2 February 2009
Children, Schools and Families Select Committee
House of Commons
7 Millbank
London
SW1P 3JA
Dear Sir/Madam
Response to Inquiry into Teacher Training
Please find attached our evidence submitted for this inquiry. We would be happy to
supply further evidence on any of these areas if required.
Yours faithfully
Hetan Shah
Chief Executive
2
Submission of Evidence from DEA to the Children, Schools and Families Select
Committee Inquiry into Teacher Training – February 2009
Executive Summary
 Globalisation presents a number of social, political, cultural, environmental and
economic challenges and opportunities. Teachers have a crucial role to play in
supporting young people to understand and respond to this complexity to the
benefit of all young people and the society in which we live.
 Our Ipsos MORI research with young people and with teachers shows that they see
global learning as very important but do not believe enough is taking place in their
schools.
 DCSF, and the Government as a whole, has a significant range of policies and
aspirations related to global learning. However, teacher education needs to be
developed significantly to realise these goals.
 More and better global learning is needed to meet these challenges and
commitments. Greater status and investment is needed for teacher education in
global learning.
 Teacher retention can be improved by teachers thinking about how teaching
contributes to making the world a better place.
 Better joining up is needed across government to address the many government
priorities related to global learning, including those of DFID.
 Support is needed for reflective teacher education on cross-curricula and enquiry
based approaches.
About DEA
DEA is an education charity that promotes global learning. We work to influence
schools, curriculum and policy so that children and young people develop an
understanding of global issues and events and a global outlook. DEA has a network of
member organisations working directly with schools and teachers across the country.
Analysis and recommendations
1. Recognising the global context
Globalisation presents a number of social, political, cultural, environmental and
economic challenges and opportunities. These affect children and young people in a
wide range of ways and will increasing affect all aspects of their lives. Teachers have
an important role to play in supporting young people to understand and respond to
this complexity to the benefit of all young people and the society in which we live.
DEA defines global learning as education that puts learning in a global context,
fostering:
 critical and creative thinking;
 self-awareness and open-mindedness towards difference;
 understanding of global issues and power relationships; and
 optimism and action for a better world.
There are 8 overlapping concepts that are at the heart of global learning and
educators bring these out in different ways depending upon the context:
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Global citizenship
Interdependence
Social justice
Conflict resolution
Diversity
Values and perceptions
Human rights
Sustainable development
Young people, teachers and employers all put forward the case for learning that
prepares young people for a global future. This, in turn, requires significant
developments in teacher training, as is set out in the rest of this submission.
Young people want global learning; do not get enough of it; and demonstrate
significant attitude change when they do experience it. Ipsos MORI research with
secondary school pupils shows that:
 Almost one in five (19%) have not discussed news stories from around the
world at all in school. These young people are being excluded from
understanding the global society they live in.
 Only around two in five (42%) of pupils believe that what they do in their daily
life affects people in other countries, showing they are not making the
connections about, for example, climate change.
 Only 50% of pupils think it is a good idea to have people of different
backgrounds living in the same country together. 14% actively disagree with the
idea. Black (76%) and Asian (66%) pupils are significantly more likely than
White pupils (47%) to believe it is a good idea.
 The research shows, however, that those who experience global learning at
school are more likely to feel there is something they can do to make the world
a better place, be more open to those from different backgrounds and
appreciate that what they do in their daily lives can affect those in other
countries. For example, 72% of pupils who have thought about news stories from
around the world from different points of view at school say they try to do things to
make the world a better place, compared to only 49% of pupils who have not done
this at school.
(Ipsos MORI surveyed 1,955 pupils from 82 middle and secondary state schools in
England between 11th January and 28th March 2008 on behalf of DEA. See
www.dea.org.uk/research for full details.)
Teachers report that their creativity is stifled and they do not have enough space to
reflect on the deeper issues in education. Our research has found,
“there is a large gap between the proportion of teachers who think schools should
prepare pupils to deal with a fast-changing and globalised world (94%), and the
proportion who believe the current school system actually does this (58%). This
gap is even starker when it comes to secondary school teachers (just 53% of
secondary school teachers agree the current system prepares pupils well, compared
with 62% of primary staff).
(DEA/Ipsos MORI, Publication forthcoming (March 2009), Teachers Omnibus 2008
for DEA)
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The effect that globalisation has had upon the way that business operates and thus
upon business needs from employees is also significant. In succeeding in the drive
to cut carbon and operate in a sustainable way, business will obviously be
dependent on the levels of understanding amongst employees. Furthermore, to
compete successfully in a global marketplace, businesses need employees with a
global perspective, who are able to communicate with people from wide range of
social and cultural backgrounds, “PWC’s young people will have to take on some
very complex global challenges in the years to come, and they will need more than
business skills and an MBA - they will also have to be socially aware, possess
intercultural communication skills, be thoughtful, committed to accountability and
above all compassionate.” Price Waterhouse Coopers1
2. Government progress on global learning
DCSF, and the Government as a whole, has set out a range of plans and aspirations
in response to the challenges of our global future. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has
stated, “I want to see the teaching of global issues given more weight in our schools
and colleges and already we have taken steps to make issues like globalisation,
environmental sustainability and citizenship a core part of the curriculum” (DEA,
2008, ‘Global Matters’). Furthermore:
 The new secondary curriculum is aims-led and includes much more global
learning, including a global and sustainable development dimension across all
subjects.
