An INSET session on ‘the global dimension in citizenship education’ was run by the Head of Citizenship at Eaton Bank, Congleton in Cheshire.
The session had support from Cheshire Development Education Centre and the LEA and was organised by the Head of Citizenship at Eaton Bank.
The focus was on the global dimension in citizenship education, and to confirm all-staff support for a mission statement on Global Citizenship. The programme was influenced by a successful INSET held at another project school, Hartford High, in 2003.
Organised as an hour and a half INSET in the school hall, and with the full support of the headteacher, it attracted the full complement of 80+ teachers. Attractive presentations of global citizenship classroom work from the school’s Global Fortnight were displayed around the walls, and each table and its population became a different city for the duration of the workshop.
Welcomed with Fair Trade refreshments, each table broke the ice trying to outpace each other putting together a jigsaw map of countries to form one or other of the world’s continents. Geographers and travellers took lead roles, but even then Togo, Rwanda and Venezuela prompted a reinterpretation of national boundaries, and scandalous attempts to redraw the map of the world.
‘Views of Global Citizenship’ invited personal testimonies as to what the concept meant for different individuals in the school. The Deputy Headteacher, PSHCE Coordinator, Head of Biology, Head of RE / Yr 10, Head of 6th form, Head of Year 9, and a Year 13 student / Peer Educator stood up and gave their responses.
The Developing Citizenship project coordinator provided a national overview of its aims and activities that helped the teachers to think about common approaches to the question of ‘what is a global citizen?’
The next group activity had each city table, Baghdad, Paris, Manchester, etc. working together on a set of ‘Global Citizenship’ statements, each statement written on a separate card.
The groups used the ‘diamond ranking exercise’ to reach a consensus on the order of priorities indicated on the cards for introducing education for global citizenship into the school. Their selection of priorities will contribute
to an Eaton Bank mission statement on Global Citizenship.
The statements were as follows.
We see a Global Citizen as someone who:
- Is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen.
- Takes responsibility for their actions.
- Is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
- Has an understanding of how the world works economically, politically, socially, culturally, technologically and environmentally.
- Respects and values diversity.
- Participates in and contributes to the community at a range of levels from local to the global.
- Is outraged by social injustice.
Each city spoke in turn, and it quickly became clear that there was universal agreement on the importance of some of the statements. Democratic decision-making based on majority voting was used in some cities, others indicated a more authoritarian approach, wile others ranked their choices by a gradual process of debate and consensus building.
The priorities identified by the ranking exercises will go to Eaton Bank’s Whole School Council for consultation with the year councils and tutor groups – to be included eventually in the school prospectus and future issues of Online.
This is what each group came up with.
“We see a global citizen as someone who:”
PARIS
- Respects and values diversity.
- Is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
- Is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen.
JERUSALEM
- Respects and values diversity.
- Is aware of wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen.
- Participates in and contributes to the community at a range of levels from local to the global.
BAGHDAD
- Respects and values diversity.
- Is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen.
- Participates in and contributes to the community at a range of levels from local to the global.
CAIRO
- Takes responsibility for their actions and respects and values diversity.
- Participates in and contributes to the world around them.
- Is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
CARDIFF
- Is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
- Participates in and contributes to the community at a range of levels from local to the global.
- Respects and values diversity.
WASHINGTON
- Respects and values diversity through understanding how their own and the wider world works.
- Is outraged by injustice and willing to act responsibly to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
- Has an understanding of how the world works economically, politically, socially, culturally, technologically and environmentally.
MANCHESTER
- Respects and values diversity.
- Is aware of the wider world and is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
- Takes responsibility for their actions.
MOSCOW
- Respects and values diversity.
- Takes responsibility for their actions.
- Is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
JOHANNESBURG
- Is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen.
- Takes responsibility to make the world a fairer and happier place.
- Respects and values diversity.