Investigating the impacts of Global Education curriculum on the values and attitudes of secondary students

Each year, World Vision and AusAID devote substantial resources to their educational programs. These initiatives include the production and dissemination of Global Education related instructional materials and the provision of professional learning for teachers. Given the substantial funds involved, it is important that we evaluate the effectiveness of such initiatives. Are they for example enhancing students’ knowledge and understanding of global issues? Do they have a positive impact on attitudes and values of students? Do they enhance students’ sense of self or personal identity? Do they make students more predisposed to support programs that seek to alleviate poverty in developing countries? And, do they promote active and informed global citizenship? The purpose of this study is to investigate how the study of Global Education impacts student knowledge, understanding, attitudes and values. The research reported here explores student attitudes and values using quantitative data extracted from a total of 521 pre- and post- questionnaires. The authors will discuss that, despite the anticipated positive effect of the Global Education program, the results revealed an element of intolerance in the students’ responses.