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The opportunities of the city

Because of their pivotal role in globalisation, their disproportionate national influence, and their increasingly local autonomy, many cities have come to represent a microcosm of broader society – a metaphorical ‘window on the world’. A focus on cities can provide tangible access points for teachers and learners to engage with global issues. In addition, the commonality and familiarity that cities provide [beginning with what we know], can help to avoid some of the pitfalls of global learning and enhance the development of the skills and confidence necessary to become active global citizens.

In response to this, Tide~ is launching a new initiative for teachers focussing on cities. The initiative will support teachers and learners to explore complex global issues such as sustainability, citizenship, democracy and cohesion by using cities as a lens to global learning.

Tide~ is proposing that this work is important in both a real-life and educational context:

Engaging with complexity

“In 1976, one-third of the world’s people lived in cities. Just 30 years later, this rose to one half and will continue to grow to two-thirds, or 6 billion people, by 2050.”

[UN HABITAT, 2006]

Cities are highly complex structures with tentacles that stretch far beyond their boundaries. A central aim of Tide~’s city initiative is to develop frameworks that enable learners to unlock this complexity and engage with the issues. Other organisations, including the World Bank and the UN are also looking to frameworks as a means of better understanding cities. One framework that Tide~ has found particularly interesting comes from the South African Cities Network [SACN]. A collective of 9 cities in South Africa committed to sharing information, experience and best practice, the SACN developed a city analysis framework to help them in this work:

“The city analysis framework has received overwhelming support from public, social, and private sector stakeholders in member cities. It is regarded as an essential instrument of analysis that, in allowing all stakeholders to participate in a critical analysis process, draws on the distributed knowledge within society to develop a city strategy while enhancing networking between city stakeholders.”

SACN, 2004

What is the purpose of this initiative? This initiative is designed to bring together secondary teachers from across the subject spectrum and demonstrate the possibility of using cities as a stimulus and focus for simultaneously unlocking global learning, and the opportunities of the new secondary curriculum. The initiative will do this by: • considering the possibilities of the new curriculum for supporting holistic learning; • engaging with young people’s voices in relation to cities and the issues; • providing opportunities for inter-sector dialogue with other city stakeholders; • sharing key concepts and ideas relating to cities and global learning; • exploring and developing frameworks that help us better understand cities [see SACN framework for example]; • identifying opportunities for resource development to support work on cities. Who is this for? The cities initiative seeks to actively engage a broad cross section of secondary teachers or those with an educational role at secondary level. We seek the involvement of individuals with a range of different responsibilities and levels of experience, including advisors and NQTs for example. In particular this initiative may be of interest to: • those interested in creative curriculum planning [especially in the context of new curriculum]; • those responsible for suspended timetable learning; • Geography and Citizenship subject groups [where cities or the issues raised are part of core curriculum]; • Media studies, English, History, Sociology, Politics, Design and Technology subject groups [where cities and the issues raised can help to address areas of core curriculum]; • those interested in work around cohesion or sustainable schools. What will you gain? As educators we all seek new ways to invigorate teaching and learning – not least for ourselves. This initiative utilises the excitement of exploring cities to unlock creative responses to global learning, citizenship education, and the possibilities of the new curriculum. Those involved will benefit from: • a supportive environment in which to engage in dialogue and debate; • the opportunity to develop skills, approaches and techniques; • creativity about developing new resources; • a deeper knowledge and understanding of cities.

Images courtesy of easi-images

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