Leeds to London: CAL supports push on global education for UK youth
- none
- Jul 21
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 22
Courtesy of Sarah Fishwick, Global Learning Leeds (formerly Leeds Development Education Centre)
Members of the Climate Action Leeds team joined MPs and educational organisations from across the country to "make the case for global learning" as a way to prepare the country's youngsters for the world they're growing up in.
Staff from Global Learning Leeds, CAL's Youth & Education partner, headed to Westminster to call for "swift and meaningful action to prevent the UK falling further behind its European neighbours in implementing this transformative approach to education".
Global learning involves weaving a group of themes, including human rights, diversity, and the environment, into regular curriculum teaching (in a not dissimilar way to Global Learning Leeds' Climate Curriculum).
The approach has previously had funding from governments of both stripes in the UK, but Sarah Fishwick, from Global Learning Leeds, said that an absence of backing in recent years means that the nation has ceased to be a leader in the field.
Sarah - who added that Scotland, which uses a different curriculum to England, has continued to support global learning - argues that neglecting to show pupils how their learning connects to key themes leaves them unprepared for their future.
"If you're teaching a lesson about the Victorians' use of steam and technology to primary kids," asks Sarah, "how is it relevant if it's not linked to the way we use fossil fuels today?"
The event at Parliament on July 8th featured speeches from teachers, young people, policy-makers, and experts on why global learning matters.
The host, Fabian Hamilton, MP for Leeds North East, said: "The Case for Global Learning project exemplifies the spirit of international cooperation that our world so urgently needs.
"Education is not only a tool for individual empowerment - it’s a bridge between nations and communities. I was honoured to speak at this week’s event and to support the project’s mission to foster global understanding through shared learning and dialogue."
Mr Hamilton's fellow Leeds MPs, Richard Burgon and Alex Sobel, also expressed their support for the initiative.
More than 30 educational organisations from across the UK, including Oxfam, Christian Aid, and Friends of the Earth, worked together to develop The Case for Global Learning.
The paper says global learning should be "at the heart of an education system fit for the future", and details evidence of the wide-ranging benefits of Global Learning approaches, including improved motivation for both teachers and learners, improved behaviour, attendance, and social and community cohesion, as well as higher academic standards.
Alison Hooper, an ex-headteacher now at Cumbria Development Education Centre, said: “In 18 years of headship I can honestly say that the transformative influence of global learning has had the most profound impact upon the children as they journeyed from reception to year 6 and beyond.
"They developed a mature and extensive understanding and appreciation of the world and its people."
The next stage for supporters of the paper will be ensuring that the options for global learning are discussed in the House of Commons. This month's event ended with a plea for anyone interested in Global Learning approaches to explore the recommendations of the paper and help amplify its call for government action.
Attendees were urged to contact their local MPs to request that they press for a national strategy for global learning to redress a significant reduction in support from Westminster and Europe in the past few years for this vital pillar of education.
If you're interested in this topic, you can contact Global Learning Leeds via their (soon-to-be-updated) website, visit the Case for Global Learning website, or download a summary of the paper below.
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