 DCSF has a Sustainable Development Action Plan and has introduced a
‘Sustainable Schools’ programme to embed sustainability, including the global
dimension in the curriculum and culture of schools. The Government wants all
schools to be ‘Sustainable Schools’ by 2020. This agenda is linked to the work of
DEFRA and DECC.
 The key domestic education goal of the DfES 2004 International Strategy,
‘Putting the World into World Class Education’ is, ‘Equipping our children, young
people and adults for life in a global society and work in a global economy’.
 DFID’s 2006 Eliminating World Poverty White Paper states that they “seek to
give every child in the UK the chance to learn about the issues that shape their
world”.
 With cross party support, Citizenship has been introduced as a National
Curriculum subject and despite its slow and difficult implementation, this is
beginning to have positive impacts.
 The Race Relations Amendment Act and the duty to promote community
cohesion put legal requirements on schools to promote race equality and an
understanding of diversity.
However, all these plans and aspirations require considerable cross-departmental
collaboration and significant developments in teacher training to be fully realised.
3. Implications of global learning for all teacher education
To address the issues and commitments outlined above, teachers must have global
learning embedded in their ITET and CPD.
1
Bourn, D & Neal, I (2008) The Global Engineer, London: Engineers Against Poverty
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Challenging issues around the global dimension, sustainable development, race
equality and community cohesion do not currently receive a high enough priority
and status within ITT or CPD. Teachers need more support around their
understanding of complex and sometimes controversial issues such as war, poverty,
climate change, or the changing global economy. Schools have visions and policies
with words such as diversity and inclusion. The question remains as to how deeply
these concepts have been discussed and understood by staff. A tick-box approach is
not enough.
Globalisation challenges our ideas about knowledge and about the role of the teacher.
Teachers need to feel comfortable with the fact that there are things which they do not
know; things which are contested and which people have a range of valid views on;
and things which nobody has definite answers to, such as the best way to address
poverty. This means that teachers need to be comfortable with the role of facilitator
rather than imparter of knowledge in certain contexts. This type of teacher education
requires space for personal reflection not just the passing on of a set of ‘methods’ to
teachers.
Training provision in these areas remains patchy and requires significant status and
investment. This should not mean an approach of reactive, snap decisions based on
limited research. Time is needed to ensure sustainable embedding of global learning
across institutions.
The Joint International Unit chairs a cross-agency ‘Global Dimension Working Group’
Representatives from TDA and training bodies should join this group to consider how
the global dimension can be mainstreamed in their work.
4. Teacher Retention
Ensuring that teacher training includes the global dimension can make an important
contribution to teacher retention.
“A high proportion of all teachers (80%) agree that thinking about how
teaching contributes to making the world a better place motivates them to
stay in teaching. The balance of opinion is more positive among primary than
secondary school teachers, with the most positive responses among those
interviewed teaching foundation/reception years and Key Stage 1. In particular,
this motivation appears to be an important factor for teachers in the sample with 10
years’ experience or less, who show a considerably higher net agreement than those
who have been teaching for 11-15 years. The sentiment is most prevalent among
newly qualified teachers and among teachers with 1-5 years’ experience, suggesting
that it may play an important part in attracting teachers to their profession, and in
retention of teachers at early stages in their career.”
(DEA/Ipsos MORI, Publication forthcoming (March 2009), Teachers Omnibus 2008
for DEA)
5. Entry into teaching
Teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the world and their ability to cope with
complexity prior to entry into ITET is important. One major teacher training
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institution asks all primary PGCE applicants about their understanding of the global
dimension in interviews.
6. Government support through DFID
In looking at CPD in global learning, it is important to be aware of the major positive
contribution made by DFID. DFID’s work aims to ensure all pupils learn about
development issues in school.
This comprises funding for a range of positive initiatives. A key one of these is
‘Enabling effective support for a global dimension in education’ (EES). It aims “to
build capacity within the UK’s education systems so they respond to the challenges
of educating young people to understand and help shape the globalising and
interdependent world in which they live.” Each government region has a different
strategy in response to EES. They offer a range of examples of how to work
collaboratively, bringing schools, local authorities, universities and other providers
together towards a common goal. This is a major ten year programme, with funding
of over £1 million a year.
DFID also funds a great deal of support work in schools through its Development
Awareness Fund. This fund spends approximately £1 million per annum on projects,
mostly in the formal sector, that raise understanding of development and global
issues.
DFID also funds the Global Dimension Website (www.globaldimension.org.uk) of
teaching resources which is run by DEA.
DFID is currently planning a review of its Building Support for Development
strategy. Given it is probably the most significant funder supporting work around
the global dimension in England, this is an important opportunity to strengthen its
impact. There are a number of issues it needs to consider:
 How can DFID use its funding most effectively to support teachers on the global
dimension?
