This is how we work most effectively with teachers. It is also how we engage a range of organisations in in-depth work contributing to the overall programme. This year we have also seen new partnership initiatives beginning to shape up with Oxfam and the DEA.

Another feature this year … Northumbria University has sponsored a PhD student to spend a year at Tide~ working alongside us and researching all aspects of our work. We expect to be challenged by Darryl Humble’s work but right now his questions have got us reflecting about how Tide~ has evolved over the last 32 years. In the process of collecting his data he is also developing an interesting timeline that will be featured on the website later this term.

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Global learning ~ how is it going?

As Rita reminded us in her introduction the 'global learning' idea is still young. There is much more to do but things have moved on a pace. It has enabled Tide~ to:

	present learning and the needs of learners growing up in an increasingly globalised society as the core challenge - and support the need for new thinking about the implications of this;
	reinvigorate the need for creativity providing distinct opportunities for teachers, those in lead roles and those in a support role to schools;
	begin to clarify issues about quality relating to global dimensions and for this quality to be increasingly self-generated by teachers and schools.

Global learning provides a clearer focus but still engages with the complexity of contemporary issues and the dynamic of change. It has also given new energy to challenging assumptions about ‘global’ and ‘local’ and the idea that ‘global’ is often presented as if it is some other place. A key aspect of global learning is that the global is here too and that if we seek to build better understanding we need to appreciate the commonality of the human experience at a local scale here and elsewhere in the world.

How do we meet global learning needs?
Research in partnership with Wolverhampton University demonstrated how staff groups in schools are quickly able to engage with such a question. They identify many things that they are already doing and in the process begin to generate ideas about how to improve the quality of what they are offering. It is our experience that a similar question can provide a focus at a variety of scales from the classroom through particular curriculum projects, to debates about the curriculum as a whole.

Exploring the pitfalls
One of the difficulties in engaging with discussion about global learning is the move from the big ideas and debates to classroom/school reality.

Most of us, on reading curriculum documentation that argues for participation, valuing of diversity, awareness of global issues etc, will agree and say that we want this. Those of us working in schools will also quickly argue that much of what we are already doing contributes to global learning. This is all useful but still leaves a lot to do if we are to really enable ‘quality global learning’ in day to day practice.

It may be helpful to turn the debate around for a while and start to think about the pitfalls that we are trying to avoid. The list [below] could be added to … there are many potential pitfalls for those of us engaged in supporting global learning as it is neither straightforward nor obvious.

If we are to develop ‘global learning’ as a key learning area we need to engage with the educational challenges. We are moving beyond the initial success of simply including some global issues in our teaching to wanting to support global learners who are critical thinkers and active participants in society. This is ambitious but it is worth striving for … worth talking about.

The global dimension in action We were pleased that QCA took up the term global learning in their new document with some 32 mentions. The document highlights that “all subjects provide rich opportunities for global learning”. On page 12 it raises debates similar to those opposite and concludes: “Good global learning involves pupils thinking critically about issues from a variety of perspectives, discussing a range of solutions and building awareness of positive change, how it occurs and how individuals can contribute.” www.qca.org.uk

Available as downloadable stimulus with additional notes Global learning ~ possible pitfalls? 'Doing good' … that avoids thinking? A desire to participate and address issues in a global context can often lead quickly to 'fund-raising' style activities that are about immediate responses. There must be a place for this response, but if it is over-used and the main experience of 'global learning' for young people, there is a danger of leading to 'us and them' attitudes and a possible sense of superiority. It also promotes a simplified analysis of the need to throw money at problems.
Challenge		to move towards activities and approaches that are reflective and promote critical thinking.
Manipulative activity leading to ‘right answers’? A desire to want supposed ‘right answers’ or responses such as ‘we should recycle more’ or ‘buy fairtrade goods’ etc can lead to prescriptive approaches or activities that are overly contrived. Young people are often quick to learn the ‘right answer rules’. These exercises can have less to do with thinking than about keeping the teacher happy.
Challenge		to identify issues and stimulus material that provokes debate, challenges assumptions and raises questions.
Failing to acknowledge our own perceptions and bias? For example, in dealing with images of a place we might respond with more positive language to images of trees and green spaces and more negatively to those of crowded streets or a built environment. Understanding that others might respond differently, [that the images can be viewed from a variety of perspectives] and that there may be reasons that we have responded in this particular way are important for our own learning.
Challenge		to use open-ended activities to enable perceptions and assumptions to be shared and discussed at the outset.
It's all doom and gloom? Floods, earthquakes, wars, climate change … it can be a long and depressing list. There is a real danger that learning about other places and particularly the 'developing world' can be equated to learning about disasters and problems. How do we avoid over-burdening young people and fostering a sense of helplessness?
Challenge		to include some of the positives and to build a futures approach that builds awareness of processes of change and how individuals and societies can contribute.
Global is about somewhere else? The general perception that global is elsewhere runs fairly deep and leads quickly to the feeling that 'global learning' is really the job of the Geography department. The nature of our 21st century, inter-connected and global society requires that we challenge this separate 'here and there' outlook and begin to look afresh at how we explore global dimensions and perspectives of our own lives as well as those in other places.
Challenge		to enable all learning to be approached in a global context .. to enable connections to be identified and explored.

Global learning … in Primary Schools

A conference in March and the development of a new handbook has provided the focus for a wide range of work which will be backed up by significant additions to the website including a bank of teaching activities and stimulus material. Study visits to The Gambia have continued to be a stimulus to teacher learning and creativity particularly focusing on those from primary schools. The course now gives more emphasis to leadership roles [at all levels]. The quality of what is offered has been greatly enhanced by the long-term partnership with the NEA [National Environment Agency, The Gambia] and their teacher groups.

