Issue 36

A global perspective - three new resources Curriculum Corporation, in conjunction with AusAID, has produced three new curriculum resources for global education. Subtitled 'Global perspectives in the classroom', the three books are Think Global (lower primary), Look Global (upper primary) and Go Global (lower-middle secondary). The materials in each of these books are designed to incorporate a global perspective into existing programs rather than approaching this as a separate area of the curriculum. Here we review the two primary level books; Go Global will be reviewed in a later issue of Connections.

Think Global: Global perspectives in the lower primary classroom
Teacher resource
Author: Rebecca Reid-Nguyen
Publisher: Curriculum Corporation and AusAID
RRP: $38.10
SCIS order no: 962687
ISBN: 1 86366 361 4

Those uninitiated in global education will find
Part A of this book a very good starting point. It
addresses definitions that underpin global
education in a clear manner, outlining key
issues for teachers. Good practitioners,
particularly those oriented to including global
education perspectives in their teaching, will
find Part B confirming what they already know.
There are some excellent delivery strategies,
which could be valuable additions to anyone's
teaching repertoire.

The units in Part C cover a range of issues that
face the developing world. Key themes are
approached through activities that support and
develop the concepts being explored. The
topics covered include common themes such
as human rights and peace as well as more
abstract concepts like interdependence and
communication and conflict management. The
range of activities for each unit is substantial,
for example, in the unit Interdependence there
are over 30 activities.
These activities are concisely explained, often
using games, movement activities or visual arts
focus to engage the students. Samples of
students' work give pointers to how some
sessions may develop. I can see this resource
being used by a teaching team, developing a
whole unit on any one or more of the concepts
it addresses. Alternatively it could be used as a
grab bag of ideas to include in a range of units.
The book would be a useful addition to the
library of any primary school in which teachers
are interested in developing these important
concepts.
Reviewed by David Rothstadt, Glenhuntly
Primary School. Published in Ethos (Victorian
Association of Social Studies Teachers Inc.)
P-6, vol 8, no 3, 2000 pp 11-12, reproduced
with permission.
Look Global: Global perspectives in the
upper primary classroom
Teacher resource
Author: Roslyn Guy
Publisher: Curriculum Corporation and AusAID
RRP: $32.65
SCIS order no: 987799
ISBN: 1 86366 363 0
This teacher resource is for use in the upper
primary school but may be easily adapted for
the middle school. The contents page outlines
very clearly the unit name, subtopics and focus
questions in each unit. Units are crossreferenced
with Studies of society and
environment strands and strand organisers eg,
Time and change, allowing for units of work to
be implemented as presented or in part.
The ten units cover common themes and topics
in the primary curriculum including food,
media, rights and responsibilities, peace and
war, service and environment. This makes it a
very useful resource in integrating global
perspectives into other curriculum areas such
as English, mathematics and integrated studies.
I have used this resource as part of our
Technology unit on Media. The activities were
used to commence an inquiry approach, which
involved investigating issues in the media such
as information, communication, bias, fair
reporting, social responsibility and the effect
media has on our daily lives and attitudes. This
was then followed by the Technology approach
of design and produce.
The book uses a range of strategies including
discussion, investigation, role-play, cooperative
group tasks and collecting and
recording information. Most importantly it
supports tasks with topic information for the
teacher and students. It also provides teachers
with information on working with statistical data
and lists classroom resources and references
for each unit of work. A clear layout makes each
unit easy to follow.