Global education aims to develop global citizens. Enabling young people to participate in shaping a better, shared future for the world is at the heart of global education. Here we profile learning and action in schools around Australia. The students and schools have:
- developed awareness of a global issue
- embraced the need to change
- engaged in personal, community or global action
- reflected on learning.
We are keen to feature activities, projects and programs from local schools incorporating a global perspective. If you would like to submit an activity from your school, please contact us.
Protecting the local creek
School: Killara Primary School, Sunbury, Victoria
Year level: Year 3
Number of students involved: 25
Impetus for action
Students tested the temperature, stream flow, turbidity, pH and salt levels of their local creek. They discovered it had high levels of acidity and salt making it unsuitable for many macro-invertebrates.
Action
The students developed a plan to protect the creek, which included planting trees and native grasses and putting hay bales along the banks and in the creek to lower turbidity; requesting tip managers, farmers and people further up Blind Creek to limit run-off; and placing collection grids in the creek and doggy-poo bag holders and bins in the reserve to limit rubbish. They wrote to the local council with their suggestions. They promised to actively support the plan with plantings and regular monitoring of the creek and fauna.
Although the council did no more than acknowledge their letter, there were long-term benefits as the students developed awareness of both the effect of people’s behaviours on the environment and their ability to exercise their civic rights. Behavioural changes were noted as a result of the students’ work: rubbish levels went down and environmental interest increased.
Being tuned into their own waterways and their right to express opinions, students were able to consider access to water, protection of the environment and decision-making from a global perspective. Learning about how people in other countries manage water resources extended their understanding about the diversity of opinions and priorities around environmental issues.
Microcredit Fun Day
School: Magill Primary School, South Australia
Year level: Reception – year 2
Number of students involved: 300
Impetus for action
Education officers from the Global Education Centre presented information about microcredit to students. They participated in a simulation game and examined personal stories to learn how small loans can make a big difference to people’s lives.
Action
Students set up their own microcredit businesses for the school Microcredit Fun Day. Each class decided on a product or service. They learnt about their product or service, undertook surveys to gauge the market and wrote a business plan. They applied for a loan from the School Council.
One group of students learned how to apply hair gel and colour spray, another practised their skipping skills so they could instruct their customers, and another was taught hand massage by a parent. Students also made magnets, pet rocks, friendship rocks, honey-rock bracelets, necklaces, bookmarks, packs of playdough, lemonade and fruit jellies.
On the day itself the whole school was abuzz – students set up their stalls in the morning, and spent the afternoon selling all kinds of goods and services and buying those of others.
Some of the comments about the fun day included:
'We learned how to give change and goods.'
'I learned about people who lent other people money.'
'I learned that it’s nice to help people without a job and that it’s not hard to help them. Another thing I learned was that it’s easy to run a business.'
'I learned that it is fun to go shopping at school and to sell.'
After the fun day each class counted the money it had collected, paid back the loan from the School Council and worked out how much profit was made.
The profit, together with the Casual Day money, was $1,391. A cheque for this amount was presented to Save the Children at a special assembly celebrating Children’s Week. The money will be used to fund microcredit projects in a village in Indonesia. The school hopes to keep in touch with the villagers as they take out loans to set up small businesses.
Poverty and fair trade
School: suburban Melbourne
Year level: Years 9–10
Number of students involved: 25
Impetus for action
To re-engage students in their commerce subject by focusing on the marketing of sporting goods that are produced according to fair trade principles.
Action
To add depth to students’ understanding of personal finance they were asked to define or draw poverty. Their responses were stereotypical images of African people sitting around campfires. This limited understanding was used to launch discussions about where poverty exists and what should and could be done about it. Students read case studies to understand the impact of poverty on people’s lives and investigate exploitation, child labour and fair trade issues. This led to exploring the concept of ethical consumerism.
Next, students were required to produce a poster, a flyer, or a radio or television commercial for ethically produced sporting equipment. The challenge was to communicate to potential customers why these goods were sold at a higher price than conventionally produced goods of similar design and quality. Through analysing the techniques used by big brand advertisers, students realised they needed to sell the concept of fair trade rather than the characteristics of sporting goods as the point of difference.
Students began to understand fair trade and how consumers can use it to positively affect levels of poverty in developing countries. They also began to have an understanding of the problems of traditional manufacturing in the developing world, the differences in income and the exploitation of workers and their families that can take place. Finally, they become more aware of the principles of consumerism, and the impact of their own behaviour.
Going further
Oxfam www.oxfam.org.au/explore/trade
Etiko www.etiko.com.au
Jinta www.jintasport.com.au
Millennium Development Goals
School: high migrant, inner Melbourne
Year level: Years 9–10
Number of students involved: 25
Impetus for action
To add a global perspective to the ‘Big City Melbourne’ unit through connecting to the cultural backgrounds of students.
