Scottish secondary schools and their links with developing countries: study

Appendix I – Partnership and volunteering organisations

Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning

Together with the Scotland-Malawi Partnership the main supporting programme for school linking in Scotland. The programme is co-funded by the Department for International Development (DfID) and the British Council, with the latter leading the programme. It is a follow up of the Connecting Classrooms programme that ran from 2012-2015 and 2015-2018.

The programme is free and open to all (state run) schools in the UK, and has as goal to help teachers “equip [their] pupils with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to act more thoughtfully, ethically and responsibly as citizens and contributors to society” (IDEAS, n.d.).

The programme has two strands:

• Professional development courses (CPD)
• School partnerships

The professional development courses are delivered in Scotland by a consortium of Learning for Sustainability Scotland, the Scotland-Malawi Partnership (SMP) and the International Development Education Association of Scotland (IDEAS). Part of IDEAS are the Development Education Centres (DECs) which run the CPD courses in each of their catchment area. The courses are aimed at global learning and international development education, focusing for example on the sustainable development goals, human rights and fair trade.

The school partnerships are divided in two different tracks:

• One-to-one partnerships
• Cluster partnerships

When a school would like to establish a partnership they can choose to go for a one to one partnership or find one or more schools and join in a cluster partnership. The cluster has to consist of at least two Scottish and two partner schools. There is funding available for both types of partnerships: £3,000 for one-to-one partnerships and up to £35,000 for clusters. This funding can be used for teacher exchanges, especially at the initial phase of establishing the partnership, and for the clusters also include money to arrange time out of class for the cluster coordinator as well as training sessions for all teachers involved.

To be able to apply for the funding, the school will have to partner to one of the participating countries, of which the British council provides a list on their website. These are over 30 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East.

The aim of the partnerships is to make global learning ‘authentic’ for pupils by working alongside their peers in another country (British Council 2019a). The prerequisite therefor is that projects set up around the partnership should have a “genuine educational aims and any joint curriculum projects need to explore global themes” (British Council 2019b).

On the websites of all the partner organisations involved teachers can also find resources such as lesson plans and materials to use when teaching about global issues. These materials are discussed in the next chapter.

Scotland-Malawi Partnership

The Scotland-Malawi Partnership (SMP) is a network of organisation and individuals in Scotland that are currently engaged with Malawi. Their aim is to help these organisations and individuals with their projects in and on Malawi. They “exist to support and inspire the many links benefitting both Scotland and Malawi” (SMP n.d. a).

Part of the organisations and individuals that are linked to the SMP are Scottish primary and secondary schools which have active links with a school in Malawi or are engaged with educational projects on Malawi. The SMP provide support for these schools through (SMP n.d. b):

• Tailor-made workshops/presentations in school on themes like partnership and Malawi
• Advice on brokering, developing, and maintaining an international school partnership between Scotland and Malawi
• Signposting to useful resources, events, and organisations
• Supporting schools to hold events or sessions in school celebrating their link to Malawi
• Holding events and forums to bring experts and teachers together to discuss their experiences of school partnerships and using Malawi as a theme in the classroom. This includes our Schools Forum which is held online or at different locations around Scotland 2-4 times per year.

The SMP has a Malawian counterpart, the Malawi Scotland Partnership (MaSP), which can help to find a partner school for schools in Scotland who like to set up a school link. The SMP sees these school partnerships as beneficial for both school communities in Scotland and Malawi “to learn from and understand other cultures better and feel connected in our global society” (SMP n.d. b). On their website they state that activities that schools undertake are global learning activities, enterprise projects and visits between schools.

The SMP works with ‘Partnership principles’ to guide the development of partnerships. Their main principle is to establish a "dignified partnership", which they unpack in 11 principles, including planning and implementing together, respect trust and mutual understanding and do no harm (SMP n.d. c).

Malawi Leaders for Learning

The Malawi Leaders for Learning (MLOL) programme is based in Glasgow and aims to share “good practice and learning opportunities between head teachers and teachers in both our countries [Scotland and Malawi] and key education professionals – resulting in improving attainment and achievement in our schools.” (MLOL n.d.). The programme involves providing training for (head) teachers in Malawi, setting up libraries and establishing school links between secondary schools in Glasgow and Malawi.

