Development Education - The new hot potato
Story by Benedicte Bertelsen, Civic Engagement Officer
Development education is the new hot potato in the danish development sector. In Dreamtown we embrace the idea of engaging the Danish population in global issues. While we do that we are extremely aware about how we do it.
Based on the core values of Dreamtown, our own experiences in facilitating non-formal education and with inspiration from the fields of Development Education and and Global Citizenship Education, here is our approach:
Approach
Dreamtown aim to engage young people in deeper learning, reflection and dialogue on social change and sustainable urban development, which inspire personal and civic engagement in ways which are interactive, fun, creative and inspires hope and agency in young people. Where any resulting civic engagement is based on a want for global social justice and happens through learning that unpacks stories of sustainable development together with young people in our ever globalising and urbanizing world. Where teachers, facilitators, and students alike are invited to “dig deeper and relate wider” (Andreotti, 2019).
Our educational approach to the process of learning about social change and sustainable development is based on Dreamtown’s existing and tested framework: Dreams, Explore and Designs. A framework that takes a participatory, fun, and creative approach to creating learning environments and experiences which has young people at its core.
Dream – We take an explorative and curious approach to our own and the students’ perspectives and assumptions about the world as well as others and the dreams young people have for the future.
Explore – We explore and learn more about the context and challenges faced by young people and reflect and inquire upon these.
Design – We design ideas and strategies for tangible change based on collaboration across cities and urban contexts as well as creating stories and narratives based on constructive communication.
Tools
Global urban challenges. Dreamtown aim to engage young people in unpacking and exploring global urban challenges which has both a local and global dimension. We experiment with how to create social change though case challenges posed by young people in other urban contexts and reflect and discuss challenges of sustainable urban development, global inequality, and poverty to create deeper learning.
Global Urban Experiences: We create global urban experiences by connecting young people across urban contexts though videos, online communication such as WhatsApp, skype and zoom. We aim to connect young people through physical visits whenever possible as well.
Global Urban outlooks. We include stories and perspectives from young people we work with across Africa to tell stories about young people who act, motivated by the challenges they face, but guided by their dreams for the future they desire. A story told by young people for young people. We invite young people in Denmark to revisit and explore their own perspectives and assumptions about the world and the people in it. We invite young people to dig deeper and relate wider and act based on deeper learning and a belief in global social justice.
