Generation Global's response to Coronavirus

At the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, we are redirecting our efforts globally to support the fight against Coronavirus. Our education programme, Generation Global, is offering existing students a safe space to interact with their global peers using our resources and online student dialogue forum. At the same time, we are hosting virtual dialogue circles for teachers across all the regions we operate in.

We are pleased to be working with UNESCO as a partner in the Global Education Coalition to support countries in scaling up their best distance learning practices and reaching children and youth whose education has been disrupted by the pandemic. Please follow the work of the Coalition on Twitter via #LearningNeverStops and here.

As part of these coordinated global efforts, Generation Global is taking the following action to support students to continue their education:

Supporting teachers

In these challenging times we know educators are under pressure to respond to nationwide school closures with a shift to online learning, in some cases with limited experience, guidance or resources, while also managing personal isolation. In our dialogue circles, educators can share their experiences, challenges, strategies and best practices to help other teachers

New online learning resources for students

Generation Global is responding swiftly to the changing situation by developing an interactive online student-centred pathway, so we can continue to provide students with a safe and inclusive space to interact with young people around the world using dialogue skills. To do this, we are simplifying our resources, increasing their relevance to the current climate, and introducing new topics on:

• misinformation,
• well-being,
• global citizenship, and building resilience.

We will do this with a focus on inclusion of students of different backgrounds and abilities, and poor access to technology by making our resources accessible, downloadable and, where possible, available on low bandwidth.

Teachers and students can also download our existing resources and teachers that are already engaged with the programme can continue to register their students with the digital dialogue forum.