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Schools working on global issues
MORE needs to be done in schools to promote understanding of other cultures, said education charity the DEA.
A MORI poll showed that just 43 per cent of children in Yorkshire, and 50 per cent nationally, agreed that people from different backgrounds should live in the same country.
It also showed that many children had little idea about news stories from around the world.
Some Yorkshire schools, however, are already streets ahead when it comes to promoting global issues.
Retired headteacher Kathryn Tissiman made big changes during her time at Wistow School, near Selby, and is now chairman of directors at the Centre for Global Education in York.
Saying that she was "absolutely appalled" by the results of the survey, she added that the government should force schools to promote awareness of other cultures. "If the message could come on a national level then many more schools could do this sort of thing," she said.
"At my school the children were all white and middle class. I was worried about them living in the global village in which we all live – they'd never come across anyone with a different face or a different colour."
Mrs Tissiman overhauled the curriculum at Wistow School and made the children aware of issues such as modern slavery and fair trade.
In Scarborough, Gladstone Road Infant School has undergone a similar transformation.
With 360 children, it is one of the largest infant schools in the county and has a large number of pupils who speak English as a second language.
Teacher Gavin Dyer said: "What we're doing has made a huge impact on the children.
"It's meant that children from other nationalities, rather than sitting there feeling isolated, can become involved and even become teachers in a way."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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