Global Literacy - Pupil Audit Report by CDEC

Global Literacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Pupil Audit Report

Global Literacy for a Fairer World! A project funded by the European Union and led in England by CDEC

England

Ghana

Czech Republic

Poland

Table of contents 1. Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. Objectives of this report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3. How to use this report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4. The report and the European debate about quality and impact in development education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5. Activity 1: What do you know about Africa? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6. Activity 2: Where is this? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 7. Activity 3: Why is there hunger in the world? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 8. Activity 4: What is poverty? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 9. Activity 5: How can we make a difference to poverty in the world? . . . . 15

This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the project partners, led by CDEC, and can under no way circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

Context This report is part of the EC-funded project, Global Literacy for a Fairer World, carried out in partnership by Cumbria Development Education Centre (CDEC) from the UK, Institute of Global Responsibility (IGO) from Poland, Centre for Environmental Education and Ethics (SEVER) from the Czech Republic, and International Centre for Enterprise and Development (ICED) from Ghana. In this project the partner organisations are working together to support teachers to incorporate development issues about food, trade and the causes of poverty into their lessons, so that: p upils understand interdependence between Europe and the global South and make progress in taking meaningful action to support global justice, t heir teachers are better equipped to challenge myths about development, food security, trade, environment and poverty issues through their teaching. This report summarizes findings from the baseline audits run in schools in four countries in order to find out what pupils think about Africa and how they approach development issues, in particular food, trade and the causes of poverty. It also presents recommendations following the audit which can be used in order to better teach development education by challenging stereotypes and misconceptions about Africa and development. The audits were carried out in three European countries, the UK, Poland and the Czech Republic, between 2011 and 2012. In total 612 pupils aged from 9 to 15, coming from private and public primary and secondary schools, took part in it. It is worth bearing in mind that the results in each country varied from school to school and reflected their specificities, different focuses and concerns. These details are however not included in the present report. We would like to thank Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC), who provided ideas and resources which were used as the basis of the Pupil Audit activities.

Objectives of this audit report

This report has five objectives: I t reinforces the importance of a baseline audit as an essential initial activity in teaching global education. The audit approach helps teachers and other global education practitioners to plan their teaching based on pupilsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; needs and interests, challenge certain deeply-rooted stereotypes about Africans and their countries and finally, evaluate progress in teaching by comparing baseline results and results obtained after a certain period of teaching about global issues. I t presents the audit methodology â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a set of five activities which can be carried out with pupils as a baseline audit and an evaluation of progress in learning about global issues as well as interesting and engaging stand alone activities. I t provides teachers and other global education practitioners with the findings of what pupils think about Africa, which can be used as a starting or reference point in their teaching about global and development issues. I t offers ready to use activities to follow up on the audit findings and successfully teach about development issues by challenging the most commonly held stereotypes and misconceptions which pupils and teachers may have about Africans, global development, inequalities and poverty. I t shows how the audit and resulting follow-up activities can be used in order to contribute to the current discussion and work on quality and impact in development education in Europe.

How to use this report

This report is aimed at primary and secondary teachers, in particular those teaching literacy, citizenship and global education, other development education practitioners and activists (workers of development education non-governmental organisations, youth workers etc.) as well as education advisors and officials. The report offers both the description of the audit activities and the recommendations and follow-up activities. Therefore it can be used as a useful tool to run the audit and following its results to put into practice its recommendations or proposed follow-up activities. Furthermore, both the audit activities and the follow-up resources can be used as stand alone activities in order to supplement teaching global education or to get inspired and to generate further ideas on how to address specific development issues in work with pupils. This report is intended to influence teachers’ practice and be a valuable resource for education advisors in their work with teachers. We also hope that it will be a source of information and inspiration for other global education practitioners and campaigners in producing their resources and advising teachers.