There are reciprocal teacher visits as well as student trips from Scotland to Malawi. Pupils that will go and volunteer are part of the Malawi Young Leaders for Learning programme. In preparation of the student trips the pupils receive global education, specifically on poverty in both Scottish and Malawian context. The pupils then visit Malawi and either work with Malawian young people to explore global issues and/or work on projects to improve school infrastructure (MLOL 2019).

Wood foundation

The Wood Foundation, based in Aberdeen, has two projects that are linked to global learning: The Global Learning Partnerships (GLP) and a volunteering fund. The GLP provide a training programme for teachers that focuses on professional development on Learning for Sustainability. The aim of the programme is to “enhance their knowledge, understanding and delivery of global education within the classroom, school and the wider learning community” (Wood Foundation n.d. a). The programme include a 4 week placement in Uganda and Rwanda, where Scottish teachers exchange experiences with Ugandan and Rwandan teachers. This experience, including the training sessions in Scotland, aims to prepare the teachers to deliver global learning education in their school.

The volunteering fund provides funding for young people and schools to “make a difference, developing their global citizenship by supporting communities while developing their own skillsets” (Wood Foundation n.d. b). It has strict rules on which projects are funded, with the main principles that the volunteering should not include activities that displaces local employment/businesses and have to have an educational, Learning for Sustainability, focus.

The GLP programme is open to all post-probation classroom teachers in Scotland, while the volunteering funding is restricted to young people and schools from the North-East of Scotland.

Signpost International

Signpost International is an organisation based in Dundee, working with projects in Uganda, Tanzania and the Philippines. Their aim is tackling poverty in these countries and they focus on four areas: hunger and nutrition; sustainable livelihoods; water, sanitation and hygiene; and global citizenship (Signpost International n.d.). As part of their global citizenship work they support a school in Dundee with organising trips (every two years) to Uganda. This school trip includes 15 pupils visiting Ugandan projects and schools. It also include an 18 months preparation process in which these fifteen pupils receive workshops on poverty, inequality and stereotypes, as well as (digital) media literacy – for example on when and how to take selfies. These workshops are provided by Signpost International. After the trip, there are also evaluation sessions to enable the pupils to discuss their experiences.

In the past the organisation supported several schools to visit developing countries, often including activities such as building classrooms or houses. However, the organisation decided to move away from these activities and focus on global learning. The pupils of the school they are supporting now therefore do not engage in this type of activities, but instead are engaged in school lessons and live in a household were they help the family with their day to day chores.

The organisation is developing a learning centre in Dundee, where global citizenship education can be taught. The idea is to make this an interactive and tactile learning environment. The garden for example consist of a poly-tunnel and vegetable patch where students can become involved in food-production and learn about food security. The centre is still in under development, but local schools have already expressed an interest in taking part in workshops.

Twende Pamoja Trust

The goal of the Twende Pamoja Trust is “to promote the development of a global vision in the context of relationship between communities, schools and places of learning in Tanzania and the United Kingdom” (Twende Pamoja 2019a). Part of the trust therefore focuses on linking secondary schools in Scotland with schools in Tanzania. So far, it facilitated partnership between twenty-two primary schools and eight secondary schools in Tanzania and Scotland. The trust has also facilitated teacher exchanges for the connecting classrooms programme.

The organisation links the building of school partnerships to global citizenship education and states that “within the context of well-planned education for global citizenship, partnerships with schools in other parts of the world can make a significant contribution to children’s understanding of cultures, customs and lifestyles of different nations” (Twende Pamoja 2019b). They follow that the greatest benefit comes from shared curricular activity, to put learning “at the centre of the partnership”. School visits can be part of enriching the partnership and the trust therefore offers support to teachers and pupils who would like to organise a visit.

STEKA skills

STEKA skills is a Scottish charity partnered with STEKA and support the development of a centre for vocational skills and community enterprise (STEKA skills 2017). The STEKA skills is a project linked to the STEKA, which is a family home for vulnerable children from 0 up to 23 years old. The STEKA home has had Scottish school groups visiting, yet did not always feel it encouraged global learning. STEKA skills is therefore developing “youth dialogues” in the centre. These dialogue workshops will be run by local teenagers for pupils of visiting schools from Scotland or other “global north” countries. The goal of this project is to counteract the effect volunteer tourism projects can have on reinforcing stereotypes. Instead the visiting pupils will learn about resilience, family values, community and the UN sustainability goals, with the aim to reflect on how they see themselves in relation to people in developing countries.

