Everyone's invited - Kathryn Hill




Where did your last meal come from?

Those interested in ‘development’ are often seen as being very passionate about what they do, and their interest is regarded as something that affects pretty much their whole lives. Secondly, they can come across as a bit annoying with it. Annoying in the superiority complex way. ‘Yes, these are the most important issues and no, you can not leave until I have finished going on and on and on and on and on…’ I have found myself thinking I am being like this on more than one occasion.

I have a few friends who think I want to save the world. They think its great, but that’s it. I get a lot of nods, a lot of shrugs, and the occasional ‘sorry Kate, but I don’t know enough about that’. But you do! That’s the point! Everyone does!

Martin Luther King explains it in this way: ‘before you finish breakfast you will have depended on half the world’. From the clothes you wear, to the food you eat. Every individual is involved in the rest of the world.

Not so elitist after all then. Everyone’s invited to the party!

Development Education ‘encourages learners of all ages to explore how global issues, such as poverty, link in with their everyday lives’ (DEA, 2006).

There are 45 Development Education Centres around the country that raise the profile of global issues and encourage positive local action for global change. Many have been around since the 1970s. Most work with schools, universities, community groups and adult learners, responding to local needs. They might provide training programmes for teachers, resource libraries and workshops.

More and more, charities and NGOs, big and small, are including development education in the work they do, and the prime candidate to start the discussion is of course Development in Action. From the early recruitment stages, right through to the DIA projects, the volunteer process with DIA is heavily focused on development education.

DiA volunteers always ask ‘why am I here?’

When I turned up just under a year ago to the recruitment day, all I knew is that I really wanted to volunteer and DIA sounded right up my street. I remember feeling incredibly tired after that day. My perceptions had been completely challenged. We argued for and against volunteering abroad. I’d never really thought why I wanted to go and ‘help out’ in another country and it made me consider other people’s perceptions of voluntary work.

The pre-placement training too was packed full of activities to question our perspectives about what we’d be doing, why we were doing it, and how we were going to use our experiences in the future. Of course, the main feature of development education for volunteers is the DIA project; because it’s not just about going, coming back and forgetting. The DIA projects provide an opportunity for volunteers to leave a legacy; a development education resource that can be used in the future. The touring exhibition is set to be a wonderful collection of these legacies and to provide a great opportunity to challenge the perceptions of a much wider audience.

The key for many of the bigger organisations is keeping their development education separate from their fundraising efforts. So many people seem to think that raising awareness is about raising funds, and this is probably half the problem. Fortunately, bigger organisations have more capacity to separate the two.

Oxfam has ‘Cool Planet’ which aims to bring global issues into the classroom. Oxfam’s Development Education offices run this project. There are website pages for teachers, with teaching resources and news, and a site dedicated to children. The children’s website outlines the work of Oxfam, information on countries in the world, projects to take part in such as ‘My Friend Needs a Teacher’ and the opportunity to reply with thoughts and ideas.

VSO is another organisation which seems to be bringing development education to the forefront recently. They are involved in the DfID funded Global Schools Partnerships Programme, which involves joint curriculum work and exchange visits. Partnerships are created and ideas are shared. VSO also seem to have acknowledged the importance of local groups to promote the idea of ‘building a sense of community where people of all cultures are seen as equal, learn from each other and share a common sense of rights and responsibilities as global citizens’ (VSO, 2006). There are a number of VSO local groups involving volunteers and non-volunteers. One of the aims of the groups is to raise awareness on global issues that VSO supports.

On a development education workshop I attended recently for DIA, the leader defined the move through time of development work which was initially essentially racist, then became patronising and now calls for justice and partnerships. This move continues to be made. DEC’s have formed nationwide networks and the DEA has managed to define Development Education and bring it into the mainstream.

Maybe everyone won’t be quite as passionate about ‘development’. But global issues should no longer be just for those who think they’re ‘in the know’. Development education is about providing channels for everyone to understand how our everyday actions are part of the much bigger picture.

Kathryn Hill

For more information:

www.globaldimension.org.uk : teaching aids for global education by DfID

www.dea.org.uk : umbrella organisation promoting development education.

www.vso.org.uk

www.oxfam.co.uk/coolplanet