The report and the European debate about quality and impact of development education

As mentioned above, the audit methodology presented in this report can be used as one of the useful tools to plan for and improve quality and impact of development education. The recent publication Quality and Impact. A Journey to Quality Development Education1, suggests that in order to define quality in development education it is first important to agree on what we want the people we work with to gain as a result of our activities. In addition, we must consider what beneficiaries’ reactions to our ideas might be, and how they see the world and their role in shaping it. It is also crucial to reflect on ways in which our development education initiatives address and take into account different viewpoints which our target groups may have. The audit methodology and its results can help us understand viewpoints and values held by the people we work with, in this case, pupils and teachers. The audit results can be considered a starting point in engaging pupils and teachers in a meaningful and participatory learning process through which they can raise and address questions.

Quality and Impact. A Journey to Quality Development Education; starting points that help you to be clear about what you do and why you do it, DEEEP (Developing Europeans’ Engagement for the Eradication of Global Poverty), CONCORD, 2012 1

Activity 1: What do you know about Africa? Description of the activity

In this activity pupils work in small groups (4-5 people) and are encouraged to write in five minutes all they know about Africa, its places and people, on the worksheet representing an outline map of Africa. They can take turns as scribe but only one person writes at a time. The question “What do you know about Africa?” is displayed in the classroom. It is very important in this activity not to influence the pupils’ ideas and associations, not to comment on them and possibly prevent peers from different groups from exchanging ideas. The objective of the activity is to assess the pupils’ current knowledge of Africa and their perceptions. These findings can provide the basis for future learning. In this analysis of the results, their responses are classified into the seven following categories: 1) people and society (incl. colour of skin, daily lives etc.), 2) natural environment (climate, animals and plants), 3) countries and their features (their names and landmarks etc.), 4) energy, transport and communications, 5) economic activity (jobs, production etc.), 6) built environment (houses and schools etc.) and 7) culture and history (traditions, music etc.).

The results – what pupils know about Africa

After the results from Poland, the Czech Republic and the UK have been pooled, the following picture of the knowledge of and associations about African countries emerges:

The overall results from the three countries

The results indicate that most pupils’ ideas and associations are in the following three categories: p eople and society (colour of skin, daily lives etc.) – 44.5% of all items n atural environment (climate, animals and plants etc.) – 33.9% c ountries and their features (their names and landmarks etc.) – 25.8%. In the four remaining categories clearly fewer associations have been given by the children: t he fewest items were mentioned in the category relating to energy, transport and communications – 1.7% i n the category of economic activity (jobs, production etc.) – 2.5% i n the category relating to built environment (houses and schools etc.) – 3.1% i n the category linked to culture and history (traditions, music etc.) – 6.3%.

When referring to people and society in African countries the pupils mainly mentioned suffering from poverty and lack of water, hunger, illness and mortality as well as skin colour. Other associations included: c onflicts, c hildren not being able to attend school due to lack of money, t he division of roles in society (“Women take care of children and fathers earn money”), c hildren playing football with a cabbage instead of a football, n o computers or Internet at school, S omali pirates, strictly guarded borders, A fricans being thin, l iving up early age, h arvesting crops by hand, s ending old clothes there, p rojects such as “school in Africa”, U NICEF, s upporting financially a child in an African country. The children occasionally made reference to there also being rich people and places. In the second largest category linked to natural environment the pupils underlined a wide variety of plants (tea, tropical fruit, baobabs, rubber, cocoa beans, coffee beans, palm trees, vanilla, pepper, cloves), animals (elephants, lions, giraffes, camels, Anaconda, mosquitoes with malaria, ants) and landscapes (oasis, rain forests, savannas, jungles) – however, with a predominance of hot and dry areas (deserts, drying up of Lake Chad, droughts). The third category (countries and their features) with the largest number of ideas included the following popular geographical landmarks: Sahara, the Nile, Madagascar, Egypt, Kilimanjaro, Congo, Victoria lake, equator, the Congo Basin, Indian Ocean, Cape Agulhas, Congo Basin, Bab al Mandab, Limpopo, Uhuru, Tassili and Sudan. As for the least popular category (energy, transport and communication) the pupils mentioned: oil, coal, mineral resources, polluted areas, lack of raw materials (Czech pupils), few roads and different driving habits (UK pupils). Few associations referring to economic activity included: diamonds, safari, tourism, export and sale of organs, stolen animals, cigars, fair trade (Czech pupils); mainly agriculture (eg. banana growing) and Fairtrade (UK pupils). Polish pupils mentioned that “people there work hard and earn little”, “adults have problems getting jobs”, “a lot of mineral resources” and “pleasant hotels”. The notions of culture and history were present in the following ideas: nomads, “Kadáffí was killed”, disputes between states, mummy, World Cup, archaeological findings, tribal dances, the belief in ghosts, football, Islam, indigenous, Pharaohs, excellent long-distance runners, Kenyans, circumcision, drawing on the body (Czech pupils); World Cup in South Africa, Nelson Mandela and pyramids, sports people, reference to recent news (Libya, Egypt), drums (UK pupils); different culture, different language, strange songs (Polish pupils).

