Education that Matters : Teachers, Critical Pedagogy and Development Education at Local and Global Level

Today’s learners are faced with an unprecedented set of global and local development challenges, yet so much education on offer is based on yesterday’s thinkers, ideas and lessons. This book argues that development education should be embedded into the curriculum, where it has the potential to strengthen democracy and create a more equal society.

Today’s learners are faced with an unprecedented set of global and local development challenges, yet so much of the education on offer is based on yesterday’s thinkers, yesterday’s ideas and yesterday’s lessons. A time of change requires new approaches to teaching and learning which have relevance to learners’ everyday lives now and in the future. This book argues that Development Education needs to be embedded into the curriculum, where it has the potential to strengthen democracy and create a more egalitarian society. It employs the concept of critical pedagogy as a teaching approach which has the capacity to impact on learners’ future decisions.
The book offers a highly accessible and innovative approach to Development Education, challenging teachers to engage with global issues. It demonstrates how knowledge and content, teaching methodologies and global issues can be embedded in education programmes. Drawing on five years of research and practice by leading educators across twelve universities and colleges of education, the book demonstrates the innovative work of the Ubuntu Network project and places it in the international context of rethinking and reorientating education.