Action
Students investigated the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals and collected data on progress to achieving the specific targets. They made predictions about the progress of specific countries compared to Australia before collecting detailed data. Students who had been born overseas were able to apply their prior knowledge of their country of origin to interpret or challenge data. Students were struck by the inequalities and poverty experienced by some countries and had deep discussions about the issues of universal primary education and gender equality. Analysing the materials also gave students the chance to become familiar with the role of the United Nations in promoting people’s rights.
Sustainable resource use
School: Iona Presentation College, Perth, Western Australia
Year level: Year 11, Geography
Number of students involved: 20
Impetus for action
A teacher from Iona Presentation College participated in the One World Centre’s Global Teaching Advocates professional learning program, leading to the planning of a number of units of globally focused classroom work, including the one described below.
Action
As part of our geography unit we focused on sustainable resource use around the world, including studies of a number of slum areas in different places. We explored the idea that demographics, population growth, values, culture and government intervention are important building blocks for sustainable resource use.
We looked at the extraction of non-renewable resources through the mining process and rehabilitation practices. We investigated silver- and tin-mining in Bolivia, its impact on locals and the activities of advocacy groups. We compared this to iron-ore mining in the Pilbara of Western Australia. Students were able to see how companies were held more accountable in Australia and the impact of their sustainable management practices. Also, through looking more closely at slum areas, students were able to identify the challenges faced by those communities as well as what other communities have to learn from the systems and practices undertaken in places showcased by documentaries such as Welcome to Lagos and Slumming It.
We also looked at the renewable resource activity of forestry and timber production. We participated in a sustainable forest field trip at the Wellington Discovery Forest EcoEducation centre where we went on a night walk to observe the vast diversity of the forest. The students made comparisons between forestry in pine plantations and native woodlands in Western Australia and Indonesia.
Students examined key demographic figures: education, infant mortality rate, wealth, GDP, distribution of income and population. From this they concluded that Australia has the ability to enforce sustainable practices, whereas in Indonesia and Bolivia there were more difficulties in balancing the need to attract global companies with the protection of local people and the environment.
Students evaluated their own consumption patterns and the imbalance of wealth around the world. They presented well-researched and thought-provoking persuasive speeches recognising the importance of researching the facts about corporations, the complexities involved, and the difficulty of balancing economic growth and sustainability.
They now have more respect for the ease of their lives and have taken steps to improve their own carbon footprints and impact on the environment. I know that if they had a chance, they would love to visit some of the places they learned about and take the opportunity to investigate how people with so little can live quite amazing lives.
Going further
World Resource institute www.wri.org
Global Forest Watch www.globalforestwatch.org
Wellington Discovery Forest at the EcoEducation centre, Western Australia www.dec.wa.gov.au/ecoeducation/programs/excursions/70.html
Human rights
School: Beachlands Primary School, Western Australia
Year level: Year 5/6
Number of students involved: 25
Impetus for action
A teacher from Beachlands Primary School participated in the One World Centre’s Global Teaching Advocates professional learning program. This lead to the planning of a number of units of classroom work, including the one described below, ongoing classroom work with a global focus, and whole-school professional learning about global education.
Action
We began our unit by asking students to brainstorm a list of human rights. Then they were asked to order them according to importance. We used a large thermometer drawn on the wall, and students stuck notes onto it, with the most important at the top, and least important at the bottom. This was revisited throughout the unit and students had a chance to alter it as their knowledge increased.
Over the following weeks, students used DVDs, books and websites to research issues of human rights including poverty, food, fair trade, immigration, refugees, microcredit and aid. They played simulation games to help understand the complex issues of inequality. To learn about the geography they drew the world, highlighting the seven continents. In groups they built a continent out of playdough, created a poster and did a talk about it. They learnt about children whose rights have been abused, such as ‘Iqbal the carpet weaver’ who advocated for children’s rights, and they wrote biographies about these children.
Students’ knowledge was assessed through two written stories, one about what they would do if they were prime minister for a day and one about experiencing a disaster that forced them to flee their homes in a hurry.
At the end of the unit, students made some radical changes to how they ranked the rights of children, realising that some of the rights they had listed were quiet insignificant outside their own community.
Going further
Caritas www.bemore.org.au
Oxfam www.oxfam.org.au/explore/trade
Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand www.fairtrade.com.au/
Hand washing for health
School: Belair Schools, South Australia
Year level: 5
Number of students involved: 3
Impetus for action
Belair Schools’ International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) encourages students to choose an area to investigate that explores the idea ‘Decisions we make can help or hinder ourselves and others’.
Action
After examining some AusAID global education resources from the Global Education Centre (GEC), the ‘Healthy Hooligans’ team decided to investigate how the choices we make in relation to our health affect ourselves and others.