The results of the Czech pupils 6

Recommendations and follow-up activities

This activity offers a snapshot of the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current knowledge of African countries and the people who live in them. It can also help reveal possible stereotypes, prejudices or misconceptions. Therefore it provides an excellent starting point for challenging these stereotypes and exploring how they might have been created and sustained. It is worth noticing that while the associations about people and society were predominant, they mostly referred to the colour of the skin, poverty and its consequences for people living there. They presented a rather grim and biased, imbalanced picture of African realities. Furthermore, the other two most numerous were the categories describing natural environment and geographical features of particular countries, whereas little attention was paid to history, culture and technological and economic spheres. These messages and images may have been inspired by the media and common knowledge of adults. Looking at them one can have an impression that African countries are vast safaris with impressive geographical landmarks, wild animals, plants and poor, illness-stricken people living in them. It is difficult to build genuine understanding and empathy based on these common pictures and beliefs as they seem so abstract and distant, do not provide any similarities or create connection between European pupils and their African peers.

The results of the UK pupils

In order to deal with this unfair and biased vision of African countries we need to focus on presenting to pupils the missing parts of the puzzle, which would bridge the gap between Europeans and Africans and convey a multidimensional image of contemporary life in African countries. These can include the following ideas: a ctivities which engage pupils in critical analysis of media coverage of African countries to see whether and in what ways the media perpetuate existing stereotypes about Africa, u sing information about African countries coming directly from African sources e.g. websites, a ctivities which present African children in the contexts with which their European peers can identify and develop a sense of connection with children from African countries e.g. children’s hobbies, interests, daily life in both rural and urban areas across social classes so as to present the whole spectrum of societies in particular countries, a ctivities presenting African history seen from the African perspective, including contemporary history drawn from African sources, e.g. stories about African peace and human rights activists, a ctivities on contemporary culture of particular African countries (artists, traditional and contemporary arts, the role of tradition in contemporary life, music listened to by young people etc.), a ctivities in which different jobs held by people in African countries are discussed, ranging from traditional crafts and farming to modern jobs similar to these in Europe, p resenting effective local solutions to the issue of unemployment and poverty, success stories showing African people fending for themselves (e.g. women’s micro-loans initiatives) and possibly comparing them with similar stories from Europe, p roviding information about various local transport systems (eg. famous buses, taxi brousse) but also news about locally adjusted modern energy solutions, including renewable energy. A good example of activities which respond to the audit findings and put these recommendations into practice is “Sorting Out Ghana” and “Super School, both of which can be found in the ‘Global Literacy Challenge & Enquiry Pack’. The resources are free to download from the Global Literacy website http://global-literacy.yolasite.com/.

