How do we teach adults to read and write? Seminar by Diane Gardner
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On 31 March, Diane Gardner, Senior Lecturer at the City of Glasgow College, conducted a workshop at the University of Glasgow. Diane outlined her system of synethetic phonics, based on the critical pedagogy of Paulo Freire, that she uses in her teaching practice. She is currently in working in partnership with the BBC Skillswise programme.
The lively and informative workshop was well attended by literacy practitioners, graduate students and faculty.
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CR&DALL Deputy Director Margaret Sutherland will be developing over the next year, one of the University of Glasgow's new courses within the Futurelearn platform.
Registration and call for submissions for the 2015 GAPS Conference 'Access to Higher Education: Meeting the Global Challenge' is now open.
Please join us this Friday, 16th January at 3:00pm for a seminar with Prof Peter Brandon, an internationally recognised expert on welfare policy and social demography.
This project is led by FELCOS Umbria - Fund of Local Authorities for Decentralized Cooperation and Sustainable Human Development, and the other partners are:
This project takes place in several European countries (Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Belgium, Portugal and Cyprus) through a broad partnership between ten different organisations which complement one another – local authorities, funds of local authorities, non-state actors – and each one with proven experience in actions for development education and awareness of citizenship.
The project has been awarded a significant budget by the European Union of 1,727,604 EUR in total. It is a two-year project from January 2015.
The overall objective of the project is to increase the critical understanding, the accountability and the leading role of young European citizens in relation to sustainable development at a local and global level. The specific objectives are:
In Scotland, in the first instance, five secondary and five primary schools from Glasgow City Council will be identified to lead the pilot stage of this work. The Executive Director of Education at Glasgow City Council has signed a formal memorandum of support for the Project. Further links are anticipated with Stirling Council, and negotiations are underway with Perth & Kinross and Fife Councils to explore their involvement. A connection with at least one other local authority will be sought to fulfil aspects of the local authority networking goals (five participating LAs) outlined below.
These additional local authorities might be less directly involved in some of the hands-on training opportunities outlined below. However they would be provided with some of the learning resources and strategic ideas emerging from the project, and would be invited to share good practice within Scotland and beyond.
The vision underlying the project is based on the awareness that the huge waste of food that is apparent in our society is above all a practical obstacle to the global fight against hunger and poverty, both within European and in developing countries. This shameful trend affects not only the right to food of millions of people, but it has led to the waste of valuable and limited natural resources, such as land, water and energy, used at different stages of the food production chain.
Food waste not only has ethical, economic, social and nutritional consequences, but also has serious adverse effects on health and on environment at the global level, given that large amounts of food waste produce carbon dioxide, which in turn contributes to global warming.
The project DON’T WASTE OUR FUTURE focuses primarily on the prevention and reduction of food waste in Europe, where much of the problem is related to the bad behaviour of consumers due to the lack of awareness on the issue in all its complexity.
This bad habit is unfortunately widespread in our society and involves, at different levels, all actors of the society, with a strong impact on the resources at our disposal. Two-thirds of the goods from the nature, in fact, such fertile grounds, clean water and air, are in decline: climate change, biodiversity loss and demographic trends are approaching limits beyond which the consequences for the society and the environment may become irreversible.
Moreover, although to a lesser degree, the project aims to have an impact on the issue of food waste also in developing Countries, where the problem is more related to technical and financial constraints along the entire chain of food production, through encouraging the Local Authorities involved and their networks to develop decentralized cooperation initiatives focused on improving the efficiency of food production chains.
Although some initiatives in this direction have been recently undertaken in many of the target countries, there is still too much fragmentation and no systematic strategy involving public authorities and educational programmes in schools.
SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES
1. Activities in schools
The formal education system is an important framework through which to transmit not only knowledge and points of view on the complex changes taking place at the global level, but also values and principles that could orient behaviours and personal interests towards a more effective and systematic fight against food waste, for the right to food and for new models of responsible consumption and sustainable development.
2. Workshops for high school teachers
The Project Partners will, as a first step, foster collaboration between teachers and the thematic experts who will be identified at the beginning of the project, for the implementation of activities with students. In each school two teachers will be invited to attend two workshops, 2-3 hours each, on the core issues of the project.