The boys visited the GEC in their own time and returned to school with information, ideas and a lot of enthusiasm for their inquiry, particularly about the health of people in developing countries. The group collected samples of E. Coli and made bookmarks and posters to show how important it is to wash hands to reduce the transfer of germs to others.
During the PYP Year 5 exhibition, the students set up a booth in the school hall, welcoming all who visited their stall with a handshake. Their hands were coated with glitter gel and it was amazing to see how far the gel had spread around the hall during the exhibition. They explained that this was to simulate how germs can be transferred from one person to another when there is poor sanitation and hygiene.
The children were very motivated by the response they received at the exhibition. Their reflections indicated that they were far more aware of the importance of handwashing to reduce the spread of disease and are more respectful and appreciative of the toilet facilities they have at home and at school.
One of the students participated in the World Vision 40 Hour Famine and raised money to assist children living in developing countries.
Going further
Teaching activity Staying healthy, Activity 4: Handwashing for hygiene
Case study Community led sanitation
Global Peace School
School: St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe, Brisbane
Year level: Whole of school (years 5–12)
Number of students involved: 1,100 students
Impetus for action
In 2010, St Patrick's College made a commitment to embedding the Edmund Rice Framework for educating for justice and peace across the whole school curriculum and sought guidance and resource support from the Global Learning Centre (GLC).
Action
It was identified that a commonality of vision could be found in the:
1. Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians Goal 2, which aims to develop active and informed citizens through a commitment to the values of democracy, equity and justice, and participation in Australia's civic life.
2. Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) Educating for a Better World for All, Framework for Educating for Justice and Peace aims for a transformational curriculum that is empowering, reflective, rigorous, authentic and that promotes justice and peace literacy.
3. Global Perspectives: A framework for global education in Australian schools, which aims to enable young people to participate in shaping a better shared future for the world through learning about peace building and conflict resolution.
4. Global Peace Schools Programme developed by the United Nations in which students learn about the lives of children living in places of armed conflict. They explore the importance of fostering peace, understanding, tolerance, and love around the world.
To draw all these elements together, the GLC engaged the support of Save the Children, South Australia toward accreditation under the United Nations Global Peace Schools Programme.
The GLC worked closely with the college's Curriculum Leader, Justice and Peace and Save the Children to develop a program which highlighted the alignment between ACARA's cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities (particularly Critical and creative thinking, Personal and social capability, Ethical behavior and Intercultural understanding), the EREA Framework for Educating for Justice and Peace, and the global education learning emphases of peace building and conflict resolution.
By using this coordinated approach to whole-school planning, outcomes for both the emerging Australian Curriculum and for justice and peace literacy were achieved. The college's publication, Just Us, highlights such examples of students undertaking learning experiences which link service to the community and mandated curriculum requirements, both external (Australian Curriculum) and internal (Peace and Justice Framework).
In addition, the college worked to make explicit the various articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This was achieved by raising awareness of child rights at whole-of-school and house assemblies through personal narratives, role-plays and audiovisual materials.
Other initiatives included the placement of 'Rights Cards' around the college in appropriate locations, such as Article 28 (Right to Education) and Article 29 (Goals of Education) placed in all classrooms; Article 13 (Freedom of Expression) placed in art/drama rooms; and Article 17 (Access to information, mass media) placed in the library.
On 21 September 2012, St Patrick's became the first school in Queensland to become a Global Peace School and now proudly flies the United Nations flag.
Connecting through technology
School: Point Clare Public School, New South Wales
Year level: 5–6
Number of students involved: 60
Impetus for action
Class teacher Judy Wilson was interested in the ChildFund Connect program. She saw it as an opportunity for children to see the world beyond themselves and learn about children from a different culture. She was particularly interested in the use of technology, video and Skype to engage students in learning about children in different parts of the world. As a result, she signed up two class groups to engage in the ChildFund Connect program and connect with a classroom in Timor-Leste and a children’s club in Vietnam.
Action
During Terms 1 and 2, the Point Clare students connected with their partner groups in Timor-Leste and Vietnam using video and other multimedia. They engaged with the ChildFund Connect website, created photo-stories and made videos to share with their overseas peers.
Students voted on which shared topics they would like to explore using video. They created 10 short videos on sport and gardening, which they shared with their peers in Vietnam and Timor-Leste. In exchange, they received 10 videos from the children in Vietnam and Timor-Leste on the same topics. All videos were translated into English, Vietnamese and Tetum with the support of the ChildFund Connect facilitators in each country. The students also welcomed the ChildFund Connect facilitators from Vietnam and Timor-Leste during a special visit in May, by holding a typical Aussie barbecue at the school.
At the end of Term 2, the students were asked to think about how the overall project had changed, or not changed, the way they thought about children in Vietnam and Timor-Leste. They said:
'The way we get our food is the same as them – so I respect them'
'You sort of realise no one's better than anyone else – they're still happy.'