The results of the Polish pupils

Activity 2: Where is this? Description of the activity

In this activity groups of pupils were presented with a set of 12 photos taken either in Europe (in the UK and the Czech Republic) or Africa (Kenya and Uganda). The selected images were purposefully ambiguous so that they could be interpreted in many ways. The pupils were then asked to work in groups and decide where these pictures were taken – in Europe, in Africa or somewhere else – and mark their answer as a group on a provided sheet of paper. While presenting their opinions the pupils were asked to provide arguments and clues for their choices.

The results – what pupils associate African and European countries with

Overall, the pupils from Poland, the Czech Republic and the UK guessed mostly correctly the three following photos: t he photo representing schoolboys playing football in Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya (Poland: 100% of pupils guessed it correctly, the Czech Republic: 96%, the UK: 97%), t he photo representing a street in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria (PL: 93%, CZ: 87%, UK: 85%), t he picture from Mathare with satellite plates (PL: 80%, CZ: 82%, UK: 82%). All the pupils had most difficulty guessing that the picture of a prosperous neighbourhood was taken in Africa (Kenya, Nairobi) – none of the Polish pupils (0%) guessed it, for the Czech Republic it was 8% of the pupils and for the UK – 6%. The following five photos were quite ambiguous and provoked mixed responses from pupils: t he photo representing a slum-like house with a white dog next to it The photo was the most difficult to locate for the pupils in the UK (only 12% of pupils guessed it correctly), for Poland and the Czech Republic this percentage was higher (31% and 42% respectively), possibly due to the fact that they might have seen such images of relative poverty in their countries and could better identify certain features which could reveal that it was taken in an “eastern” European country. t he photo representing a Black man sitting at a desk in an office More than the majority of the Polish pupils (62%) said this photo was taken in Africa, compared to 55% in the UK and 41% in the Czech Republic. t he photo with a panoramic view of Florence in Italy 50% of the Czech pupils believed it was taken in Europe and 35% – that it was taken somewhere else, 46% of the Polish pupils declared it was taken in Europe (54% said it was taken somewhere else), whereas only 25% of the pupils in the UK thought that it was taken in Europe (against 63% who thought it was taken somewhere else). What might have misled the children was that the dome visible in the picture which some of the pupils said reminded them of mosques. t he photo representing a modern road near Nairobi Only 20% of the pupils in the UK thought it was taken in Africa, 24% of the Polish pupils shared this opinion, whereas nearly half of the Czech pupils (47%) guessed it was taken in Africa. The pupils usually pointed to red soil, typical of African countries, as a clue. t he picture representing the cityscape of Yaounde, Cameroon – 50% in the Czech Republic believed it was taken in Africa, 40% in the UK and only 28% in Poland.

The pupils have generally found it easiest to locate the photos with familiar European architectural features and the pictures presenting Black people in typically expected surroundings e. g. children playing football, people against the backdrop of slumlike housing. However, when a Black person was placed in a more “technologically advanced” environment, e.g. an office equipped with computers, the children’s opinions varied (e.g. in the Czech Republic 41% said it was taken somewhere else). 9

The pupils did not tend to think that modern cities, wealthy-looking houses could also be a feature of African countries as well as European and North American ones. Certain towns and landscapes might have been easier to locate because the pupils were already familiar with them through travelling in Europe, and in several cases in Africa and other continents as well.

