Development Education
Development education is the process of increasing knowledge and providing opportunities for people in the UK and developing countries to take an active role in addressing the issues of poverty and vulnerability which prevent disadvantaged children from realising their potential.
At Plan we believe development education should be a priority and have recently created an entire website devoted to it - www.plan-ed.org - where you can find out more about our projects and access in-depth educational resources.
The aim of our development education projects is to get young people across the world communicating with each other, to gain the necessary knowledge to change things for the better.
Our projects can be used by everyone. We produce UK National Curriculum lesson plans from each project, ensuring as wide an audience as possible benefits from our work.
Current Projects
Shoot Nations 
Plan teamed up with Shoot Experience this summer to launch a global competition to encourage young people to express their thoughts on issues of power, control and participation through photography and drawings.
The competition was launched internationally in June and nearly 1,000 young people took part. The winning images were presented to the UN on international Youth Day 2007 and a touring exhibition of the entries will visit five different cities during September 2007.
Plan will organise workshops for young people in each participating city to enable them to air their views and engage with local decision-making groups.
Competition winners and more information
www.shootnations.org
Past projects
Make the Link, Break the Chain connected schools along the former triangular slave trade route. Pupils from Brazil, England, Haiti, Senegal and Sierra Leone worked together using the web to explore questions about freedom and slavery.
http://www.plan-ed.org/learningcentre/antislavery/
Togo: making choices has been designed to help UK children explore the ideas of needs, choices and fairness whilst learning about the lives of children in Togo.
http://www.plan-ed.org/learningcentre/togo/
Real life in Ghana explored similarities and differences between life in the UK and in Ghana through internet diaries from two groups of students in North London and Ghana.
http://www.plan-ed.org/learningcentre/ghana/
Real people, real lives looks at comparing the way children live in the UK to life in Ethiopia. Based around the use of the interactive ‘Big Book’ this resource for 5–8 year olds provides a stimulating insight to life in another country, through the eyes of young people.
http://www.plan-ed.org/learningcentre/ethiopia/
Speak out on Africa introduces the continent of Africa and encourages pupils to think about how their voice could facilitate change there. The work is an introduction to youth advocacy.
http://www.plan-ed.org/learningcentre/speakoutonafrica/
A Global Identity was an innovative online education project allowing students in the UK, Africa and the Philippines to develop a global understanding of the importance of their identity and the rights and responsibilities that go with it.
http://www.planidproject.net/
Each project comes with carefully planned lesson notes with clear curriculum links and photocopiable activity sheets. There are also supplementary photo, video and audio materials to bring the topics to life. All our resources are designed to help develop key skills in discussion, presentation, critical thinking and problem solving.
Other Development Education projects include:
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