Welcome to the third edition of this online course, which aims to bring students and community members together from across the UK and Africa (although other nationalities are also welcome!), in ethical discussions on various global issues related to development.

Course Aims

One of the central aims of EduSpots as an organisation is to enable people across the world to come together to reflect critically and empathetically on global issues and sustainable development.

Across the past few years, the EduSpots team has learnt a huge amount from the course discussion board which has focused upon gathering different views and perspectives on different controversial topics. It is our hope that this global learning project can help us all better understand each other, and provide a space to ask questions, critically reflect, and empathise with the perspectives of others.

As Appiah (a Ghanaian born philosopher – we recommend you read his book Cosmopolitanism), suggests: ‘conversation doesn’t have to lead to consensus about anything, especially not values; it’s enough that it helps people to get used to one another.’ Perhaps there are some values that we can hope to converge on, but upon others, total agreement seems unlikely.

Course Format

You will generally be sent a post each Monday. You will have one week to read the article, and post an answer onto the discussion board, also commenting on the post of another individual. I think you may find that reading the answers of other participants is more rewarding than the actual initial blog post itself, which is intended simply to be a stimulus.

We request that all contributions are kept friendly, and that even when we disagree with a view, that we express our disagreement in a thoughtful way that enables the person to reflect further, rather than to make them feel attacked. Note that the EduSpots team will be closely monitoring discussions.

The team involved are: Cat Davison (Eduspots Chair), Stephen Tettegah (EduSpots Head of Education and Leadership Development), Ali Eliasu (EduSpots Head of STEM and Sustainability), and Helen Denyer (EduSpotsHead of Partnerships). You can read more about their backgrounds here. Many of the ideas for the course, however, come from individuals from across the EduSpots network of 100s of volunteers.

Certification

Certificates will be awarded to everyone who makes a post on 70% of the articles. We will be awarding marks of ‘distinction’ to those who offer particularly thoughtful contributions (those who really listen to others, ask interesting questions and engage critically and reflectively). We will also be offering participants a chance to apply for one of our ‘Changemaker’ grants – read more here.

Introduction Task

Before the course begins, we’d love you to post the following on the discussion board, so that we can have a sense of who we are talking to!

Let us know your name (*students, please use first names only for privacy reasons when you sign in*), your location and a little bit about it, and your motivation for joining this online project. Feel free to include anything else about yourself that you want to share! 

Week 1 – The Role of Perspective

To start the first post, click here: