GTA Newsletter March 2014
project A T G e th f o n io it d e t Welcome to the firs
newsletter!
We are now at the beginning of Year 2 of the project, and therefore it’s a good opportunity to take stock of what we have managed to achieve so far. Progress in Year 1 was hampered due to the delayed inception of the programme, with the funds for the project only released in August 2013, despite a February 2013 start date. Regardless of this difficulty, the project partners began to meet on a monthly basis through Skype. The first few months of the project were spent on discussing and familiarising ourselves with the project outcomes, looking at the GTA programme and how it may be adapted for each country, finance procedures and planning for how to get maximum results in the face of delayed funding. A Drop box folder was setup to enable file-sharing and collaboration on documents. In September 2013, we held our first Partner’s Week at the Legacy International Hotel in Preston, England. Over the week we all attended a GTA Level 1 workshop delivered by Gisela Reynolds from Global Link (Lancaster), training on GTA by Rob Unwin from DECSY (Sheffield) and a seminar on financial reporting led by Claire Ward from CDEC (Cumbria). The overall theme of the week was to better understand how to adapt GTA Level 1 for each partner country. Despite having only four months left in Year 1, our partners mobilised steering groups in each of their countries, and set in place plans for a launch event, focus groups and GTA Level 1 workshops, and in two countries managed to hold a number of workshops and a launch event too! A big part of our EC funded project is to work with a range of partners to deliver a quality programme in all four partner countries. In order to facilitate this, LGEC ran a competitive tendering and sub-contracting process, which was advertised through partner networks, social media and on the LGEC website. The selection The winners of the contracts are as follow: process was presided over by an independent and impartial Harm-Jan Fricke – External Evaluation of the GTA panel and I am happy to report that we have now filled all programme the tenders and sub-contract positions. Leeds DEC – Writing, Editing, Designing and Nasrullah Anwar, GTA Project Manager Printing of an introduction to Global Education Executive Director, Lancashire Global Education Centre handbook Leeds DEC – Development, Launch and Maintenance of European-wide Website, with multi-language support Liverpool World Centre – Accreditation and Validation of Level’s 2 and 3 of the GTA programme DECSY – Research and Development of Level’s 2 and 3 of the GTA programme Cumbria DEC – GTA programme newsletter and CoDEC communication
This project is funded by the European Union The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission
GTA Newsletter March 2014
. ia v t a L in t c je o r P A GT During the first year of GTA Project, Latvian Adult Education Association (LAEA) has organised several activities. Director of LAEA, S.Pīlāte, has informed LAEA board and member organisations about the project aims, planned activities and has visited several adult education institutions and presented GTA Project and possibilities to organise courses in different regions of Latvia. LAEA partners of other projects were also informed about work in the GTA Project. In December 2013, LAEA organised a Project Launch event in Riga, attended by over 40 representatives of different kinds of education institutions and individuals involved in adult education in Latvia. At the beginning of Launch event there were icebreaker activities to get participants more open and acquainted with each other. The Director of LAEA, S.Pīlāte, talked about the project aims, planned activities and partners involved in the project. I. Vaivare, an experienced practitioner of development issues talked about actualities in Latvia in this sphere, and about work done by Latvia Platform of Development Education. It was followed up by discussions about development education issues and possibilities to talk about them in schools and adult education institutions. In January two GTA level 1 courses were organised in two small cities of Latvia- in Aizkraukle and in Talsi. Participants got acquainted with concept of global education and different methods of teaching it. There were also discussions and stories of individual experiences, along with presentations of different opinions. S.Pīlāte LAEA
This project is funded by the European Union The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission
GTA Newsletter March 2014
GTA in Ireland The Galway One World Centre was delighted to launch the Ireland’s GTA training programme at National University Ireland, in February. Adedotun Adekeye addressed over 200 students who were participating in a full day of development education events at the university. Student teachers at NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth, and University College Dublin have all participated in GTA workshops, with more planned for Limerick and Dublin in the coming months. Feedback from participating teachers has been enthusiastic, with many remarking that their understanding of development issues and confidence to address them in the classroom has been significantly increased. One participant described her experience like this; “the workshop had the theme of ‘Upside Down World’ [from the work of Eduardo Galaeno] and I can honestly say that it really opened my eyes and gave me a whole new perspective on things [and] I got some great ideas for my classes, If you’ve got a any which is really important.” fab events, sessions or news that you For more information on the GTA in Ireland, please go to want to shout www.galwayowc.org or email Vicky Donnelly at about, don’t forget education@galwayowc.org. to send them to me, with photos, Leeds DEC are delighted to lead the creation of an for the next newsletter in June....... International GTA website! After meeting 2 Yorkshireclaire@cdec.org.uk based website developers at a third sector skill-sharing event, we are hammering out the details and have developed a comprehensive site-map. The website will be available in 3 languages and for 4 countries, with the option to add further languages/countries as the GTA develops. A colourful, eye-catching design and social elements to the sites will hook teachers in, who will also have the opportunity to book onto a course at their local centre through a calendar and online payment system. Site-users also have the option to download sample resources and view the latest newsletter. We intend for the site to launch before the summer term, 2015. Watch this space!
This project is funded by the European Union The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission
GTA Newsletter March 2014
in Harrogate, UK ld e h p u ro G s u c o F GTA Teacher Our first Focus Group for GTA Level 1 teachers was held at St John Fisher RC High School in Harrogate on Thursday 30th January. A group of invited GTA Level 1 teachers and TAs from North Yorkshire schools got together to discuss their experiences of the GTA to date. The group had a lively and candid discussion about all aspects of the GTA; the initial training course and certification process; Global Learning challenges and successes in their own classrooms; engaging other staff and the wider school community; and the benefits to themselves and their pupils of their involvement with the GTA programme. Participants shared some excellent examples of Global Learning. Andrea Peace, a TA from Carleton, taught her Year 4 children about the supply chain involved in the sale of a pair of jeans; from the cotton plantation through to our high street stores. She summed up the success of the lesson saying, ‘They were completely engaged. It was real. They all wear jeans!’ Catherine Wilson, a Head teacher from Ripley, provided a great example of a Global Learning activity that linked the Local to the Global. She used the litter problem in her school playground as a starting point, with each pupil having to bring a piece of litter in from the playground to drop on the floor in assembly. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 then went on to learn about the problem of waste plastics in Kenya. They found out about the turtle population that live near their Kenyan link school and the effects of waste plastics on them. Pupils from both schools then designed and swapped posters to spread the message about littering from their own contexts and experiences. Feedback on the whole was positive; the teachers and TAs felt that their GTA training and ongoing support from their local Craven DEC, has prepared them well to deliver good quality Global Teaching in their schools. The pressures of time, curriculum space, and wider school engagement continue to challenge the Global Teacher but the benefits to pupils are clear, as Andrea Peace says;
NATIONAL GLOBAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE Friday, 28th March 2014, 11.00 to 15.30 GMT CAN Mezzanine, Loman St, London, SE1 EH The National Global Education Conference is a free, one-off event that will highlight what's currently available to teachers and trainee teachers in the way of Global and Development Education professional development opportunities, pathways into how
“My pupils are becoming more connected to the wider world and recognise the importance of their choices.” Catherine Naylor (UK GTA Coordinator)
to go about getting the training you need and where to start; as well as where you can find good quality resources both online and off-line. Benefits of attending: • Meet national and local providers • Learn about what’s on offer from the GLP, Global Teachers Award (GTA) and Connecting Classrooms • Opportunity to network with other teachers and hear first-hand experiences • Sign-up for CPD courses on the day • Signposting to resources and other courses
This project is funded by the European Union The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission