The INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL for GLOBAL and DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION RESEARCH REVISTA INTERNACIONAL sobre INVESTIGACIÓN en EDUCACIÓN GLOBAL y para el DESARROLLO DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION: FROM THE MARGINS TO THE MAINSTREAM Douglas Bourn
Firstly at a policy level the launch of the UN Millennium Development Goals in 2000 put an onus on governments to demonstrate impact and influence (Schuenpflug and McDonnell). The support of the public for these goals became a political priority for many countries. This drive for support for development goals was given a major boost by the 2005 campaign around Make Poverty History. Secondly the wider world and developing countries in particular no longer seemed in the Global North to be far away. Globalisation, instant communications, the impact of climate change and the support for campaigns around fair trade for example made learning about global issues part of everyday learning. Examples can be found from a number of countries of educational programmes that recognise the globalised nature of societies and the need for education to respond through changes to the curriculum and in new approaches to learning (Peters,L, 2009, Mundy,K 2007,DfES, 2005, Rasanen,2009). Thirdly policy makers and practitioners were beginning to demonstrate the value of learning about development issues not only in terms of public support for development but also in educational terms. Therefore in a number of countries such as Australia (AusAid,2008) Austria, (Forghani‐Arani and Hartmeyer,2010) and Portugal (IPAD,2010 ) strategies emerged under the label of development awareness, global learning or global education that were owned not only by ministries responsible for aid, but also by ministries of education, with engagement of civil society bodies. Fourthly, educational institutions were referring to equipping learners for living and working in a global society (Bourn, 2009, Edge, Khamsi, Bourn 2008, Abdi and Shultz, 2008). Schools ,for example, referred to learning about global issues through links with schools in developing countries as part of creating a global mindset (Edge and Jaafar,2008). What remains less clear is what constitutes the main elements of development education today and whether the use of other terms such as global learning, global citizenship or global education suggests a radical shift in the focus and forms of delivery of this area of learning. Above all has the ever‐changing terminology been just a response to a tactical or political need to more effectively communicate a body of practice or a fundamental re‐alignment of practice linked to the adjectival educations and the challenges of globalisation. It is suggested here that regardless of the twists and turns in the use of terminology and alignments to broader educational traditions and social influences, there is need to explore the key principles and practices that could constitute a distinctive pedagogy of development education. Número Uno (Febrero 2012) Issue One (February 2012)
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