Resources for schools

It's not about good vs. bad, optimism vs. pessimism, global vs. local ...

...it's about all of us talking to more people and asking more questions about what it truly means to live in a global economy.

Below are a handful of external organisations and websites we hope you find interesting and thought provoking.

The International Forum on Globalization (IFG) is a North-South research and educational institution composed of leading activists, economists, scholars, and researchers providing analyses and critiques on the cultural, social, political, and environmental impacts of economic globalisation. They have recently released a study jointly prepared with the Post-Carbon Institute, Searching for A Miracle - Net Energy Limits and the Fate of Industrial Society

The UN Human Development Report 2009 Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development

Migration, both within and beyond borders, has become an increasingly prominent theme in domestic and international debates, and is the topic of the 2009 Human Development Report (HDR09). Read and download the report from the website.

openDemocracy.net publishes 'high-quality news analysis, debates and blogs about the world and the way we govern ourselves'.

The BBC World Service has an excellent space on it's website dedicated to globalisation. Have a look and enter the debate on how the multinationals that dominate the global economy affect the world around us and will shape our future.

Languages Work is a new website dedicated to helping to show and encourage how languages can be used in a wide variety of careers. Whether you are a student, a teacher or any other profession, you will find plenty of information, advice and resources to help.

Globalization101 is a USA-based project which aims to provide students and teachers with information and resources to tackle 'this complex phenomenon'.

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides leveraged loans to poorer countries for capital programmes. The World Bank has the stated goal of reducing poverty.

Globalization: A peer-reviewed journal devoted to the examination of social, political, economic, and technological aspects of the topic, by the International Consortium for the Advancement of Academic Publications.

As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2009 Enterprise UK Ambassadors from A Suit That Fits.com are challenging school age students to come up with their next PR stunt. This video introduces the company and the competition. Supporting lesson plan and activity sheets available at http://www.gew.org.uk/education

PMGF flyer for schools

TALENT IMPERATIVES IN EDUCATION

1. We have an education system that assumes its purpose is to identify and develop talents in everyone.

All young people not only deserve but need to leave education with the personal capabilities which will be the building blocks of their future chances in life.

2. Young people in the UK will have to become better able to take up opportunities in a high-tech world.

The sharp contrast of the new global economies' rise in numbers of engineering and technology graduates with the UK's struggle to recruit qualified science teachers. The competitive challenge this presents to Briatin is not a question of numbers: it is in the fact that these countries are re-inventing themselves through these skills. The aspiration of many of their students to improve their life chances is by taking up these subjects.

3. It is time to move creativity, in all its forms, to centre stage in the education system.

At its simplest, there is value in the education system making the link to the cultural and creative industires as a growth sector for the UK - representing over 6% of the economy today and employing almost 2 million people. It's imperative we see beyond the obvious expression to the expressive arts and highlighting the creativity which is intrinsic to science and technology. The real opportunity is for the education system to embrace the fact that inventiveness and flexibility will be key sucess factors in all the jobs and industries of the future, including the creation of 'green solutions' and the digital economy.

4. We have to connect the education system with the outside world and, in particular, with the world of work.

The significance of this issue goes beyond the vital importance that young people understand and hold realistic ideas about the world of work - it goes to the heart of the aspirations they hold. It also informs our understanding of the broader problem that too many young people become disengaged from their education because they feel that what happens in the classroom is not relevant to the real world - and the real world is what excites them and what they want to learn about.

5. Young people need to grow up understanding how the major trends driving globalisation will affect their lives directly.

Who can deny that every major challenge in society will only be tackled properly in a global context - including climate change, fuel and food, terrorism and security, disease and poverty, the instant worldwide reach of communications and the speed of technological change?