Development Issues – a course for Transition Year (2015 Edition) was edited and updated by Aileen Tennant and Joseph Clowry (St. Mary’s Academy, Carlow) with Tony Daly and Dan Bartley (developmenteducation.ie).
Date: 30th November 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9930234-4-6
This course was updated through the support of the Worldwise Global Schools programme.
The first edition of the course was developed by Joseph Clowry (St. Mary’s Academy, Carlow), Katriona Foley (St. Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise) and Patsy Toland (Self Help Africa) in 2006 and was directly supported by Self Help Africa, Combat Diseases of Poverty Consortium, NUIM and Irish Aid with support from a range of other NGOs.
This Transition Unit was developed in accordance with the NCCA template and Guidelines on writing a Transition Unit. The course was validated by NCCA in 2011 and was hosted by developmenteducation.ie
Piloting the materials in schools and background to the project
Following a presentation on development education at the Irish Aid offices, in March 2006, St. Mary’s Academy, Carlow decided to explore the possibility of introducing a development education course for transition year students at their school. It was decided to collaborate with St. Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise to develop and pilot a syllabus. At that time, St. Mary’s Academy, Carlow and St. Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise were both involved in the School Immersion Programme.
As only a few students got the opportunity to take part in the Immersion Programme, both schools felt the need to create greater awareness of development issues in their respective wider school communities. They agreed to collaborate on the project as they believed the development of such an innovative course would deliver the issues to the entire school community and add value to the Immersion Programme activities.
The project was led by St. Mary’s Academy, Carlow, who were successful in securing funding from Irish Aid for the development of the initial and subsequent resources. A trial syllabus was developed by teachers from both schools with support from our local NGO Self Help Africa.
During the pilot stage, news of the success of the course spread and by the end of the first year many more schools showed interest in incorporating the course in their Transition Year programme. A very successful seminar was held at the Department Of Education, NUI Maynooth to showcase the Development Issues Course to other schools.
St. Mary’s Academy secured a second phase of funding from Irish Aid and by September 2007 there were twelve schools in the network. The school secured a third phase of funding in August 2008 and a fourth phase in August 2010.
Since 2006, the course had been developed and updated with inputs from participating students, teachers and NGOs.
This Transition Unit was developed in accordance with the NCCA template and Guidelines on writing a Transition Unit. The course was validated by NCCA in 2011 and was hosted by developmenteducation.ie