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Special section: Development education
073~593/86 $3
/nl. J. Educalio,"" D•••lopm.n/. Vol.6. No.2. p. 119.1986. Printed in Great Britain.
00+ 00 Pergamon Press Ltd.
EDITORIAL SPECIAL SECfION: DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION
While the International Journal of Educational Development is primarily concerned with educational developments in the Third World it recognises, under its Aims and Scope, that 'Educational developments are taking place throughout the world'. In this sense all countries are 'developing countries' because all are developing economically, politically and educationally. Development education in Britain, which initially started out with an exclusively Third World focus, has come to recognise this. Thus, as the article by David Stephens suggests, the issues to be explored in British schools via development education are as much about development in, say, Birmingham and the Midlands as they are about development in Africa or Asia. Scott Sinclair and Colm Regan add another dimension to this approach by looking at the relationship between Britain and Ireland as a local example that historically exemplifies many North/South issues-colonialism, nationalism and dependency, for example. Indeed, the West Mid-
lands-West Africa development education study visit that is evaluated in this section consciously set out to explore links between the local environment and the wider world and to use the experience to get the teachers involved to reflect both on the societies visited and to use this experience to reappraise their thinking about their own society and values and hence their teaching. What then perhaps increasingly characterises development education in Britain is not so much a Third World content but a methodology that emphasises the exploration of values and attitudes by active and participatory learning in order to examine change and development. Development is therefore an educational theme that is relevant in all societies and it is hoped that the ideas discussed in the three articles will be of general interest to those involved in curriculum and teaching. CLIVE HARBER
119
/nl. J. Educalio,"" D•••lopm.n/. Vol.6. No.2. p. 119.1986. Printed in Great Britain.
00+ 00 Pergamon Press Ltd.
EDITORIAL SPECIAL SECfION: DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION
While the International Journal of Educational Development is primarily concerned with educational developments in the Third World it recognises, under its Aims and Scope, that 'Educational developments are taking place throughout the world'. In this sense all countries are 'developing countries' because all are developing economically, politically and educationally. Development education in Britain, which initially started out with an exclusively Third World focus, has come to recognise this. Thus, as the article by David Stephens suggests, the issues to be explored in British schools via development education are as much about development in, say, Birmingham and the Midlands as they are about development in Africa or Asia. Scott Sinclair and Colm Regan add another dimension to this approach by looking at the relationship between Britain and Ireland as a local example that historically exemplifies many North/South issues-colonialism, nationalism and dependency, for example. Indeed, the West Mid-
lands-West Africa development education study visit that is evaluated in this section consciously set out to explore links between the local environment and the wider world and to use the experience to get the teachers involved to reflect both on the societies visited and to use this experience to reappraise their thinking about their own society and values and hence their teaching. What then perhaps increasingly characterises development education in Britain is not so much a Third World content but a methodology that emphasises the exploration of values and attitudes by active and participatory learning in order to examine change and development. Development is therefore an educational theme that is relevant in all societies and it is hoped that the ideas discussed in the three articles will be of general interest to those involved in curriculum and teaching. CLIVE HARBER
119