Global Learning and Sustainable Development

Global learning and sustainable development encompass some of the key ideas and challenges facing the world today: challenges such as climate change, globalization and interdependence. Schools increasingly recognize the role of education in addressing these issues with young people, but exploring global issues across the curriculum requires a considerable amount of time and planning across subjects.

This book aims to reduce this workload by providing a clear overview of global learning, its development in policy and what this means for teachers in practice. It outlines the different ways in which global learning can be delivered as a cross-curricular theme, with examples of current activities and practice in schools.

Features include:

an examination of key influences and debates in this area
guidance on how to plan, implement and evaluate change in the curriculum to incorporate global learning
the role of Personal Learning and Thinking Skills as a way of exploring global learning and sustainable development
ideas from the "global context" of practice in Europe and beyond
activity ideas supported by case studies of innovative practice
links to other educational agendas, relevant topics and resources.


Providing clear guidance on the underpinning theory and policy and drawing upon current initiatives in schools, this book will be of interest to all trainee and practising secondary teachers wanting to help young people engage critically with global issues.

Helen Gadsby is course leader for the PGCE Secondary Geography course at Liverpool Hope University. She is actively involved in pedagogical research around secondary education, global dimension and geography education.

Andrea Bullivant works for Liverpool World Centre and, through a partnership with Liverpool Hope University, works closely with tutors and students, local schools, children’s services and NGOs to develop and embed the global dimension and sustainable development in teaching and work with young people, including cross-curricular projects.

Acknowledgements. Contents. Tables. Figures. Abbreviations used in the Book. List of Contributors. Introduction. 1. Global Learning: An historical overview 2. Current Policy and Practice 3. Educating for Global Citizenship 4. A European Dimension 5. Auditing and Setting up the Global Curriculum 6. Walking the Walk, (And More Importantly) Talking the Talk 7. Section 1. Provocations for Chapter 6 (How to do it) Section 2. Case Studies of School Practice Conclusion. Appendix