Education
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Nelson Mandela
Your school can help make change happen!
Educating young people about the issues behind MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY (trade, aid, debt and climate change) is an essential part of their education. It also allows them to get involved if, and how, they choose. Crucially, it deepens their understanding of global inequality and development in general. While we hope to move towards making poverty history now, future generations will need to ensure that governments build on the work we have begun and that the rich world doesn't go back to ignoring poverty. You have a unique opportunity to educate a generation that can make poverty history.
Here are some websites that provide teaching materials relevant to the three international MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY issues: trade, aid and debt.
ActionAid
www.actionaid.org.uk/schools
Free downloads suitable for 5 to 19 year old children and young people including topic packs, images, video clips and briefings on topics such as aid, trade and debt. The site also contains information about resources for sale and teacher visits.
Cool Planet
www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet
Oxfam's web site for teachers and young people is full of free online resources for teaching about trade, aid, debt and other development issues, as well as fact-sheets containing simple explanations of the issues behind the campaign. The children's site has information for young people about MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY, and how they can get involved.
First 8
www.first8.org
A great interactive sight that helps children understand the Millennium Development Goals. Suitable for ages
Global Dimension
www.globaldimension.org.uk
Global Dimension is a unique website for teachers, bringing together the best in global dimension publishing. The site has a searchable database of hundreds of resources, many of which are free. You can search by cost, subject area and key stage, or find resources on particular countries or themes, such as trade, aid and debt.
Learnzone
www.christianaid.org.uk/learn
Christian Aid's website, Learnzone, provides a wide range of free, online and priced resources to support teachers and youth leaders who want to introduce global issues, including trade and the importance of education in the classroom or youth group.
Or why not visit www.globalgang.org, Christian Aid's website for children aged 8-12, which provides stories and articles that help children to understand what the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign is asking for.
Plan International
www.plan-uk.org
Plan is an international humanitarian organisation helping children to realise their full potential. Plan works with children, their families and communities to build a world where children are safe, healthy and capable of realising their full potential.
President for A Day
www.presidentforaday.org
An educational computer game (and conference called The President for a Day Experience) that enables students to understand why so many countries find themselves in debt - and to consider what can be done about it. Geared for Citizenship and RE lessons, it can be completed in one lesson or used as the basis for a larger project considering the "debt" element of the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign.
Save the Children
www.savethechildren.org.uk/mcph-education
Save the Children's new activity file gives ideas for learning about the causes of poverty, and how it affects millions of children around the world. The downloadable file offers learning ideas, timeline sheets, an introduction to Save the Children's campaign.
Send My Friend to School
www.sendmyfriend.org
Over 5 million children around the world
have taken part in the Send My Friend to School Challenge. They sent 3.5
million 'buddies' to world leaders, each representing one of over 100 million children around the world who are not in school. Find out about what has happened to the buddies, and about the impact of perhaps the biggest single campaign action ever.
Tearfund
http://www.tearfund.org/liftthelabel
Lift the Label is Tearfund's ethical lifestyle campaign which helps young people connect the issues at the heart of MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY to their everyday consumer choices. From food to fashion to finance, our consumer choices have the power to change the lives of millions of people in some of the poorest countries around the world. Tearfund's resources will help young people identify the connections between their daily decisions and the poor as well as equipping them to challenge unjust trade on the high street and in the supermarket. Contact us online or by phone for free magazines, campaigning tools, session plans for youth leaders and teachers, DVDs and videos.
Water Aid
www.wateraid.org.uk/uk/learn_zone
Visit WaterAid's website and find out about the call for more and better aid and how WaterAid provides some of the poorest communities in the world a lasting supply of safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Educators can make use of lesson plans, on-line games, videos and information on how to book a speaker and order additional educational resources.
