"Education for the SDGs - a critical role for global skills" on Wednesday 27th April is the second of a three-part seminar series organised by Think Global and the British Council about the role of the formal education system in helping to realise the SDGs.
Young people need global skills and global competencies if we are to achieve the goals. This seminar will look at various different initiatives that are underway to support teachers and students to develop the skills, attitudes and values that will enable them to thrive in a complex international world, and some of the challenges and barriers that lie ahead.
Speakers:
Having introduced the audience to Project Everyone, an organisation established by film maker and Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis, Alison moved on to focus on her particular area of responsibility – ‘The World’s Largest Lesson’. Established in September 2015, The World’s Largest Lesson engages teachers across the world to educate young people about the SDGs, encouraging them to take an active role in realising the global community’s vision for a fairer world. This initiative will be held every September to coincide with the 2015 launch of the SDGs.
Think Global played a key role in delivering the World’s Largest Lesson. Working with teacher submissions from all over the world, we developed a series of lesson plans to support the teaching of the SDGs. The plans, created with teachers and in conjunction with other NGOs, are available on the World’s Largest Lesson website to download and use in schools. Think Global also curated a resource bank to support this, found on our Global Dimension Website.
Alison’s talk demonstrated the sheer size and scale of Project Everyone’s mission (and the SDG mission), and its success in engaging international figures to become ambassadors for the Goals. There is a message of positivity and hope in what Project Everyone is trying to achieve, and the World’s Largest Lesson is an exciting vehicle with which to promote this in schools.
Participants rightly highlighted some of the shortcomings of the Millennium Development Goals, and the need to take a critical approach to the SDGs. For us at Think Global, this is very much in line with our approach to global learning in schools and it was great to hear Alison’s response that, although Project Everyone want to make young people hopeful about the SDGs, they are looking to design some more critical resources for the coming year’s event.
The seminar moved on to Zhi Soon, who introduced us to the intricacies of human nature and how simple steps can be taken to influence thinking and change human behaviours. The NESTA Behavioural Insight Team is a government institution dedicated to the application of behavioural science to public policy and benefit public services. Beginning with a series of entertaining and interactive behaviour tests, the audience soon realised how predictable human behaviour can be and therefore how small changes can have a big impact. Zhi shared a range of empirical examples of randomised control trials that evidence this.
Zhi’s presentation demonstrated the importance of behaviour change in raising awareness of the SDGs and ensuring that people feel empowered to realise them. Perhaps the visual representation and bitesize titles of the SDGs are an example of how clear communication aids and enhances people’s understanding. A simple yet effective change which can impact human behaviour.
It is interesting to reflect on the other ways that behavioural science could be used to realise the SDGs and indeed, other areas of education. In what other ways could these ideas be utilised when seeking to promote the SDGs?
Both speakers provided a useful insight into how a variety of methods are needed to promote the SDGs and there is not a one-size fits all approach. A more holistic approach, where behavioural science is embedded within longer term education initiatives such as the World’s Largest Lesson could provide young people with the inspiration needed to take responsibility and action for the SDGs.
Think Global and the British Council would like to thank all who attended this event and very much appreciated the thoughts and contributions offered. We look forward to welcoming you to the second seminar in the series.
- Dominic Regester (British Council Schools Programme)
- Liz Allum (Reading International Solidarity Centre)
- Morgan Phillips (Keep Britain Tidy / Eco-Schools)
- Additional speakers to be confirmed.
Having introduced the audience to Project Everyone, an organisation established by film maker and Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis, Alison moved on to focus on her particular area of responsibility – ‘The World’s Largest Lesson’. Established in September 2015, The World’s Largest Lesson engages teachers across the world to educate young people about the SDGs, encouraging them to take an active role in realising the global community’s vision for a fairer world. This initiative will be held every September to coincide with the 2015 launch of the SDGs.
Think Global played a key role in delivering the World’s Largest Lesson. Working with teacher submissions from all over the world, we developed a series of lesson plans to support the teaching of the SDGs. The plans, created with teachers and in conjunction with other NGOs, are available on the World’s Largest Lesson website to download and use in schools. Think Global also curated a resource bank to support this, found on our Global Dimension Website.
Alison’s talk demonstrated the sheer size and scale of Project Everyone’s mission (and the SDG mission), and its success in engaging international figures to become ambassadors for the Goals. There is a message of positivity and hope in what Project Everyone is trying to achieve, and the World’s Largest Lesson is an exciting vehicle with which to promote this in schools.
Participants rightly highlighted some of the shortcomings of the Millennium Development Goals, and the need to take a critical approach to the SDGs. For us at Think Global, this is very much in line with our approach to global learning in schools and it was great to hear Alison’s response that, although Project Everyone want to make young people hopeful about the SDGs, they are looking to design some more critical resources for the coming year’s event.
The seminar moved on to Zhi Soon, who introduced us to the intricacies of human nature and how simple steps can be taken to influence thinking and change human behaviours. The NESTA Behavioural Insight Team is a government institution dedicated to the application of behavioural science to public policy and benefit public services. Beginning with a series of entertaining and interactive behaviour tests, the audience soon realised how predictable human behaviour can be and therefore how small changes can have a big impact. Zhi shared a range of empirical examples of randomised control trials that evidence this.
Zhi’s presentation demonstrated the importance of behaviour change in raising awareness of the SDGs and ensuring that people feel empowered to realise them. Perhaps the visual representation and bitesize titles of the SDGs are an example of how clear communication aids and enhances people’s understanding. A simple yet effective change which can impact human behaviour.
It is interesting to reflect on the other ways that behavioural science could be used to realise the SDGs and indeed, other areas of education. In what other ways could these ideas be utilised when seeking to promote the SDGs?
Both speakers provided a useful insight into how a variety of methods are needed to promote the SDGs and there is not a one-size fits all approach. A more holistic approach, where behavioural science is embedded within longer term education initiatives such as the World’s Largest Lesson could provide young people with the inspiration needed to take responsibility and action for the SDGs.
Think Global and the British Council would like to thank all who attended this event and very much appreciated the thoughts and contributions offered. We look forward to welcoming you to the second seminar in the series.