Recommendations and follow-up activities

Firstly, it is essential to define for ourselves what messages about African countries we want to convey to pupils and teachers in our work and then carefully select visual content to match our purposes and visions of development education. Contemporary African realities are complex and it may not always be possible to present them in their full complexity; a selection of visual resources will therefore be crucial in shaping views of Africa in teachers and pupils. Our selection of pictures will vary with key thematic focuses of our educational work and our underlying purposes. This involves reflection on what aspects of global interdependencies we want to present, what balance we want to establish between the challenges that Africans face and positive solutions which emphasize the empowerment and active role of Africans in tackling issues in their countries. Following the audit results the crucial aspects to consider while selecting visual resources are the following: m aintaining an active reflexive approach as an educator, that is, continually reflecting on our own perceptions, how they are influenced, and whether they are fair and inclusive. p resenting visual materials (photos, videos etc.) which are surprising and unusual and in this way help focus attention and challenge stereotypes that children and adults might have due to the mainly mainstream media representation of Africa, p resenting aspects of modern life in Africa which can help children and adults make connections between their lives and the lives of Africans, e.g. the use of new technologies, different lifestyles, values, dreams and interests of young people, cultural and social trends, stories from all walks of life, not only villages or poor slum areas, p resenting success stories and local initiatives led by Africans themselves to counterbalance the dominant, Eurocentric image of Africa as relying mostly on aid from Western countries. When selecting or creating visual resources for development education it is worth taking into account the following principles and recommendations presented in the Code of Conduct on Images and Messages from the South (http://www.dochas.ie/code/ established by DĂłchas, the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organisations, and promoted within CONCORD: T ruthfully represent any image or depicted situation both in its immediate and in its wider context so as to improve public understanding of the realities and complexities of development; A void images and messages that potentially stereotype, sensationalise or discriminate against people, situations or places; U se images, messages and case studies with the full understanding, participation and permission of the subjects (or subjectsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; parents/guardian); E nsure those whose situation is being represented have the opportunity to communicate their stories themselves; E stablish and record whether the subjects wish to be named or identifiable and always act accordingly; C onform to the highest standards in relation to human rights and protection of vulnerable people.

Acti vity 3: Why is there hunger in the world? Descripti on of the acti vity

In this activity pupils are encouraged to reflect on the question “Why are people in the world hungry?”. First, they think about it individually for 20 seconds, then discuss their thoughts in pairs for 60 seconds. The question is displayed in the classroom (written on a laminated sheet, PowerPoint slide or on white board or blackboard). Next, the teacher places eight cards with eight possible causes of hunger in the world written on them on the floor and only briefly explains them to the pupils. The eight possible causes of hunger used for this activity are the following: People in poorer countries are not paid enough for what they grow. The international trading system is unfair to poorer countries. 2. Not enough food grows in hot, poorer countries. Bad climate and lots of natural disasters in poorer countries. 3. People in poorer countries can’t grow food because of wars. Conflicts and wars between and within poorer countries. 4. Food grown in poorer countries is sent to rich countries. 5. A few people in poorer countries keep all the money to themselves. Corruption and poor government in poorer countries. 6. Poor education and skills in poorer countries. Lack of education and skills in poorer countries. 7. People in rich countries don’t give enough to charity. People in rich countries don’t give enough in aid or charity. 8. There are too many people in the world.

Then the teacher places one container next to each card. She or he asks the pupils to consider these causes carefully and decide individually which of the eight they most agree with, which seem the most plausible, important and convincing to them. The children are given three seeds and asked to vote for the three causes they most agree with by circulating, reading the cards then placing their seeds each in a container next to the card they have chosen. Each pupil must place their three seeds in three different containers. The teacher, with the help of the pupils, counts the seeds in the containers and announces which causes have been the most popular with the children – e.g. he or she can place the three most voted for causes on the board and mention that the pupils will be exploring this issue further in future activities.

The results – what pupils think about causes of hunger in the world

The groups of pupils from schools in the Czech Republic, Poland and the UK who have participated in these audit workshops have voted for the most important causes of poverty in the world in the following order of importance (where number one is the top cause etc.):

