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The Global Teacher Project is run by the World Studies Trust.
The World Studies Trust was established in 1988 to develop
and support work in the formal education sector, which promotes
'the knowledge, attitudes and skills which young people
need in order to practise social and environmental responsibility
in a multicultural society and interdependent world'.
It emerged as a follow-up to the enormously successful 1980's
curriculum development project 'World Studies 8-13' which
was run by Fisher and Hicks and funded jointly by the Schools
Council and the Rowntrees Trust.
World Studies is not a separate subject but a way of examining
specific issues across the curriculum. It includes:
-
Studying cultures and countries other than one's own and
the ways in which they are different from, and similar
to, one's own;
- Studying
major issues which face different countries and cultures;
for example those to do with peace and conflict, development,
human rights and the environment;
- Studying
the ways in which everyday life and experience affect,
and are affected by, the wider world;
-
Exploring the meaning of citizenship for young people
today; both in their community and as part of the wider
world.
Activities
of the World Studies Trust :
- Working
with pupils, teachers and others to advance World Studies.
- Supervising
the running of national conferences on World Studies.
- Publishing
educational material.
- Running
projects to promote World Studies.
-
Networking with similar bodies and organisations.
Specifically, the Trust is currently playing a major role
in promoting World Studies and its sister educational initiatives
(e.g. Development Education) in the field of Initial Teacher
Education.
In the late 1980's, the Trust organised a series of highly
successful national conferences on World Studies for teachers.
The Trust undertook (1990-1992) a national evaluation of the
effectiveness of active learning methodologies in promoting
the core values and understanding of Development education
(DE). This project resulted in a report, which was disseminated
to the DE community, as well as a published teacher handbook,
which updated World Studies processes for the National Curriculum,
(Learning From Experience, M. Steiner, Trentham Books).
From 1993 to 1996, we worked with teacher trainers in Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs) in England and Wales to promote
a World Studies approach in Initial Teacher Training (ITT)
so that newly qualified teachers would have access to the
ideas and methodologies for introducing a global/Southern
perspective into their teaching. In addition to the benefits
gained by teacher training students during the project and
the development of a strong relationship with teacher trainers
throughout the country, the Trust produced a book based on
the practice and reflections of teacher trainers and DE workers
(The Global Teacher: Theory and practice in Global Education,
M. Steiner, ed. Trentham Books, 1996.)
In 1997/98, the Trust worked towards the launch of a new project
working with the mentoring system in Initial Teacher Training.
The main vehicle for this was the Mentoring Project Pilot
(started in April 1997 and funded by CAFOD, Christian Aid,
Oxfam and UNICEF (UK). Four HEIs introduced a World Studies
component to their B.Ed or P.G.C.E courses, which reached
both student teachers and teacher mentors, based in schools.
Dr Sneh Shah evaluated the pilot and resulted in a research
report and a summary document, both of which are available
from the Trust.
The
Trustees
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