A case study on WorldWise Global Schools’ Guiding Principle 4: Making Local to Global Links
“I always thought that, oh, I don’t have a lot of privilege. But doing this work [Global Citizenship Education] has completely changed how I look at things. People in some places don’t even have running water, and I’m over here complaining that I don’t have a phone charger.”
Kate, Fifth Year student
“I’ve learned that what’s happening in our country affects other countries. And it makes me realise that we’re all human wherever we live. The world seems so much bigger now.”
Kaci, Transition Year student
Rosary College is a post-primary school in Crumlin and part of the DEIS programme. Since 2015, it has been a WorldWise Global Schools (WWGS) grantee. Staff and students are embedding Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in the school with the support of WWGS Education Officers, workshops and conferences.
The WWGS lead contact Grace McDermott teaches Geography and Business. She works closely with Donna Mullen, who teaches History, English, CSPE and ICT, to establish GCE across the curriculum. They have focused on linking local to global issues, one of the five WorldWise Guiding Principles for GCE.
Why is GCE important in the school?
“GCE teaches responsibility towards the rest of the world,” says Grace. “Our students love learning about other cultures because our school has so many international students. It’s so important that they relate well to each other and learn what we can do in Dublin, Ireland and the wider world to help solve global problems. The students teach their parents, and they love getting involved with GCE.”
Why link local to global issues?
“We’re all interdependent,” says Donna. “A problem that happens in one country seeps into others, and we all need to pitch in to solve these challenges. Our students are the future. They’re going to be the leaders and decision makers, so we need an informed and active society. GCE does both. It educates our students and enables them to problem-solve and take action. They grow up knowing that the world is a bigger place than Crumlin. And with that comes the responsibility of acting as global citizens.”
Under the leadership of Grace and Donna, and with the support of other staff and senior management, Rosary College students have explored local to global links in many areas, including fast fashion and the human impact of biodiversity loss.
Fast Fashion
Second year CSPE students surveyed the year group to find the most popular fashion brands. They chose to research Shein, the online shopping platform founded in China. After watching the documentary Inside the Shein Machine: UNTOLD, they explored the impact of Global North consumerism on workers in the Global South. The students compared employees’ pay and working conditions in some Global South factories with those in Ireland. The group then used recycled materials to design and make clothes. Students modelled their outfits to the wider school community and shared their learning about the impact of consumer choices – by themselves and throughout the Global North – across the world.
As a result of their work, the group organised a month-long ‘No Buy’ campaign, with posters, school assemblies and announcements over the intercom, reminding students to reduce consumption.
“Now the students have educated themselves, they’re passionate about cutting consumption. And that gets other teachers interested – for example, the maths teacher is encouraged to look at statistics around fast fashion. The students are influencing their parents too, asking why they’re buying certain things. One student said she’s quite strict on her mother, saying ‘No, no, you don’t need that!'”
Grace McDermott, WWGS lead contact teacher at Rosary College
The Human Impact of Biodiversity Loss
Transition and Fifth Year students learned about global biodiversity loss, discussing the causes of the crisis and its effects on people. They focused on the unequal impact on those in the Global South. In a workshop run by the Rediscovery Centre, students did an audit of the school garden to gauge its biodiversity, and researched the benefits of each plant and insect, both locally and globally.
They then brainstormed ideas of increasing biodiversity at local, national and global levels. With the Home Economics teacher, they prepared meals for staff and students from the garden’s produce to boost sustainability and cut food waste.
“We did gardening and planted trees and potatoes and onions. I saw how hard it is to grow certain crops, and how dependent it is on the weather. And how hard it must be for farmers because of climate change.“
Lexie, Fifth Year student
Transition Year students volunteered at the local Kingfisher Project, where they discussed ways to build community and national resilience to biodiversity loss. To stand in solidarity with farmers in the Global South, students have planned a project to bag up seeds in compostable bags to distribute around Crumlin. A note attached to each bag will explain the impact of biodiversity loss on Global South farmers.
Leaving Certificate Applied students used the school garden to study the consumption and waste of food in Ireland and globally. They recorded every item they discarded, recycled or composted over a week. Using the UN resource Every Plate Tells a Story, they researched how far their food travels and created a world map showing food miles.
Third Year Business students researched unfair trade practices and the treatment of agricultural workers in the Global South. They created posters and presented slideshows to their classmates. Digging deeper, they explored the causes of trade injustice, including unfair global trade rules, the growth of cash crops and the exploitation of workers. They compared the winners and losers in coffee and chocolate production, drawing on the experiences of farmers in the Global South and consumers in the Global North.
Student posters exploring aspects of global inequality
Tips From the Teachers for Embedding GCE
Take small steps.
Start small, perhaps with a conversation in class, to find local to global links for a topic. Little and often, weaving a global perspective into day-to-day lessons, is often more achievable than, say, a week-long whole-school initiative, which may seem overwhelming. GCE takes time.
Use an informal approach.
Chat to other staff outside formal meetings and suggest how they can make local to global links in their subjects, not as an extra topic but to enhance what they are already doing. This builds a culture of global citizenship and awareness, without adding extra work. “A little word here and there can have more impact than a big, heavy meeting,” says Grace.
Invite, don’t force, participation.
Some students may initially be less interested in GCE than others. By highlighting local relevance, and starting with more engaged students, reluctant participants can be drawn in through genuine interest rather than compulsion. Seeing others take part encourages them to join in, especially if the GCE themes are clearly linked to their community and therefore their own lives, e.g. through a local issue or organisation.
Enlist the support of senior management.
This is critical for building a whole-school culture of GCE. The principles of respect, acceptance, responsibility and justice are intrinsic to many school policies and therefore align naturally with GCE. Communicating these connections to senior management encourages buy-in and gives more freedom to teachers to pursue GCE.
Celebrate what you are already doing.
“The acronym GCE can seem daunting” says Donna, “but it’s also great to label it, because then you realise how much you’re doing already, and there’s acknowledgement of the fantastic work.”