Possible causes of hunger in the world

The collated results from Poland, The Czech Republic and the UK

Percentage of all the votes cast in three countries

Possible causes of poverty

The results broken down according to the countries

Percentage of all the votes cast in each country

As we can see, the majority of the pupils are convinced that poor climate and natural disasters are the main culprits of hunger. This is true only to a certain extent as when disasters such as drought or flooding come, they usually hit the poorest, deprived of land or insufficiently paid for their work. The latter cause is the second most important chosen by the children. On the other hand, they do not attach much importance to the causes that are often commonly perceived as the main factors behind the phenomenon of hunger in the world and largely based on myths and biased perceptions, that is, corruption, overpopulation and poor education of people living in the South. However, when we look closely at these results broken into the three countries, we can see that the pupils’ responses vary considerably from one country to another. Pupils’ perceptions of the top three causes of hunger are identical for all the countries, with only slight variations, such as the order of importance e. g. both in the UK and Poland the children have indicated the unfair global trading system as the main cause of hunger, whereas the Czech pupils ranked it in the second position. However, the pupils’ choices diverge when it comes to the fourth position in the ranking. The Polish pupils have voted for the lack of skills and education in poorer countries, the Czechs have pointed to overpopulation (“Too many people in the world”), whereas the children from schools in the UK have said that “people in rich countries do not give enough in aid or charity”.

Recommendati ons and follow-up acti viti es

The “Why is there hunger in the world?” activity stimulates children’s thinking about possible causes of hunger in the world. It also provides a snapshot of their perceptions and current knowledge of the issue, without discussing the veracity of the causes and the interrelations and interdependencies between them. Following this activity we can explore with pupils the causes and effects of hunger in the world in more detail and approach this issue in its complexity, by exploring questions such as: To what extent are natural disasters provoked by humans (climate change, land grabbing, lack of democracy)? How many wars are actually being waged in African countries now? What impact do they have on hunger? Which factors contribute most to the development of hunger in the world? Which are only our misconceptions, stereotypes or myths created by those who have vested interests in it? It is worthwhile basing these presentations and discussions on accurate and updated facts and figures, including accounts, research, reports and other sources directly from the South. This audit activity can be followed with “Myths about hunger” which can be found in the ‘Global Literacy Challenge & Enquiry Pack’. The resources are free to download from the Global Literacy website http://global-literacy.yolasite.com/. 12

Activity 4: What is poverty? 1. Description of the activity

The aim of this activity is to observe how pupils understand the notion of poverty and different ways it may be defined and measured. The activity stimulates pupils’ interest in this topic, particularly in the value of critical thinking and discussion as it involves listening, reasoning and speaking skills. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on three statements about poverty and express their opinions about them. The teacher uses a concept line (e.g. a rope) in order to make the activity more dynamic and help pupils express to what extent they agree or disagree with a particular statement. The rope is laid in a straight line on the floor with two cards placed at each end of it. On one it is written “I agree”, on the other one – “I disagree”. The teacher explains that after she or he has read the statement, the pupils think how much they agree or disagree with it and accordingly select a position to stand on the rope line. They may agree or disagree wholeheartedly or partially. The teacher asks volunteers to give arguments for their opinions. Pupils may also change their minds and adopt a different opinion after they have heard somebody else’s view. The teacher avoids stating her or his own view and tries not to indicate approval or disapproval (e.g. by the tone of voice, facial expression) of what the pupils say. The three statements about poverty are the following: P overty isn’t just about money, it’s about other things too. I f you are poor, you are likely to be more unhealthy. T here is no real poverty in our country.

2. The results – what pupils think about poverty

In this activity the opinions expressed by the two age groups – primary school pupils from the UK and Poland and Czech pupils from secondary schools diverged to a larger extent than in other activities.

“Poverty isn’t just about money, it’s about other things too”

This difference was the most marked in case of the opinions expressed about the first statement. The Czech pupils (aged 12-15) stated there was a difference between needs and wants and the majority of them agreed that poverty was rather connected with basic needs (food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene and medical care), not with our aspirations.

You are rich when you have good friends. (Czec the nature. (Czech Republic) If you have no money you can find food in h Republic)

People don’t need to have surplus. (Czech Republic)

Younger pupils from Poland and the UK (aged 9-12) mainly focused on links between money and resources – houses, shelter, food and water. They also noted the need for family and friends, perhaps bringing in a different measure of poverty – related to quality of life. This could provide an interesting focus of enquiry in future.

