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Annual Report 2001 – 2002 ]
Worldaware in Education
 Helping
young people to understand the developing world
As events over the last year have reinforced (from September 11
to the increase in asylum seekers, the sourcing of our food and
clothes, and even the changing composition of premiership football
teams), an increasing amount of our lives reflect global influences.
This must be reflected in the education of our young people, and
the introduction of citizenship as a compulsory curriculum subject
at secondary level in 2002 has offered an incentive to schools to
set more classroom learning in its proper global context. Here we
set out how Worldaware has contributed this year.
“Global issues are part of young people’s lives
in a way that they never were for previous generations … The
importance of education in helping [them] recognise their role and
responsibilities as members of the global community is becoming
increasingly apparent.”
‘Developing a Global Dimension in the School Curriculum’
Government guidance document for UK Headteachers, 2000
Local and Regional Support for Teachers
Our first full year at Coulsdon has allowed us to begin building
strong links in the area. This has been in support of the Government’s
policy that teachers should wherever possible be provided with effective
local support. Among our achievements have been:
- Contact with all secondary schools and over 75% of primary
schools in the district, through which a network is building to
promote the value of the global dimension in teaching, and share
ways of achieving it.
- The introduction of regular workshops for primary and secondary
teachers at our offices each term
- The conduct of more formal teacher education sessions at schools,
institutes, and local education authorities in the region
- The completion of on-line cataloguing of our specialised library
resource of some 2500 items, now available for public use as part
of our research facilities for teachers
- Contribution as a major partner in the construction of a regional
strategy for delivery of development education for the London
and the South-East regions, including a survey of the needs of
local schools
Sales of Educational Materials
Our position as one of the few national suppliers of teaching resources
for schools on development issues and developing countries has continued.
This year we have improved our service to customers by introducing
a 5-day delivery policy. Sales for the year were £61,000.
‘A Constructive Dialogue on Globalisation’
Globalisation is both complex and confusing – yet it constitutes
an essential challenge for teachers and students today. Last year’s
successful 6th form conference in London has been repeated in July
2002, bringing together 150 students from a range of schools with
representatives of the business, government, civil society and media
sectors to debate real life examples of globalisation in practice.
Again, we were delighted to welcome Baroness Symons, Minister for
International Trade, who reinforced the value of this type of conference.
We are planning, if funds permit, to extend this model to other
regions, at the same time adding the construction of related classroom
resources and the setting up of a panel from all sectors to work
with teachers directly in schools.
“Worldaware does valuable work in spreading understanding
about global issues. I have see the excellent educational material
they produce, and the unusual effort to incorporate, as in today’s
conference, the widest range of perspectives on the important (global)
changes facing us.”
Baroness Liz Symons, Minister for International Trade,
Speaking at the Worldaware conference, 2002
New Products
Although not yet completed, we undertook much of the research for
two exciting new educational books on important issues – Water
as a Global Resource, and Global Health. Titles have yet to be confirmed,
but both will bear the distinctive Worldaware style of being well-researched,
visually stimulating, balanced and fully curriculum-based. They
are due to be published at the end of 2002, and we are grateful
to Thames Water and Pfizer for the financial support to enable their
production.
Website Development
Further development of the education section of our main website
took place during the year. It now provides a first-rate addition
to the guidance available to teachers introducing the global dimension
into their teaching. With a 700% increase last year in usage of
the site, and a further trebling this year, we are confident that
it is meeting a need.
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