Higher education Foundation degree students' perceptions and practice of leading on sustainable development goals, globalisation and equity: A narrative approach

The primary aim of our paper is to understand how teaching assistants on a foundation degree students are able to engage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and globalisation concept in their practice. These teaching... [ view full abstract ]

The primary aim of our paper is to understand how teaching assistants on a foundation degree students are able to engage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and globalisation concept in their practice. These teaching assistants can be seen as key agents in their school for spreading the sustainability message and encouraging children to see their role as active agents, challenging existing ways of doing things, questioning existing relationships and creating the sort of sustainable world that they want to live in. The research is sparse on how these teaching assistants teach sustainability and globalisation and our paper would contribute to a growing body of knowledge. We want to know how they support children to become global learners as research on the concept of globalisation is contentious. The movement of a global economy brings with it the potential to make knowledge and information accessible to all.

The ‘lived experience’ of teaching assistants gives us multiple perspectives and understanding on how individuals construct social realities in their own context. A narrative approach will be used to construct meaning within an educational context. We are looking to engage with the theoretical debate around the meaning of sustainability, globalisation. We want to know and understand more deeply how practitioners teach and lead practice in the areas of sustainability, globalisation and equity. We will focus on particular goals within the SDG 4 goal, which is on education.

We live in a globalised world necessitating active lead by practitioners like teachers, teaching assistants and learning mentors in teaching about moral and ethical issues in relation to sustainability, global inequality and inclusion. This suggests a genuine transformational model that aligns with practitioners’ cultures and values.

We asked a series of open qualitative-style questions by questionnaire of eleven year 1 and twelve year 2 Foundation degree students in one higher education institute in the Midlands. We found that these teaching assistant’s leadership competences explicitly delivered outcomes about the sustainable development goals agenda including globalisation. But not all were successful in doing this for various reasons. The findings are being analysed against the theory about thinking and acting both locally and globally and that pertaining to transformational leadership. Early conclusions indicate new knowledge about leadership for sustainability teaching is improving educational practice, policy and theory with regards the generation of problematisation. Case studies of impact on children’s attitudes and perceptions about these concepts form area of further study.