Time is running out to get your early bird tickets for this year’s Modern Studies Association (MSA) Annual Conference, in Glasgow. Interested members have until 12th October to buy your ticket(s) via Eventbrite.
Booking via Eventbrite is simple, and allows you to select your seminar choices before paying via invoice, credit card or debit card.
To pay using invoice, click the green ‘Tickets’ button at the top of the Eventbrite page, select your desired ticket type and quantity, before hitting ‘Checkout’. When the page loads, scroll down to the ‘Payment’ section and choose ‘Pay by invoice’ from the drop-down menu next to ‘Payment method’. When you have completed the booking process, an invoice should be attached to your booking confirmation e-mail, though this might arrive in your Spam or Junk folder(s).
If you have already booked your ticket(s), please make sure that you pass your invoice (if paying this way) to your establishment who should pay the balance to our Treasurer, whose details are clearly shown on the invoice. Otherwise, we look forward to welcoming you along to the Queen Margaret Union on Saturday 3rd November.
Book your ticket(s) now by clicking the button below.
Earlier this year, we announced that the Modern Studies Association (MSA) had set a new membership record. This announcement clearly encouraged colleagues the length and breadth of Scotland to join the MSA to ensure that our voice is heard at all levels of the Scottish education system.
This much welcomed rally of support brought down our website, meaning delayed membership applications and a non-functioning Members’ Area. Since then, our website administrator, Scott Campbell, has been hard at work, and the problem has now been resolved. In order to be GDPR compliant though, previous Members’ Area accounts have been deactivated, meaning members are invited to create their own accounts via the ‘Join’ page on our website.
Thank you to all members for your patience as we worked to resolve this issue and provide the best website possible for our 600 members. You can create your own account through the ‘Join’ page on our website.
Upcoming CLPL opportunities for Modern Studies Teachers in the image below. Please note, the Modern Studies Association has not organised these events, nor we do endorse them – it shared for information purposes. If you’re interested, please apply directly.
Congratulations to Roisin Craig, a pupil at Stewarton Academy, who achieved the highest mark in Scotland in the SQA Higher Modern Studies exam. Roisin was presented with a certificate from the Modern Studies Educational Trust by her class teacher Ms MacGlade and Head Teacher Mrs Hegarty.
Congratulations to Phoebe O’Toole who achieved the highest mark in the SQA 2018 Higher Modern Studies exam. Phoebe was presented with a certificate from the Modern Studies Educational Trust by her class teachers. Phoebe was one of nine pupils across the country who scored full marks in the Higher Modern Studies exam.
The Modern Studies Association (MSA) Annual Conference is the highlight of the MSA’s calendar. This year’s Annual Conference will return to Glasgow’s Queen Margaret Union (QMU) on Saturday 3 November 2018.
As ever, the event will start at 10.15am (with registration open from 9.30am) and run until 3.30pm, with a variety of topic-specific keynote addresses and hands on workshops that aim to provide Modern Studies Teachers with a great CLPL experience.
As part of this year’s event, we are delighted to announce that lawyer Aamer Anwar will be our keynote speaker, while several workshops focussing on international, political and social issues will offer Modern Studies Teachers a fantastic CLPL opportunity. Make sure you book your seminar option as you go through the booking process.
Make sure that you buy your tickets quick – a reduced rate applies until 15 September 2018, and after this date, only general admission tickets (£75) will be available. Those who are currently PGDE students at any University can purchase a special student ticket, costing £15, when they go on sale at the end of August. Please note that tickets will need to be shown on the day while PGDE students will be asked to present their valid student ID cards for access to the Conference.
If your establishment or local authority will be paying for your ticket and they wish to pay via invoice, then this is possible. Just click the green ‘Tickets’ button at the top of the page, select your desired ticket type and quantity, before hitting ‘Checkout’. When the page loads, scroll down to the ‘Payment’ section and choose ‘Pay by invoice’ from the drop-down menu next to ‘Payment method’. When you have completed the booking process, an invoice should be attached to your booking confirmation e-mail, though this might arrive in your Spam or Junk folder(s).
The following update is published on behalf of ScotDec.
This is an exciting professional learning opportunity and a chance to get involved with a European Global Citizenship project. It’s a chance to explore how you can embed Learning for Sustainability with a Global Citizenship focus into your subject area while working with like-minded peers. It’s a chance to network with colleagues in other parts of Europe and take part in international sharing meetings. The project is launching and January and we are currently looking for a small group of teachers to take part in the initial project activities.
This project will be delivered by 10 partner organisations across Europe and is only for secondary
schools and teachers. Activities are focussed on developing national, subject specific teaching materials (produced by teachers) and providing training to support Global Citizenship in key curriculum areas. There will be an overarching theme on how to explore controversial global issues (such as migration, refugees, climate change, etc) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within these activities. Teachers will have an opportunity to network with teachers from across Europe at international seminars and a conference.
Further activity is focused on work with pupils, supporting them to take action on local / global issues which are important to them. The young people will raise awareness within their local communities about the SDGs and other current issues which are important to them. The impact of this work will be evaluated specifically using specially developed participatory impact assessment tools.
A final strand of the project looks at creating a supportive environment for teachers to develop this work and advocating for the importance Education for Global Citizenship.
In the first year of the project Scotdec will recruit 2-3 teachers from the following curriculum areas: Maths, Science, MFL, English and Social Subjects. The teachers will work within these groups to identify opportunities for developing Global Citizenship within their curriculum area and developing some support materials to exemplify this. The information below gives you an idea of what is involved. It is anticipated that the working groups will start in March / April 2018 and run for a year. There is financial remuneration available either to cover time out of school or personal time working on the project.
Main task of working groups:
Identify opportunities within your curriculum area to include GC with a particular focus on controversial issues and the SDGs
Develop general approaches guidance material for peers
Create, trial and revise 15-20 ready to use activities for peers to use in the classroom
In years 2 and 3 of the project there will be a role out of training and the materials. Teachers from the working group will have an option of leading professional learning with colleagues during this role out. This includes becoming a mentor for teachers participating in online learning programmes. If you are interested in finding out more about the project and to register your interest, please contact charlotte@scotdec.org.uk
About Scotdec
Scotdec is a Global Learning Centre which has been supporting global citizenship education for
nearly 30 years.
Our vision
Our vision is that young people in Scotland are able and motivated to challenge global inequality – creating a fairer future for all.
Our values are based on a commitment to social justice and sustainable development and belief that people can bring about change.
We aspire to work in an inclusive and participatory way and have a creative and responsive approach to learning.
Our work
Scotdec staff work towards our vision by providing quality professional learning opportunities and resources to support global citizenship across all sectors of education. We gather evidence to demonstrate the social and educational value of global citizenship to educators and policy-makers across Scotland.
Our team
Scotdec has a small but very professional staff team with many years of experience. Our professional Learning Advisers are all qualified teachers and youth workers supported by financial and administrative expertise built up over many years. Our management committee are dedicated to ensuring that Scotdec is a professional and effective organisation, supporting global citizenship in Scottish education.