Swine flu. The global credit crunch. The inauguration of President Obama. Already, 2009 has felt like a year of momentous world events, and we’re only two thirds of the way through. Yet pupils in Britain’s schools observed each event and empathised with people thousands of miles away across the world.

Why should schools take advantage of this? “We’ve found that fostering a more proactive world-consciousness makes learners much more aware of the outside world and enthusiastic about getting involved in it,” says Ruth Frain, Headteacher at St Cleopas Church of England Primary School in Liverpool. “Getting involved with international projects can also bring the day-to-day curriculum alive, and give pupils more of a reason for learning.”

But St Cleopas, a monocultural school in a deprived inner-city area of Liverpool, has done more than merely get involved. It has developed strong links with Nigeria and Zimbabwe, as part of a cluster of local schools, through Connecting Classrooms – a free British Council scheme which helps groups of UK schools link with partners worldwide – and redesigned its curriculum to make the international dimension a feature of most subjects.

“Recently, we completed a project with our link schools entitled Communicating through Dreams,” says Ruth. “That was based around sharing students’ ambitions for the future through ICT, but we also wanted to challenge a world view that for many pupils is limited to their local surroundings. We wanted to make the rest of the world real. And because teachers knew they’d be exploring an international theme throughout the school, they were excited to try out different ways of delivering it in their classes, rather than sticking to a rigid lesson plan.”

But does this mean more work for teachers? “No,” says Ruth, “It has simply meant a change of emphasis. It’s handing back to teachers the autonomy to make decisions about the material they teach – what they really know will interest our children.”

International teaching in ‘less obvious’ subjects

Easy enough to embed an international dimension within the teaching of subjects such as Geography and languages – some schools might say – but what about less obvious areas, like Maths? Kingsford Community School, a specialist language college in the East London borough of Newham, has done just this – and the hard work has been recognised through accreditation with the DCSF International School Award.

“Our Maths project is based on abacus learning,” explains Julian Linathan, Director of Learning at Kingsford. “It came about because we have good links with three schools in China where abacus is taught at primary level, as well as two teachers of Mandarin who have themselves taught at primary schools in China.” Kingsford was the first school in Britain to make the study of Mandarin Chinese compulsory.

“Last year, one of our Mandarin teachers brought back a hundred abacuses for us from China, and trained staff in how to use them. Feedback from students was really positive, so we asked one of our Chinese partner schools to send us basic worksheets for our students. We shared results and this year developed the project into a six-week programme for the whole year group – that’s about 300 students. It’s really brought the curriculum alive for pupils, and has also allowed us to get an international link embedded across a range of subject areas, such as History and Geography, which has helped bring the school together. And, of course, all this supports the learning of Mandarin. The project has been a great success and we’ve written it into our schemes of work.”

Julian points out another benefit to making international projects part of the scheme of work: if all the teachers are involved, and it becomes a joint effort, the project becomes easier to sustain, even if the project co-ordinator leaves.

Curriculum flexibility opens up the global dimension

“International opportunities can also be identified across all subjects of the new curricula,” says Susan Douglas, Senior Adviser for British Council Connecting Classrooms. “This is clearly demonstrated through the ‘global dimension and sustainable development’ element of the Big Picture of the curriculum.”

In other words, both the primary and secondary curriculum reforms mean teachers can rethink their curricula in a creative and exciting way. David Gardner, Curriculum Programme Manager at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, says: “The new high-quality National Curriculum guarantees an entitlement for all. However, there is sufficient flexibility within this for schools to build their own curriculum that reflects their local context and meets their learners’ needs, capabilities and aspirations. International projects that are truly integrated into a school’s curriculum can fit this bill very well.”

Melissa de Villiers is an independent education journalist

More Info For free advice and support with embedding international partnerships in your curriculum, visit www.globalgateway.org/linkingtoolkit or e-mail editor@globalgateway.org The DCSF International School Award provides a valuable framework for embedding your international work in the curriculum. Schools at any stage of their international journey are welcome to apply for one of the three levels of the Award. Visit www.globalgateway.org/isa or contact the management team at the British Council at isa@globalgateway.org The British Council’s Connecting Classrooms scheme provides grants and free support to help clusters of UK schools link with partners all over the world. For more information and to apply, visit www.britishcouncil.org/connectingclassrooms If you would like a partnership with a school in China, the British Council can help you find a partner school, access funding from the DCSF and HSBC, and give you free advice and support. Visit www.britishcouncil.org/schoolpartnerships-china