It’s about education, fair trade and life. (UK) You don’t have to buy love. (UK) We should share what we have. We have to mak

e things equal. (UK)

I wish there was less luxury. (Poland)

“If you are poor, you are likely to be more unhealthy”

The opinions of the older pupils from the Czech Republic and younger children from the UK were convergent. Both groups noticed two sides of the issue. On the one hand, they mostly agreed that it was more likely that people’s health would be affected if they could not afford to go to the doctor’s, buy medicine, drink clean water etc. On the other hand, pupils said that certain diseases were more frequent in rich societies (civilization diseases such as high blood pressure, cancer, hear attacks) and that a poorer person might have a better diet based on vegetables that they grow, consume less sugar etc. Pupils in Poland observed that there were certain important services provided for free by the state, for example a medical insurance, from which also poor people were able to benefit.

There are state-sponsored medical insurances. or hospitals. (Poland) You don’t need to pay in state-owned schools (Poland)

“There is no real poverty in our country”

Both age groups agreed that there were also poor people in their countries. They made reference to seeing poor, homeless people on the streets in towns and cities. Pupils from the UK discussed whether such people were faking it. Pupils from Poland wondered whether it was these poor, homeless people’s responsibility for being in this situation. It was also stated several times that there is poverty in these countries, but not on the scale that there is in Africa.

Compared with Africa we are rich, compared with the Arab Emirates we are poor. (Czech Republic) Here poor people can change it with help of edu cation, but in Africa they cannot. (Czech Republic) How do we know that there is no poverty in this country? We haven’t been all over England looking for people who are poor. (UK)

3. Recommendations and follow-up activities Pupils’ comments expressed during this activity provide several insights and points of departure for further discussions and activities which explore and expand the concept of poverty and its various aspects. The following issues linked with poverty may be explored with pupils more in-depth: H ow do pupils define their needs and wants? Do they always need what they want? Why do they want what they want – what influences their wants? W hat makes a happy life? What do they need to have in order to be happy? W hat is a healthy, sustainable lifestyle? What do you need to have a healthy lifestyle? W hy are there poor people in rich countries? Are they responsible for being poor? Who is responsible for there being poor people? W hy are there such differences in wealth between European and African countries? This audit activity can be followed with several activities centered around the video from the Daniel’s Classical School eg “I want to be...” which can be found in the ‘Global Literacy Challenge & Enquiry Pack’. The resources are free to download from the Global Literacy website http://global-literacy.yolasite.com/.

Activity 5: How can we make a difference to poverty in the world? 1. Description of the activity

In this activity pupils in groups (four to five people) were provided with a set of cards with ten ideas about how to reduce poverty in the world and asked to rank them in line – from the one which in their opinion can make the most difference to the one that makes the least difference. The pupils were also asked to invent their own ideas for making a difference and to write them down on separate cards.

2. The results – how pupils think we can make a difference to poverty in the world

The ranking below presents the collated results from the three countries. The ideas are placed in order of their effectiveness in reducing poverty in the world, the first being the most effective and the tenth making the least difference: 1. Give money to charity. 2. Persuade family and friends to buy Fairtrade items. 3. Do a sponsored walk to raise money. 4. Sign a petition on a website that campaigns against poverty. 5. Write to supermarkets to ask them to make sure that all producers get a fair price for their goods. 6. Give old computers to schools in poorer countries. 7. Invite our MP and other local people to an assembly about poverty. 8. Get to know pupils who live in a poorer country. 9. Tell important people, like the Prime Minister, to change trading rules. 10. Find out about the reasons for poverty (in this country and in other countries). The following are the results for each country: Poland:

The Czech Republic:

The UK:

1. Give money to charity. 2. Do a sponsored walk to raise money. 3. Persuade family and friends to buy Fairtrade items. 4. Sign a petition on a website that campaigns against poverty. 5. Write to supermarkets to ask them to make sure that all producers get a fair price for their goods. 6. Get to know pupils who live in a poorer country. 7. Invite our MP and other local people to an assembly about poverty. 8. Give old computers to schools in poorer countries. 9. Tell important people, like the Prime Minister, to change trading rules. 10. Find out about the reasons for poverty (in this country and in other countries).