The active involvement of teachers in the implementation of activities with the students led by the team of thematic experts will be based on the "learning by doing" methodology, which will allow teachers to learn new methods and educational paths.
3. Modules with high schools students
4 modules targeting about 40 students will be realised in each school involved. Each module will take place during the school timetable, for a duration of 2-3 hours each.
These modules will be led by the team of thematic experts with the support of teachers, focusing on some key issues, such as the interrelationship between food waste and personal behaviours; new lifestyles and responsible consumption; the interconnection between waste and other issues related to sustainable development.
All teaching materials, elaborated and used within the project activities, will be collected in a manual that will be shared with teachers in order to enable them to disseminate these ideas and activities, building a sustainable change in practice across the school, the local authority and indeed across the entire country.
4. 1st European youths' forum against food waste and for new models of responsible consumption
2015 has been designated as the European Year of Development, therefore a youths' Forum will be held on October 2015 in Milan on the occasion of EXPO 2015 dedicated to the theme "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life".
The forum will be a great opportunity for stimulating dialogue, discussion and exchange of experiences among young people on the issues related to food and food waste, from a perspective of sustainable human development and poverty reduction.
The reflection and debate that the Forum aims to encourage concerns the close connection between these issues and environmental sustainability, starting from the evidence that it is not possible to ensure a "decent life for all" (EU 2014, "A decent life for all: from vision to collective action") without pursuing a three-dimensional – social, environmental and economic – development in a well-balanced way.
Many of the students and teachers directly involved in the previous activities will participate in the event, sharing their reflections and final products. During the event they will elaborate the “European Charter of Youngsters for food waste fighting and new model of responsible consumption and lifestyle”, as a common platform of youngsters containing the basic principles for sustainable and responsible behaviours.
5. School campaign against food waste, for responsible consumption and the right to food
The Project intends to develop efficient communication campaigns targeting schools in their fight against food waste, and for responsible consumption and the right to food. These activities will offer the opportunity to disseminate the products and results of the work done within the schools, and in particular to disseminate the “European Charter of Youngsters for food waste fighting and new model of responsible consumption and lifestyle”.
In the school year 2015-16 there will be a series of workshops targeting pupils in primary schools. The students of secondary schools that were involved in the project will lead the workshops. Around five youngsters from each secondary school involved will be trained by the expert team on peer-to-peer methodology, in order to help them to develop and deliver (with the support of teachers and experts) two workshops of two hours each.
ACTIVITIES WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES
1. Territorial Workshops
In each territory (including Scotland) where the Project is active, two workshops will be organised, involving five Local Authorities.
The main goal of the workshops is to raise LAs awareness of the issues related to food waste and the related use of natural resources towards a more responsible management. Another question that will be tackled in the workshops is the existence of legislative and administrative rules that often lead to waste and what possible solutions can be put in place in order to overcome these obstacles. One expected result of these territorial workshops is the elaboration of recommendations and proposals to share with other LAs on the occasion of the European Forum of LAs. These recommendations will constitute the basis for the definition of common European Guidelines.
2. European meeting of Local Authorities
The meeting is designed to be an important occasion of debate and exchange of experiences among European local authorities with the aim of identifying possible common strategies to orientate local and national policies against food waste.
The meeting will take place in parallel with the 1st European Forum of Youngsters and - in addition to the specific sessions targeting LAs involved in the project - it is foreseen that there will be a special session inside the Forum of Youngsters, as a space of participative democracy.
This common session will offer the opportunity for an interesting debate and direct dialogue between the representatives of local institutions and the students participating in the Forum. This direct interaction between the institutional representatives and the young citizens represents a unique place for participative democracy to search for and identify a common strategy in order to orientate local and National policies against food waste.
3. European guidelines for Local Authorities on concrete policies and actions to put in place against food waste, for the right to food and sustainable consumption
The aim of this activity is to focus and reflect on the role that LAs can play to reduce food waste and promote responsible consumption. These guidelines will be translated into the different languages of partner countries and will be available on the project website. The guidelines will be a strategic tool to amplify the impact of the action, taking into consideration that wide dissemination that will be realized by each partner (being many of the co-applicants network of LAs).
