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DAVID HICKS |
| David is Visiting Professor, School of Education, Bath Spa University, where he both helped develop and taught on the undergraduate Education Studies degree. He is now a freelance educator with a particular interest in the global dimension, a futures perspective, climate change and sustainable schools. |
Interests
David has a long-standing interest in the need for both a global and futures perspective in the curriculum. He taught geography in schools before moving into initial teacher education and than directing a national curriculum project on global education. Since 1990 his writing, research and teaching have focused on ways of helping students and teachers think more critically and creatively about the future. In particular he is interested in issues relating to sustainability and climate change. He is internationally recognised for his work on global and futures perspectives in the curriculum.
Publications
David has written extensively for teachers and educators on local-global connections and ways in which these can be explored in the classroom. His most recent book, with Cathie Holden, is Teaching the Global Dimension (Routledge, 2007); others are Lessons for the Future: The missing dimension in education (Trafford Publishing, 2006) and Citizenship for the Future: A practical classroom guide (World Wide Fund for Nature UK, 2001).
Contact
To contact David please Click here
TEACHING FOR A BETTER WORLD
I deeply believe that one of the most fundamental tasks of education is to help young people: i) make sense of the world they live in, locally and globally; ii) think critically about their future and the future of society; and iii) understand the need to work towards more sustainable futures. If you also feel this is important I hope you will find this website useful.
It is sometimes useful to look at the curriculum as having both a spatial and temporal axis on which both the global and futures elements have traditionally been neglected. Whilst the importance of a global dimension in the curriculum has now been recognised there has been much less understanding, until recently, about the need for a futures perspective.
It is through exploring both the spatial and temporal dimensions of the curriculum that students can begin to make sense of their lives and their interconnections with both the local and global community.
Learning for change
Global education is the term used internationally to describe a form of education which specifically explores interconnections between the local and global community. More commonly educators talk about the need:
- For a global dimension in the curriculum and
- for pupils/students to develop a global perspective on contemporary issues and events
Futures education is the term used internationally to denote a form of education which specifically helps pupils/students to think more critically and creatively about the future. More commonly educators talk about the need:
- for a futures perspective in the curriculum and
- for pupils/students to develop such a perspective on contemporary issues and events
Education for sustainable development is the term used internationally to denote a form of education which specifically helps pupils/students to contribute to the welfare of both people and planet locally and globally. More commonly educators in the UK talk about the need:
- to create sustainable schools which exemplify good practice across all aspects of school life
- for pupils/students to understand the need for, and ways of working towards, a more sustainable society
