Apr 29, 2019
We are strong proponents of the The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) here at CDEC and so it was no surprise our Global Education Officer Debbie Watson was asked to lead a workshop on just this topic at this year’s Geographical Conference. Here is her reflection of the session and what support schools in Cumbria can get from CDEC to advance their SDG journey.
I travelled to Manchester to the GA Conference and ran a workshop session: Young Leaders Get Going with Global Goals. Being at 9.00am on the first full day of the conference, I was hardly expecting anyone to turn up but we had a good few, a mixture of primary and secondary teachers, teaching advisors and independent educators and they were all willing to into some issues underlying the Sustainable Development Goals.
'Who owns the SDGs?'
Our first question was ‘Who owns the SDGs’? To make them really accessible and meaningful to young people they have to feel some ownership over them – that they are important and that they can be involved in achieving them. So we started unpicking what ownership means around knowledge, social responsibility and agency. We then moved on more practically to how SDGs can be incorporated into the curriculum and exploring some super case studies from schools around Cumbria that have already taken these to the heart of their curriculum, school ethos and community action. Well done Cumbria!
Putting the SDGs into your school
If you would like to put Global Learning at the heart of your school, then the Global Goals are an excellent way in. Better still, sign up for an SDG twilight course next term in north or south of the Cumbria or book as an INSET opportunity for whole staff in September. This will give you the resources and confidence to ‘Get Going with Global Goals’ right at the start of new school year.
A good thing about delivering a workshop early is that you can relax and enjoy the rest of the day!
Highlights
A thought provoking workshop on ‘Celebrating Ethical Fashion’ – looking at the supply chains of what we wear (linked to SDG 12 responsible production and consumption, 1 poverty, 5 gender equality, 8 decent work, as well as environmental concerns.) We were all encouraged to look at our clothes labels, some partial undressing was involved(!) and then look at the Fashion Transparency Index for the brand on the Fashion Revolution website - great resources here that are accessible for Juniors. We are planning to hold a CPD on this topic – it links in well with curriculum Science and geography objectives, as well as Fairtrade, SMSC children’s rights, citizenship and SDGs above. Let us know if you are interested in this! Point to take away – don’t throw it out, mend it!
