In January, when the stories of coronavirus were starting to appear in the news, nobody thought that the final term of the year would turn out like this. Nobody had ever considered a world where children would be learning at home for an extended period. The last six weeks have turned the lives of everyone in Scotland upside down. Naturally these issues are affecting not just Scotland but the whole world – as a species we are now facing a global pandemic the likes of which only a tiny proportion of our population have lived through before.
Acting locally, thinking globally
Supporting and enabling educators and young people to understand and deal with the big issues that shape our world has never been more important. Issues like health & wellbeing, political literacy, climate change, gender equality, and how to live sustainably affect – and connect – us all: wherever and whoever we are, and the need for global understanding, empathy and collaborative action is vital.
In facing the pandemic together, we are provided with something that is universal. We are all faced with the same issue of the virus itself. There’s never been a better time to consider the importance of our local and global partnerships and to strengthen these links. We can use them to build interest, comfort and support during this time of change and to look towards the future.
Wherever and whoever we are, and the need for global understanding, empathy and collaborative action is vital.
Clusters of interest
School partnerships can bring not just children and young people together but whole communities; offering a way to connect with schools in your own area as a ‘cluster of interest’ as well as considering the global angle through international partnerships. Digital technology makes it easier than ever to stay in touch with colleagues in other parts of Scotland and the rest of the world and to easily gain their perspective and experience of global issues.
The benefits of partnerships
There are loads of benefits to starting a virtual partnership. It’s a straightforward way to bring the broader world into the classroom and to enable the embedding of Learning for Sustainability across the curriculum. A virtual partnership is a fantastic way of building a strong foundation for any link too as communication is key to making it work. It makes it easy to take the first steps into a broader partnership that may involve visits in the future or a simple solution if you’re concerned about the sustainability of international travel.
Practical advice and points of support
Virtual communication can happen in numerous ways as we’ve seen over the past few weeks! Zoom, WhatsApp, HouseParty… the list goes on! A lot of the partnerships between Scotland and Malawi find that WhatsApp is the easiest way to stay in touch as it’s cheap to run and used widely in both countries. In Malawi, it’s also used as a type of social media, with people adding stories to the app in the same way that you can on Facebook and Instagram. You could also consider something like Padlet as an easy way to creatively share and combine activities.
A virtual partnership is a fantastic way of building a strong foundation for any link too as communication is key to making it work.
If you’re just getting started with a partnership, open communication about your goals and aims is key. From there, you can start to look at shared activities. Partnerships don’t need to just be between schools in different countries either. Why not look at how you can connect with other schools in your area and involve them in the partnership too?
Connecting Classrooms
The Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning programme, co-funded by the British Council and the Department for International Development, is here to support your school’s partnership or cluster.
The programme helps teachers and learners to collaborate locally and globally to learn about and take action on these big issues, and all of the programme’s free support, funding and resources are now available to educators in state-funded settings on an online basis.
It’s vital that we hold onto our global perspective, to learn from others and to continue to build our connections to them.
It is all too easy for the COVID-19 pandemic to force us to look inward, to just consider what is happening on our doorsteps. However, it’s vital we hold onto our global perspective, to learn from others and to continue to build our connections to them as well. A virtual school partnership is a fantastic way of doing this and thanks to digital technology, there has never been an easier time to start one.
