DFID’s work with schools and young people
Do you want children and young people in your school to learn more about international development?
Find out more here about how we can help you bring a global dimension into your school.
School programmes
7-14 years: The most engaging and inspiring way to do this can be to set up a link between your school and a school in a developing country. Connecting Classrooms is a programme funded by DFID and the British Council that supports primary and secondary schools in the UK to set up links with schools in over 50 countries around the world. Professional development for teachers and resources for schools are also offered under Connecting Classrooms, to help schools use their link to teach pupils about global issues.
The Connecting Classrooms programme replaces DFID’s Global School Partnerships Programme, through which thousands of UK schools have already formed links around the world.
Sixth formers: consider the Global Student Forum, also supported by UK aid, which holds conferences where young people can critically explore development issues and what it is to be a global citizen.
16 years +: make sure people in your school are aware of International Citizen Service that takes volunteers to do short placements in developing countries. Good preparation for this is to volunteer for National Citizen Service.
Teaching resources
All years: teachers have access to an extensive archive of resources at the Global Dimension website. From climate change to poverty, water to fair trade, there is a huge range of material available.
Find more resources for teachers, including details of learning opportunities at Think Global and useful articles in the archive of our Developments magazine.
7-14 years: find examples of how UK aid is changing people's lives on this website. For stories specially aimed at children and young people, have a look on First News and Newsround which both regularly cover development issues.
Around the UK: there is also material tailored specifically for teachers in Northern Ireland at the Centre for Global Education, for teachers in Scotland at IDEAS for global citizenship and for teachers in Wales at Cyfanfyd.
Further professional development
If you have a wider interest in the methodology of development education, an extensive body of research is held by the Development Education Research Centre at the University of London where you can also study for a Masters in Development Education.