Contact details for the Scotland / UK arm of the project:
Dr Alan Britton
University of Glasgow - School of Education
Tel: 0141 330 3498 m: 07816 169537 [email protected]
Sports News | PatikeThis project funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) from 2005-2008 was led by the Global Citizenship Unit with Dr Alan Britton as one of the PIs. It sought to enhance understanding of key development issues among education professionals and students, in partnership with Development NGOs.
Dr Alan Britton is Impact Evaluator for the IDEAS Global Learning Project (2013-2017) funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). This project involves educational initiatives to enhance systems-wide capacity in multinational contexts around education and development.
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Dr Alan Britton is Impact Evaluator for the IDEAS (International Development Education Association of Scotland) project Teach Global Ambassadors Project during the period 2013-2016, and funded by the EC. This is an educational initiative to enhance systems-wide capacity in multinational contexts around education and development.
latest jordans | NikeThe Education for Global Citizenship Unit (EGCU) is located within CR&DALL within the Social Justice, Place and Lifelong Education Research Cluster in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. It is coordinated by Dr Alan Britton while also drawing upon staff from across the wider School of Education in response to the specific needs of particular research and development projects.
Recent major projects led by the Unit have included research into embedding global citizenship into initial teacher education, and in teachers’ career-long professional development, as well as evaluations of various NGO and development projects that seek to enhance education, citizenship and intercultural understanding. The Unit has a growing portfolio of EU funded partnership work relating to intercultural education, the education of migrants and teacher professional development. Dr Britton also undertakes commissioned consultancy work in the field of project evaluation and impact assessment with third sector organisations. The Unit has also had recent lead responsibility for dissemination activities in relation to EU level Projects.
The Unit can contribute specific knowledge, understanding and experience of the connections between education, development and civic engagement, as well as more general expertise on Project Management, Evaluation, Dissemination.
Here are some of its projects:
The Active Learning Centre (ALC), an NGO partner of CR&DALL, has been delivering active democracy projects across the world for 20 years, from Eastern Europe to South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Earlier this month ALC took part in a British Council (BC) and London School of Economics (LSE) conference to discuss The Changing Shape of Gender Equality in South Asia and to develop a work plan to tackle gender inequality beyond 2015 when the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) end.
In July 2012, the UN Secretary General appointed a short life High Level Panel (HLP) of 26 members to set out a “bold and practical” vision of the post-2015 MDG development agenda.
On 30 May 2013 the HLP report called for by five big transformative shifts:
However, campaigners across the globe argue that there must continue to be a stand alone MDG with a gender equality aim, as anything else would be a “step back”.
The conference agreed with this view, as it heard from educators, campaigners, academics and civil servants from UK, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh describe the plight of women and girls in South East Asia.
Topics discussed included the impact of economic growth, access to technology and information and better education and health services, all of which led to unprecedented changes for women and girls in the region. However, this progress was often “despite political and economic processes”.
The region also has a very active women’s movement that continues to make a significant contribution to development.
And contrary to popular opinion, women and girls are vital to the economic development of the region. Many industries where women are the largest part of the workforce, such as the garment industry the workforce is 80% female, are key to the region’s economic development
But despite the key role women and girls play in the region, major gender inequalities persist.
The conference heard how discrimination affects every stage of life. Girl children remain undervalued and are often excluded from education.
Early marriage and childbirth prevent young women from achieving their potential, and violence persists as a means of controlling the behaviour of women and girls.
There clearly remains much work to do before women and girls in South East Asia have their voice heard loud and clear so that they can make their own choices about their lives and so control their own destiny.
Post 2015, a stand alone gender equality goal would be a “bold and practical” step toward achieving equality for women and girls, wherever they live.
University of Glasgow
Centre for Research and Development in Adult and Lifelong Learning (CR&DALL)
University of Glasgow, St. Andrew's Building, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow G3 6NH, Scotland
tel: +44 (0) 141 330 1835
email: [email protected]
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