1. Give money to charity. 2. Persuade family and friends to buy Fairtrade items. 3. Sign a petition on a website that campaigns against poverty. 4. Do a sponsored walk to raise money. 5. Give old computers to schools in poorer countries. 6. Write to supermarkets to ask them to make sure that all producers get a fair price for their goods. Invite our MP and other local people to an assembly about poverty. 7. Find out about the reasons for poverty (in this country and in other countries). 8. Tell important people, like the Prime Minister, to change trading rules. 9. Get to know pupils who live in a poorer country.

1. Give money to charity. 2. Persuade family and friends to buy Fairtrade items. 3. Do a sponsored walk to raise money. 4. Tell important people, like the Prime Minister, to change trading rules. 5. Write to supermarkets to ask them to make sure that all producers get a fair price for their goods. 6. Give old computers to schools in poorer countries. 7. Get to know pupils who live in a poorer country. 8. Sign a petition on a website that campaigns against poverty. 9. Invite our MP and other local people to an assembly about poverty. 10. Find out about the reasons for poverty (in this country and in other countries).

Pupils’ own ideas:

setting up a new charity (CZ) saving food, not wasting water (CZ)

y so that they get to know each other (CZ)

inviting all rich and poor people to the assembl

rnment and giving spared money to

giving less money to sports people and the gove poor countries (CZ) changing the Prime Minister (PL)

I don’t think one person (the PM) can make

much of a difference on his own. (UK) er to change things. (UK)

We should tell the PM because he’s got the pow

The pupils from all the three countries saw as the most effective in poverty reduction the ideas which involve practical actions and can bring about concrete results for specific groups of people from the South e. g. buying Fairtrade products, raising money for charity. These actions were largely put before solutions which involve systemic, institutional changes resulting in poverty reduction e.g. changes in the international trade regulations and demanding supermarkets to increase prices for food supplied by farmers and food producers. On the one hand, this can be explained by the fact that at this age pupils understand more easily immediate, visible results of actions rather than long-term impact of systemic changes. On the other hand, we can speculate that these views may reflect commonly held opinions, often not sufficiently based on facts, regarding these issues and conveyed by the media and adults in the pupils’ environment. Comparison of the audit results from the three countries – key differences The pupils from all the three countries did not believe that greater knowledge of causes of poverty in the world could significantly contribute to poverty reduction, although when we look at the results for each country it was the Czech pupils that gave this concept the highest position in the ranking (8th place). When the results from each country are compared, the resemblance between the rankings from Poland and the Czech Republic is striking, particularly the first four items. In certain issues they differ considerably from the UK results. Both the pupils from Poland and the UK have ranked relatively highly the idea of getting to know their peers from poorer countries (respectively 6th and 7th place) compared to the pupils from the Czech Republic (the last 10th place). The pupils from Poland and the Czech Republic have placed equally low (9th place) the idea to hold politicians accountable for poverty resulting from international trade regulations, whereas for their peers in the UK this way of tackling poverty was quite important and ranked highly, in 4th place.

3. Follow up activities

We can assume that once pupils learn more about causes of poverty in the world, which is one of the recommendations following the Activity: Why is there hunger in the world?, they will have a wider perspective on possible and effective solutions to the world’s poverty and hunger and will be more willing to explore ways of fighting poverty which go beyond the frequently cited charity. We suggest two follow-up activities which take the ten ideas of combating poverty and hunger presented in the audit activity further: “ How can we make a difference to poverty in the world? Pros and cons of different ideas”, in which pupils present arguments for and against the use of the ten ways of reducing poverty mentioned in the audit activity above, “ What really works?”, an activity where pupils assess how effective a given action intended to fight poverty really is and what impact it has on poorer people. These two activities can be used one after another in a sequence as they are interconnected and build on each other.