The project is currently running a feasibility study on what the development of the centre the youth dialogues, and its potential impact.

Classrooms for Malawi

The aim for Classrooms for Malawi is to build and renovate classrooms in Malawi, to help “people to overcome poverty through education” (Classrooms for Malawi 2019). They identify priority schools in Malawi through the education ministry in Malawi, and link these to a Scottish school who will fundraise for the classrooms. A school can then decide to also take pupils to Malawi to help in the construction work. This construction work is tendered to a local contractor who hires builders. If a school group is interested in visiting the local builders usually start building a couple of months before the pupils visit. During the visit they will help with the construction for a week, and afterwards the local builders will finish the building. At time of writing they have constructed or refurbished 207 classrooms.

VineTrust

The VineTrust is an organisation that supports volunteer work in Tanzania. They aim “to empower communities; connecting enthusiastic volunteers with in-country partners and local people to create significant, sustainable development for vulnerable children and families” (VineTrust n.d. a). They organise trips for adults (specifically medical personnel) and schools. The school expeditions they organise include two weeks in Tanzania, where the pupils will “support the constructions of orphanages and small family homes” (VineTrust n.d. b). The trust works with an in-country partner and the Scottish schools pay both for the construction of the home and for their own trip. The construction is managed by local contractors and builders. The programme aims to let students learn about other peoples and cultures and develop “personal skills”. Some of these skills that are mentioned on the website are: becoming an active global citizen, developing leadership skills, engage with global issues and teamwork to discuss solutions and improvements, “become ambassadors for change representing those living in poverty” (VineTrust n.d. b). Vinetrust is also developing sessions to talk about stereotypes and for example social media use.

This year 158 pupils volunteered with the Vinetrust and for 2020 eight schools have planned a trip.

Orbis Expeditions/Responsible Safari Company

This travel organisation offers, through the Malawian based organisation “Responsible Safari Company”, school trip packages. The aim is to offer “global citizenship experiences” (Responsible Safari Company 2017a). They work together with Classrooms for Malawi and are part of the SMP. They offer several different ‘packages’ including a 2 week trip to the partner school of the Scottish school, where students can get involved in ‘school based activities’ (Responsible Safari Company 2017b). They provide a local guide/driver and support during the trip, while schools can fill in the programme with their partner school, or with the Classrooms for Malawi activities. Apart from schools they also cater for other groups such as church groups, entrepreneurial groups, village cooperative. At the moment they are working on a project in Scotland to send youth sport ambassadors to Malawi to train young Malawian women and empower them through sports.

STA is a second travel organisation that offers trips for schools. Most of these trips seems about history and culture or language learning. Their website brings up three countries in Africa they offer trips to: Tanzania, South Africa and Morocco (STA n.d.). Teachers can connect these trips to their subjects. Global learning or volunteering is not specifically mentioned on the website of STA. Experience from a teachers interviewed for this research was that STA contracts Orbis for school-partnership trips.

Another organisation that is closely linked to many schools in Scotland is Mary’s Meals. Many schools in Scotland fundraise for the organisation and some school visits to Malawi also visit Mary’s Meals centre. On these occasions pupils can get involved in handing out the meals.

There are organisations that work with school partnerships and global learning in the UK, but which are currently not active in Scotland, such as the Global School Network, or where it is unclear whether they work with schools in Scotland, such as Build Africa and Link Ethiopia.

Next to the programmes and organisations that are linked to school partnerships and global learning, there are also organisations in Scotland that focus on young people, often between 17-25 years old, who want to volunteer abroad. These organisations include Project Trust, VSO, Raleigh International, Restless Development and Latitude Global Volunteering, but there are many others. These organisations can have links with primary and secondary schools as well, mainly to connect their volunteers to these schools to tell something about their volunteering work, the projects they were involved in and global citizenship in general.

The McConnell International Foundation runs a programme, the Livingstone Volunteers Scheme, which focuses on providing a fund for young people in Scotland that would like to volunteer, but struggle to meet the cost. These organisations are not included in this research, although for further studies and discussions on global education and young people going overseas, they are a valuable group to take into account. The VSO recently produced “The Global Standard for Volunteering for Development”, which will be taken into account in the next chapter.