World Perspectives Conference 2022

We were delighted to welcome Aisha Thomas of Representation Matters Ltd as the keynote speaker for our World Perspectives Conference 2022.

The theme of this year’s conference was anti-discrimination. As a passionate educational activist with a particular interest in race and anti-racist practice, she educated, coached and inspired our students with their thinking about some of the key issues facing our society.

Afterwards the students fed back:

“The speaker was amazing, (I think one of the best we have had) and it really served as a great introduction to what we had to do in the project.”

“I think she was an amazing speaker and talked about the topic in a very interesting and engaging way. She also perfectly introduced the main theme of the day and I learnt a lot.”

After the talk students were given a problem solving task. They researched and assessed diversity and inclusion in politics, criminal justice, the arts, sports and education. They looked at what has been done to reduce discrimination and improve inclusion and diversity to date, evaluated how effective this has been, and put forward a strategy of equitable solutions to improve the situation further, with intersectionality a key consideration. Students then presented their ideas as a marketable and coherent strategy using a range of media. 

“The World Perspectives course is designed to be dynamic, forward-looking and progressive. The course develops over time and is non-prescriptive in its approach to content, pedagogic method and assessment. A key benefit of this is that it can respond in real time to current affairs and global issues, from refugees to anti-racism. The foundations and principles of 21st century learning are at the heart of the World Perspectives course, and influence all subjects and teachers,” said Laura Leicester, Head of Global Education and the conference organiser. 

The Conference is the culmination of the two year course and an opportunity for Year 11 students to demonstrate and celebrate the skills they have learnt over the previous two years. The course is a collaborative venture between the History, Geography, RS, Economics and Politics, and Classics Departments, at Latymer. 

The course is unique to Latymer Upper School and has UCAS accreditation. All students in Years 10 and 11 take the WP course alongside their GCSEs. Over two years students develop key skills including: 

• Critical and creative thinking 
• Problem Solving
• Independent and collaborative learning 
• Communication skills 
• Digital Literacy
• Research, referencing and enquiry skills 
• Reflection

To find out more about our World Perspectives course click here to watch this video from a previous conference.

Author: Karen Dove