 What has been the impact of the substantial funding DFID has put into
education and teacher support? What have been the most effective
interventions?
 How can the work that DFID funds in the formal education sector support
learning about complex issues rather than just awareness raising?
 How can DFID, and the organisations which it funds, join up more effectively
with DCSF (especially the Joint International unit, Community Cohesion unit and
Sustainable Development unit) and with other education agencies such as QCA,
TDA, Ofsted, SSAT, NCSL.
7. Initial Teacher Education and Training (ITET)
The Centre for Cross Curricular Initiatives (CCCI) London South Bank University
manage a UK wide network (www.lsbu.ac.uk/ccci/uk.shtml) of those involved in
teacher education around global citizenship and education for sustainable
development. This receives some funding from TDA, ESCalate and WWF-UK. The
network brings together good practice, has a website to disseminate policy,
research and practice and runs an annual conference. The network also supports
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regional networks across the UK. The network has been highly successful in bringing
together practitioners, policy makers and NGOs and has the full support of UCET,
the TDA has been very supportive of the network and is represented on the steering
group of the network. If the network is to sustain current activities and further
develop it will require more permanent central funding.
Government priorities around the global dimension; education for sustainable
development; and community cohesion should be made more explicit across the
Standards for Qualified Teacher Status and the other Standards.
Training for ITET tutors is needed in innovative approaches including enquiry
methods such as Philosophy for Children (www.sapere.org.uk) and Open Spaces for
Dialogue and Enquiry (www.osdemethodology.org.uk). These kind of approaches
were recommended in the Ajegbo Report (DCSF, 2007, ‘Curriculum Review:
Diversity and Citizenship’).
Secondary ITET courses are currently largely structured by subject. This is an
obstacle to important cross curricula themes such as the global dimension as well as
to the implementation of the new secondary curriculum which encourages more
cross curricula working. TDA and Ofsted have an important role to play in
addressing this.
More Citizenship teachers need to be trained (there are currently just over 1,000).
The TDA should recognise the important and transformative effect good Citizenship
teachers can have on schools, not just on Citizenship teaching as a subject.
8. Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
We are concerned that the National Strategies are leading to a narrow and
mechanistic ‘delivery’ oriented approach to CPD.
Teachers need support with more than literacy and numeracy. All subjects have
important roles to play. Furthermore, the new secondary curriculum and the
upcoming primary curriculum will require teachers and senior leaders to have much
more support in curriculum development and making connections between areas of
learning.
Challenging issues around the global dimension, sustainable development, race
equality and community cohesion are not straightforward. They require discussion
and reflection by all involved to be meaningful.
Creative spaces which are not necessarily billed as CPD but which provide
opportunities for discussion and peer learning can be extremely valuable. Examples
include groups of teachers getting together to discuss how to use a particular
resource or to develop a new resource for publication (for example, Birmingham’s
Tide ~ Global learning - www.tidec.org.uk).
Subject associations have an important role to play in supporting teachers to think
about the global dimension and linkages to sustainable development in their
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subject. Government should consider a package of support for subject associations
to provide CPD for their members around this area.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play an important role in providing teacher
CPD around global learning, given their expertise on relevant issues. Uniquely, the
UK has around 45 Global Education Centres (Development Education Centres) who
support local schools to embed global learning. Support is, however, not consistent
across different regions, for example, London only has one DEC. Work needs to be
done to see how more consistent provision of such support can be provided in every
region.
9. New Masters in Teaching and Learning
Making teaching a Masters-level profession can be seen as a recognition of the
responsibility which teachers have for how, as a society, we see the world. If the
MTL is reduced to a tick-box exercise around ‘delivering’ mechanistic skills to
teachers rather than supporting them to explore the content and implications of
their teaching, it will have failed. MTL providers should consider how they can
embed a global perspective across the entire course, as well as consider potentially
having modules that focus on globalisation and sustainability to deepen the
understanding of teachers who are interested in taking their knowledge further.
10. Head teacher professional development
The engagement and full understanding of senior management is essential for global
learning. NCSL is making progress but there is a risk that their focus on Sustainable
Schools is leading to this being seen as a purely green agenda, rather than about
sustainable development in its broadest sense which brings together principles
around social justice, environmental sustainability and quality of life.2
11. Local authorities (LAs)
There are cases of local authorities struggling to make connections between related
areas such as community cohesion, wellbeing, ethnic minority achievement,
education for sustainable development, international work and citizenship in their
strategies. This suggests a lack of a deep understanding of the issues. It also seems
to be partly a result of the commissioning model which leads to advisers focusing on
selling ‘services’ to schools rather than working collaboratively in the local authority.
The lack of joining up is exacerbated by the lack of subject expertise that now exists
in local authorities. These issues need to be addressed in order to work towards the
Government’s aims around global learning.
Submitted by DEA on 2 February 2009
2
A widely accepted definition of sustainable development is ‘development which meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. The UK government’s principles of sustainable
development (available at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/what/principles.htm) stress justice, equal
opportunity, social cohesion inclusion and well-being as well as living within environmental limits.