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Collaboration for Development Education beyond the East Midlands

Skillshare International works with the Development Education Association (DEA), UK One World Linking Association (UKOWLA), and with a coalition "Building Understanding for International Links for Development" (BUILD) to support strategic activities for development education, global citizenship and international development with institutions for adult, further and higher education, youth organisations, community groups and Diaspora groups.

With funding from the Centre for Excellence in Leadership in Lancaster, Skillshare International worked with the DEA, the University of Greenwich, the Learning Society on an action research project, Leadership Practices in Lifelong Learning in a Global Society. This research project focused on:

UKOWLA-BUILD meeting in June 2005

UKOWLA and BUILD members from the UK, Tanzania and Uganda.
  • How global perspectives can enhance leadership development while promoting learning in the life-long learning and skills sectors.
  • How the development of leadership practices promotes learning pathways in a global society.
  • Government agendas, such as DfES International Strategy for improving the quality of learning for a global society.

The main findings of this project were:

  • The values of leaders promoting global learning and development education coincided with identified attributes for good leadership.
  • There is a need for leadership competencies such as development and sustenance of the learning environment and the ability to lead teams and individuals. Global education goes beyond the routine demands of institutional leadership, and therefore there is a need for incorporating global leadership values.
  • Personal enthusiasm, position within the college hierarchy and the need to convince senior management of the value of programmes were identified as important factors.
  • Additional factors were identified as the ability to build teams, to strengthen internal support and to create outside partners.
  • Global leadership skills have a close affinity with development education.
  • A ‘global mindset’ is pertinent to effective leadership in lifelong learning for a global society (Research Report DEA, March 2006)

You can access the full report at www.dea.org.uk

With UKOWLA and BUILD Coalition, Skillshare International is working to promote best practice of international links in schools, colleges and health services. Together, we are developing a tool-kit for linking.  At strategic level with BUILD members, Skillshare International is working to promote support for international development and linking through the All Party Parliamentarian Group  (APPG) ‘Building Communites’.