Supporting Educators in Implementing the Northern Ireland Curriculum
The Global Dimension in Schools NI is the Northern Ireland regional project for the Department for International Development’s EES (Enabling Effective Support) initiative. The project is hosted by the Centre for Global Education. The main aim of the initiative is to provide educators with effective and sustained support to incorporate the global dimension into the teaching of all Northern Ireland Curriculum subjects.
There are many organizations which already provide excellent resources and training support to teachers and the importance of global perspectives has been recognized to some degree by decision makers with the inclusion of local and ‘GLOBAL’ citizenship in the recently revised NI Curriculum. The EES/ Global Dimension in Schools NI initiative aims to co-ordinate the support that is already available and provide a clear strategy that ensures that global perspectives are fully embedded into the NI education programme.
Hence the Global Dimension in Schools NI will combine practice driven events with advocacy work directed at key education decision-makers in the formal sector. The advocacy work will culminate with a policy makers’ forum in 2010.
The revised NI Curriculum became statutory from September 2007. The NI Curriculum now creates a perfect opportunity for educators to incorporate a global dimension into their teaching. Global Dimension in Schools NI aims to support teachers develop more awareness of how and why global issues are a crucial means in which to meet the statutory requirements of the curriculum. This includes addressing curriculum key elements (such as mutual understanding, ethical awareness, education for sustainable development etc.) which are incorporated into all learning areas. Therefore the Global Dimension should not be considered as additional to the NI curriculum, rather it supports the aims and objectives of it.
The teacher support provided will include:
· A web portal that will provide teachers with a ‘one stop’ resource containing information on the education services offered by all development NGOs in Northern Ireland, including training and resources. (Available from April 2008)
· A series of NGO fora/ INSET days in each of the 5 different Education and Library Boards to showcase a range of global dimension initiatives. Teachers will have the opportunity to explore methodologies, concepts and the use of resources through presentations and workshops with experts from different NGOs
· Commissioning research over the next three years to assess how the global dimension is being delivered through the curriculum including the extent to which teachers, student teachers and pupils are resourced and trained to deliver and learn about the global dimension.
Nora McQuaid
Co-ordinator
Email: nora@globaldimensioninschools.org
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