'It’s taught me we're really lucky to be in Australia – seeing what it's like in a different country where they don't have much and we do.'
'At the start I didn’t know anything [about Vietnam ] … Now I know more.'
Judy Wilson also felt that the students had gained new skills and awareness through the project. 'It's led to such an interest. I've got kids coming at lunchtime now to video things – writing storyboards, filming issues and things they think are important.'
Judy Wilson linked the ChildFund Connect project with the Global Connections unit and said, 'It just made the whole unit so much more significant'. The students are now focusing on creating a video for the ChildFund Connect International Children's Film Festival 'Water World'.
Going further
ChildFund Connect http://childfundconnect.org
ChildFund Our Day Project
Sustainability leadership
School: Northcote High School, Victoria
Year level: Year 9
Number of students involved: 37
Impetus for action
The High Resolves Global Citizenship and Leadership Program students chose to focus on environmental sustainability for their School Action Project as many of them were also in the school Green Team.
Action
The consensus-building and voting processes led students to decide to apply their passion for sustainability on re-powering their school with renewable energy. After an assessment of what could realistically be achieved by the end of the year, they decided to focus on the following objectives:
- Re-power the school's Global Citizenship Centre.
- Install energy-efficient light globes throughout the school.
- Inform students about the importance of environmental sustainability.
The students understood that they would have to raise a substantial amount of money to fund their project. They held a movie night at the school, three bake sales and a sausage sizzle, and used Cadbury fundraiser boxes to raise a total of $4,000. The students also applied for and received a $1,000 grant from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In November 2012, the students ordered the solar panels and these were installed on the 30 November. Seeing the value in the project, the school decided to match the funds the students had raised to purchase a larger system. As a result, the school installed 20 solar panels with a 5 kilowatt inverter.
The students have also been able to create broader awareness of sustainability at their school. They put up posters and stickers in all classrooms to inform students and teachers about the importance of being energy conscious and providing tips to save energy. They designed and acquired posters to raise awareness about the correct use of recycling bins. Their project also involved presenting on the importance of being environmentally conscious in the classroom at a school staff meeting.
Solar panels at Northcote High School
Photo by M Strong
The students are looking forward to measuring the change in the school's power bills after installing the solar panels. Following the project, students reported a sense of achievement as well as increased confidence in their ability to get things done:
This project gave me a great understanding of leadership, teamwork, and what it means to really make a difference in your school.
This project really helped change our school for the better, and really helped me improve my leadership skills.
Going further
Northcote High School
High Resolves Global Citizenship and Leadership Program
Australian Youth Climate Coalition Repower Australia
World Wise school
School: Ashburton Primary School, Victoria
Year levels: Prep – year 6
Number of students involved: 489
Impetus for action
After a teacher professional learning session with the Global Education Project the staff decided to encourage students to broaden their worldview to become more active global citizens.
Action
The whole-school World Wise program is based on the objectives of the Global Education Framework. Our program emphasises the unity and interdependence of human society, an appreciation of cultural diversity, human rights, peace building and actions for a sustainable future in different times and places.
The World Wise program focuses on a different continent each term. To create an environment to encourage explorations, a special classroom was set up with maps and artefacts from around the world.
Passports were made and stamped as different countries were 'visited' and discussed. Records were kept in individual journals. Students learnt about cultural diversity through language, history, geography, customs and food.
Students are learning how to conduct a Chinese tea ceremony.
Photo by Dr Cheryl McKenzie, Ashburton Primary School
Students learnt about the world’s rainforests and the need to protect environments to prevent animals from becoming extinct.
Students use iPads to expand their understanding of countries in Africa.
Photo by Dr Cheryl McKenzie, Ashburton Primary School
Speakers from the local Lions Club, The Orangutan Project, Plan, and the Global Poverty Project engaged students with real-life situations. Students began to think more widely about the world around them and plan to take action for change. They discussed the values of various world organisations and chose to raise money to support specific projects.
Year 5 students cooked food to raise more than $500 to support orphaned orang-utans in Borneo.
Photo by Dr Cheryl McKenzie, Ashburton Primary School
Year 5 students cooked food to raise more than $500 to support orphaned orang-utans in Borneo.
The whole school created items from recycled materials to sell and raise funds for the Make Poverty History campaign. Preps made pasta necklaces, year 1 painted wishing stones, year 2 made wooden-bead necklaces, years 3 and 4 made friendship bracelets and years 5 and 6 made African nebella dolls and models out of wire.
Through the World Wise program students have developed a global mindset as they have tried to make sense of the diversity of the lives of people in other countries. They have learnt to take responsibility for their actions, respect and value diversity and see themselves as global citizens who can contribute to a peaceful, just and sustainable world.
Going further
Ashburton Primary School – World Wise program
