Geography Teaching Today

The Activity

Each pupil is given a slip of paper which describes how globalisation has impacted on the life of one individual.

Once pupils have had time to read and think about this, they then have to place themselves on a human continuum line, e.g. from out and out winners at one end of the line to out and out losers at the opposite end.

This works really well because it gets learners up out of their seats and involved in kinaesthetic learning. It also develops purposeful talk as pupils use each other as points of reference to decide where in the line they should stand. It supports thinking skills by encouraging pupils to explain why they have positioned themselves at a given point along the line (reasoning). It also develops an excellent understanding of the complexity and multi-dimensional nature of globalisation by getting learners involved in a discussion about the criteria for being a winner or a loser.

To develop independent learning we then encouraged pupils to research real-life stories that echoed the ones presented here. As pupils dug deeper they came to challenge some of their own judgements as hidden costs to being a 'winner' became apparent, e.g. development in China has brought a higher standard of living but increased pollution with associated health risks.

Student Comment

'This activity has really made me think. I thought it was obvious at first. Now I'm not so certain. It's like a person can be both a winner and a loser. It depends which way you look at it. At first I thought my person was a winner because he can get the kind of food he likes (MacDonald's) wherever he goes in the world. But then my mate pointed out about the health risks of junk food. It's not doing him any good eating it all the time. He would be better off eating the local fruit and stuff which would be healthier for him. So it's like there's always more to the story than you think. You've got to look deeper into it.'

Download: Globalisation- Winners or Losers?

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