The DfES international strategy: the importance of developing a global dimension to teaching and learning

This paper looks at why the global dimension needs to be an important part of the education of our children, young people and adults, and the importance of language learning within that. It also sets out relevant elements of the DfES International Strategy. We live in a world that is increasingly interconnected, in which distant events can affect us as never before. On both an economic and social level, we are experiencing rapid change. While in the past only a small number of people engaged with the wider world, today the picture is very different. One in four UKjobs is related to international trade and a higher proportion is affected by global competitive pressures. Advances in technology have meant that some of the most difficult and pressing international issues are broadcast daily into people's homes and lives; and the rich cultural diversity of towns and cities across the country is testimony to the fact that the world is right here, not over there. Technology has also resulted in jobs migrating more easily between countries and large projects being coordinated in partnership at an international level. The manufacture of the newest European passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, is a case in point. Indeed, the Airbus has 50,000 employees in sixteen manufacturing sites across Europe, together with 1,500 component suppliers across the globe from Japan to the USA. For Britain to remain a global player of significance, British workers will need to deal effectively with the diversity of languages, cultural and social assumptions, as well as work and management practices involved in such multinational enterprises. At a social level, if our children are to be comfortable in such an interconnected world, they need greater knowledge and understanding of other languages, cultures, systems and practices and the skills to work with their similarities and differences. This will equip them to direct and influence the process of global change, rather than being completely subjected to it. In fact, according to a MORI poll, I the vast majority of pupils (81%) believe that it is important to learn about global issues at school and that young people need to understand global matters so as to make choices about how they want to lead their lives. Language learning clearly plays a key role in this, and the DfES attaches a great deal of importance to this, mainly through its commitment to the National Languages Strategy, which makes it clear that languages should be a lifelong skill. Specialist language colleges as part of the specialist schools programme play a significant part in the promotion of this strategy. Indeed, these schools are expected to: