There is growing recognition of the need to urgently shift from individual to collective responses, engage critically with our responsibilities towards each other, our future generations and the planet, and foster creativity in imagining and adapting to new possibilities for human existence. The Covid-19 pandemic reminds us that it is we who need to become resilient, and learn to live 'as guests' rather than as 'masters' of Nature. The responsibility for this creativity and care lies also with education organisations and their curricula. This project is our response to "how do we learn to imagine and create a new world' using the best of the lessons learnt during global lockdown, and continue to grow as part of an interdependent global family. We must understand this now more than ever and 'build back better.' ! The project is set to bring participants tot he sweet spot between PROBLEM and PASSION. This project is Inspired by Paulo Friere 's Pedagogy of Hope, where he notes that although hope alone is not enough to achieve liberation, without hope there is no struggle at all. Freire emphasizes the importance of the relationship between educators and students and continues to fight against the banking model of education. Through the formal curricula we will explore how this pedagogy of hope and values based learning can be weaved into our everyday classroom encounters to form the cornerstone of education; and learning. bell hooks, in Teaching Community helps us to focus on how, through the learner-educator relationship and ideals of shared knowledge and shared learning we can choose to end inequities and create a fair and just community. Considering the significance of active citizenship on our democracy we have chosen active civic engagement while holding common values and promoting participation as our framework approach. To this end we will develop our innovative practices using the UN Global Goals (SDGs) as our key framework. The SDG framework is a useful and accessible starting point for developing a GCE approach and embedding a more global ethos into any school or organisation. The SDGs are a helpful tool for enhancing existing curricula and engaging the whole school community (including parents and governors), as well as for collaborating with other groups and organisations to consider the relationship between the local and the global. The SDGs can be used as a framework and tool to support students develop their research, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and communication skills. Students need these 21st Century skills to prepare them for the major real-world problems they will face during their lifetime. Teaching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and exploring them can also support students find their identity and purpose. As our Turkish partners put it, 'The biggest challenge is to grow hope in these students again. We believe that the students have now faced situations during Covid-19 which they used to answer hypothetically in Debate lessons. E.g., if there were only 2 packages of pasta on a market shelf and someone else is waiting for past as well, would they buy both packages, or not? This used to be just a question for them, but now they can understand their motives for their answers better.' We are convinced that joint learning and action beyond borders is at the heart of sustainable change. We support the endeavours: “To initiate and intensify activities at all levels and in all areas of education to accelerate the process towards sustainable development” (UNESCO Roadmap for Implementing the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development, 2014). we believe learning and awareness of the various facets of each SDG is in itself essential for fostering a deeper and wider understanding of the global problems. This means recognizing the inter-linkages and interdependencies, fostering the necessary skills and competencies and empowering ourselves, teachers and learners to take action. Undoubtedly education is one of the most important instruments with which to realize the SDGs. The final words are from our Spanish partners at CIPFP, "So this new post-Covid portal is full of luggage, and we need extra discussion time to evaluate which luggages will remain and which luggage is too heavy and old-fashioned and needs to be reconsidered. This project will help cross-sector partners to see the learning and teaching process with other eyes, from a different perspective, evaluating and analyzing different methods for learning and growing.'
- enabling learners to develop as independent and motivated critical learners, able to engage with complex issues, in which multiple perspectives must be considered - introduce participants to the OSDE methods. This approach aims to encourage learners to think critically, caringly, creatively and collaboratively. -Enable transnational transfer of knowledge & skills, between educators and learner & between educators across the partnership/ Better equip educators to support learners to improve their intercultural competences for sustainable development and active understanding of the importance of the SDGs. - develop resources and pedagogy to support educators to build new improved competences for teaching the complex issues inherent in a globalised world using the SDGs as a framework. - empower teachers to support learners to design and deliver local community based action projects so they can feel a greater sense of confidence and self-efficacy in being able to take action that has a positive impact on people and plane, and develop a social justice mentality -Understand the symbiotic relationship between policy and programming in terms of GCE and education where possible
The design of this project is based on a needs analysis of what skills and resources teachers require in order to enable learners to learn about, critically engage with and then take purposeful steps, with integrity, vision and hope, towards clear action in order to seek solutions to the growing concerns of the world we live in. Our main goal was to develop learner confidence and leadership to lead projects based on the SDGsm while connecting with their local communities, and for teachers to develop their pedagogy as facilitators and critical friends to the learners. We we inspired by the ideas from bell hooks communities of learning, and Paulo Friere's pedagogy for learning. We understood from our needs analysis that development of critical thinking in learners was crucial as we move forward in the 21st century and not all school systems are equipped to deliver this. Hence the use of the OSDE methods, to enhance critical questioning, community learning, collborative thinking and taking action for more fairer communities and a sustainable planet. We also understood from our needs analysis that teachers desire to work together beyond borders, adn to learn from each other.