Back to Plan your Day 2022 – David Alcock – grounds for hope: a curriculum necessity in uncertain times? Teaching and Learning Leeds Conference 2023 Session Choice #1 Workshop facilitator David Alcock Name of Workshop Grounds for hope: a curriculum necessity in uncertain times? Who is it for Primary and secondary teachers Brief synopsis of workshop: In an uncertain world, and amidst a rise in ‘eco anxiety’, what role might educationalists play in fostering hope for the future? Alongside the widely appreciated challenges that the world has been facing in recent decades, humanity has experienced unprecedented levels of social progress – what Hans Rosling called a ‘secret silent miracle’. Infant mortality and deaths from natural hazards have fallen, whilst human rights, literacy, and access to electricity have risen dramatically. Whilst climate change, sustainability and inequality must form part of the curriculum, issues of human progress and the future are often underplayed, and the concept of ‘progress’ must be evaluated if our young people are to develop a balanced and critical worldview. This session will consider the context of the media and political environment, psychological biases, and education in forming worldviews, and how ‘scope for hope’ may be developed in the school curriculum. Will a more hopeful worldview embolden our young people to take active roles in ensuring a sustainable future for the world? What ideas and resources could teachers use for approaching the concepts of hope, progress, and the future? Come along and join in the discussion! What you will get out of it: This session aims to challenge and inspire delegates regarding how concepts of hope, progress and the future might fit into the curriculum. Delegates would receive an overview of how the facilitator has approached these concepts in his school and beyond. Over 500 students have taken part in ‘Grounds for Hope’ half-day sessions run by the facilitator, and he would outline what these have involved so that delegates can adapt them for their own use. Delegates would also undertake some of the activities covered in ‘Grounds for Hope’ sessions. Profile of facilitator: David Alcock teaches geography at Bradford Grammar School, where he is also a Teaching and Learning Champion. He founded Hopeful Education in 2020 and writes, blogs, and presents about hope, progress, sustainability and pedagogy. He has been published in the TES, Teaching Geography, Geography Review, Impact: The Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, and the Yorkshire Post. He has created resources for the Geographical Association, and he has spoken about ‘Hopeful Education’ at Dixons Academies Trust and Geographical Association conferences, an Academy of Ideas Education Forum, and at the Leeds Salon. Inspired by Hans Rosling, Max Roser and others, he is undertaking a PhD at UCL’s Institute of Education on ‘Ideas of progress in the geography curriculum’. Twitter @DavidAlcock1 and @HopefulEd Blog