About 75 teachers have made use of this experience. The AGM this year will provide an opportunity to reflect on this and the partnership with the NEA … and to look to the future. Ndey Bakurin and Ajie Kinteh from the NEA will join us at the AGM.

The conference drew on the experience of 12 projects and had key inputs from Hetan Shah the new Director of the DEA. Jean Edge, Headteacher from Apley Wood Primary School, Telford and Jeff Serf from the University of Wolverhampton.

Jeff shared some of his research on perceptions of global learning. It has been pivotal to shaping Tide’s primary work. A number of articles about this research work are due to be published in Journals.

A group of Herefordshire teachers worked together on the local issue of polytunnels as a way of engaging wider global questions. Their experience and the teaching ideas they generated also feature as a Tidetalk~ article

This handbook and supporting web material due to be launched by the end of the school year will provide a focus for a wide range of consultation, workshops and school-based planning next year. The ideas outlined here provide the basis for the structure of the new resource. Please make your bids now.

Deborah Hull, Director of Language Alive! launched the new publication Learning Journeys ~ creating a global learning experience at Key Stage 2 at the conference. This project brought together TIE, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Tide~ and young people experiencing the life and ideas of Victorian plant hunters.

Global learning … in Secondary Schools

Cycles of planning
The key questions that frame the new curriculum may at first seem obvious but many challenges soon emerge. We have been experimenting with this cycle to support planning work responding to global dimensions. There are endless possibilities to provide a focus but it is necessary to go round the cycle a few times before you decide on an answer to the first QCA question: What are we trying to achieve? or to put it another way: What do we hope learners will gain? You might then want to modify the focus.

The Global learning and the new KS3 curriculum conference will feature key inputs from:

• Sir Keith Ajegbo author of Diversity and Citizenship curriculum review and champion of new approaches to Cohesion;
  
  
• Professor David Lambert, Chief Executive of the Geographical Association;
  
  
• Tim Boyes, Headteacher of Queensbridge Visual and Performing Arts School [Birmingham]. A school that has taken a very distinctive approach to re-thinking the curriculum.

A project in partnership with MLA [West Midlands] has brought together a group of people from Museums, Libraries and Archives to consider the opportunities for work responding to the new curriculum and related policies. They have had a series of meetings sharing ideas and developing a new resource: The heart of the matter ~ global learning experiences at Key Stage 3. It is planned that this will be launched at the conference. The Kerala study visit this year has brought together a group all of whom have lead roles [all aspirations to them] relating to secondary curriculum change. Their work will feed into the website development. Last year’s Kerala group generated several useful articles that might be of interest. They developed a stimulus about learning from the Kerala paradox using the workings of a hot air balloon to raise some debate.

Science with a global dimension

A partnership with ASE [Association for Science Education] has enabled us to offer creative work on the science curriculum. A new handbook: What do you think ~ ideas for science with a global dimension is now in its final stages. We plan to launch this at the conference. This resource takes 11 topics and highlights a key issue, question and headline science relating to each. It offers stimulus material to back this up. The level 1-3 enables students to build up skills relating to the complexity of both the issues and the science. Jo Flynn, [Director of the Science Learning Centre, Keele] who has been very supportive of this work spoke for Tide~ at the GA [Geographical Association] conference forum. She highlighted the need for other subjects [geography in this case] to seek understanding of the challenges that new approaches to science are bringing to science teachers. This would seem to be good advice across the subjects if we are to realise the opportunities of the new curriculum … and at the same time strengthen the value of subject knowledge in a global context.

Cities as a lens to the world

The project proposes that a focus on cities can provide tangible access to ideas and concepts that will engage learners in thinking about global issues. The paper introduces the idea and seeks your feedback. It includes this example of a framework from the South African Cities Network [SACN].

Early work on this project has demonstrated potential for a greater understanding of the concept: commonality.

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Learning as sustainable development?

The DCSF Sustainable Schools framework has been very useful for stimulating new work and new partnerships. A series of teacher workshops, seminars, the Let’s Talk project and the development of new materials all responding to climate change have generated new thinking too. This all built up to the consultation paper Climate Change ~ the educational implications. It offers nine propositions that go beyond the ‘get the kids to sign up to simplistic solutions approach’ that seem to be gaining ground. We would value your feedback. We, in common with communities all over the world are seeking to work creatively on how we respond to climate change. This situation illustrates well the global learning argument. We in this country need to be applying our best thinking to develop educational models that will be of long-term value to us. In doing this we may also be offering something that will be valued as a stimulus to the thinking of educationalists elsewhere.

In partnership with the West Midlands Government Office/DCSF we have worked on three key regional network developments each of which have built up to a conference event. In partnership with the EEAA [Environmental Education Advisers Association] key people from every local authority have been working together on how to offer effective school support, another initiative focused on school governors and governor training … and another on NGOs and organisations such as environmental centres. Each of these have generated web material about their ideas and information about contacts support etc.

A conference in November provided a focus to share the work of different projects, learn from the experience of particular schools and to respond to the challenges of the Year of Food & Farming.

Professor William Scott raised challenges about education for sustainable development at a Tide~ network conference. This stimulated the idea of the Bill Scott Challenge which has provided a focus for some work this year. Proposals are being developed to take the idea further next year. “Sustainable development, if it is going to happen, is going to be a learning process. It certainly won’t be about ‘rolling out’ a set of pre-determined behaviours.”

Key concepts from the Holland Report

People, partnerships and funding
People and the energy they bring to projects, courses and wider network activity are our biggest asset. Partnership with a range of organisations makes it possible to offer a significant programme. The Management Committee have a key role in shaping policy and developing future strategy.

See list of partners with web links.

Staff team

Summary of financial activities in 2007

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