Happy Eco News 10 Questions with Craig Jones, a teacher and founder of the Universal Goals Curriculum
Reading Time: 6 minutes
The Universal Goals Curriculum is an innovative educational program that aims to educate and inspire future generations to tackle the major global issues of our time.
- Thank you so much for sharing your story with our readers. Can you tell our audience a bit about yourself?
My name is Craig and I grew up in the Rhondda Valleys in South Wales. From a young age, I was fascinated with wildlife both locally and further afield. I became captivated by documentaries by Sir David Attenborough and would spend hours lost in the natural world. This also led to my wanderlust, which led to my combining my work as a teacher with my other passion, travel. I have visited some of the world’s top wildlife destinations, including the Jungles of Borneo and the Amazon, from spotting the big five on African Safaris to the King Penguins in the Falkland Islands.
Professionally, I am currently a Head of Primary and I am moving on to study for my PhD in Education. Previously, I have completed a BA (hons) with QTS, MA in Education and recently completed Msc Psychology. I have been in Education for 20 years.
- What is the Universal Goals Curriculum?
The Universal Goals Curriculum incorporates science and the foundation subjects into a theme. The themes are inspired by the UN Sustainable Development goals but made into child friendly units of learning. They are the Children’s Global Goals if you like and are more accessible and relevant for primary aged children. So I would say that they are firmly based on the English/British National Curriculum objectives but with an environmental twist.
- Where did you come up with the idea for this curriculum?
Well, I have been writing content for other curriculum programs for a few years and felt like they were not integrated or adopted to their fullest potential. I felt that there was so much value in aligning a curriculum with the major global issues of our day. This way, it makes learning relevant and important. It comes down to the big question: What should we teach in schools? I wanted to design a curriculum that was firmly rooted in national curriculum objectives but also tackled the important stuff.
- When did this idea for the Universal Goals Curriculum first come about?
I would say probably during lockdown in 2020. I started sketching the logos for it and what children’s global goals would look like if they were to be designed by kids. Then I started putting together a learning journey and key elements with a hint of my style of teaching. I have developed different learning routines. I just kept adding my best ideas to it. But then I had to go back to my job after teaching remotely.
I was teaching in Russia at the time, but we were evacuated due to the war with Ukraine. That gave me 6 months back home in the UK to put the finishing touches on some units and officially launch the idea on Earth Day in 2022 (April 22nd).
- What makes the Universal Goals Curriculum different from a regular curriculum?
I think the key difference is that it is primarily focused on the key issues that we face in our global society. For me, I could not think of anything more important than preparing our young learners of the issues that they will face in their lifetimes. I think the first step is making them aware of some of our global challenges. Then we can start to delve into some deeper thinking around the subject and start to come up with solutions.
I use balanced arguments a lot because I think it is important that students view things in a balanced way and not be simply taught what one person tells them. They need to look at both sides of an argument and see things from different perspectives.
Then gradually they can form their own opinion or simply say there is not only one way of looking at this. The other thing is that it is free! I wanted schools to have access to a quality curriculum. For some schools, buying in a curriculum is simply not possible due to cost. I know everyone is feeling economic hardships at the moment and I think schools are no different.
- Is the curriculum still under development? Or has it already been implemented in schools? If so, what has the response been?
The curriculum is currently being used by schools internationally and launched on Earth Day, 22nd April, 2022. It was designed for international schools to tackle global issues in a child-friendly way, and created during the pandemic in response to already existing international school curriculums that either failed to incorporate global issues or attempted to but did so without sufficient depth.
The Structured Curriculum is fully up and running. We are now developing the Versatile curriculum which allows more flexibility for teachers to pursue the interests of the students rather than rigidly sticking to “the plan”.There has been a great response, particularly being free. I think some international programs are too expensive for smaller schools.
7. Could the curriculum be tailored to students living in different parts of the world who are experiencing different environmental situations?
Yes, absolutely. Especially the new Versatile Curriculum strongly encourages study of local issues. I remember teaching in Spain one time and learning about the Romans in Britain whilst there were spectacular Roman aqueducts and ruins just 20 minutes away. The engagement and interest would be greatly increased if it is more personal to the students. It makes sense to link the learning to a local context.
So when we look at the problem solving tasks here in Bangkok, we focus on Air Pollution because that is something that impacts them going outside at break times. When I worked in Borneo, deforestation and oil palm was a relevant issue. When I worked in Russia, single use plastics and recycling was an obvious issue amongst other things.
The Structured curriculum also focuses on skills over specific content so when learning about ancient Civilizations in Latin America you should also learn about the Incas and the Aztecs. Or even more locally when working in Bogota, Colombia I found out about a tribe called the Muiscas. It is far more interesting to literally follow in the footsteps of the people that you are studying.
8. Why do you think teaching students about the environment at a young age is so important?
I think the first step in solving a problem is awareness. Children first of all need to be aware of some of the major issues of our time but done in an age appropriate way in order to avoid Eco Anxiety. It can be pretty full on and that is why I created the Children’s Global Goals. It takes global goals such as the UNSDG’s and makes them into child friendly and accessible topics. From there, you can begin a learning journey where you also focus on the many wonderful solutions that exist already.
It sounds like a bit of a cliche but they are the future of this planet and to teach them to have high aspirations for critical thinking and innovation but to also have high standards of empathy, kindness and compassion. I think planting seeds in the minds of children about solution focussed thinking as well as being well-rounded global citizens is our best bet for the future.
9. What’s next for the Universal Goals Curriculum? And where can teacher’s access it
Well as I said it is free! I will give you the link and password so that you can share with your readers. I have so many ideas but not enough time to do them all. Next I plan to complete the Versatile Curriculum and then move on to creating a resources page where teachers can share resources for free.
I would love to create an online community where as educators, we can help each other. I just need more people to spread the word and to use the resources. I think it is so important to teach children about these topics and do so in a way that they care about the planet and have hope for the future.
https://universalgoalscurriculum.co.uk/register
Password: Universal2022
10. Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?
Yeah, for me the key elements in the curriculum are the Viewpoints and Perspectives. I don’t want children to be told to think a certain way. I want them to consider the viewpoint of others and not see other people as either good or bad whether they agree with them or not. Overfishing can be a big problem in some areas but what about the viewpoint of someone who fishes for a living? What would their perspective be? It would certainly be different from organisations such as Greenpeace.
Balanced arguments are also a key feature of the UGC. For example, most people may agree that single-use plastics are bad, but what about potential positives, such as in medical products where things can only be used once? You may well still conclude that single-use plastics need to be massively reduced where there are clear eco-friendly alternatives, but they may well be necessary in some circumstances.
My point here is that children should not exist in eco chambers and only hear their side of the argument. They should only be willing and able to consider other views and not become rigid and tribal. They should be open to different views and opinions and learn to listen to alternatives. Also, I think it is ok not to have a view on something if you don’t know enough about it yet.
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