Successful Annual Conference for UNESCO Schools
Over 60 teachers and educators from across the country gathered at Missenden Abbey Conference Centre this week for the 2010 Annual Conference for UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK. Titled ‘Local Learning, Global citizenship’, the event had a specific focus on how community cohesion and global citizenship can help prepare our children and young people for life in an increasingly complex and interdependent world.
Sir Keith Ajegbo, author of the 2007 diversity and citizenship curriculum review, set the scene for the day with his keynote speech on community cohesion. He posed a number of important questions to participants regarding the role of schools in the community and what schools can do to better reflect the diversity of its student intake while helping to create new concepts of what living together and national identity mean.
The event was organised by UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society and Buckinghamshire County Council. The various workshops on offer were practically oriented, focusing on providing participants with ideas and resources to take back into the classroom. Workshops included: the United Nations Matters, Running a Model UN Event, Discovering Cultural Identities, Who Do We Think We Are?, Making Sense of Our Sites and Using Media Tools to Support Global Learning.
Feedback showed that delegates particularly appreciated the participatory approach of the workshops and the ideas and resources provided. One teacher said: ‘I will redesign a unit of work on identity and diversity to reflect learning from today,’ while a another participant said: 'I will now apply for my school to join UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK’.
Sir Keith Ajegbo’s speech was highlighted by many participants as very inspiring, raising some challenging questions about culture and identity which required further thinking. ‘I will now be more aware about making our students from families that are new to our area and the UK able to feel proud of their new community’ noted one of the delegates.
A full report with copies of the presentations from the day will be available shortly on the UNESCO Schools section of this website.
Written: 02/07/2010 , last modified: 22/07/2010
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Participants at the 2010 UNESCO Associated Schools Annual Conference, Local Learning, Global Citizenship
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