Leeds Council - Leeds to Brno Education Visit
Leeds City Council led a group of teachers to Brno, Czech Republic, this May, to strengthen collaboration between the two cities on the international dimension of education. The eight teachers travelled to Brno to learn how international partnerships can bring the global dimension of the curriculum to life. They met their Czech counterparts and worked together to develop action plans to take forward their school partnerships.
The visit builds upon partnership work between the two cities which sees student exchanges, teacher professional development and cross-curricula working on international themes. Leeds now has 9 schools with partner institutions in Brno, and this number continues to grow.
The project builds upon the international work done by Leeds City Council to encourage schools to include the global dimension in the curriculum and to internationalise their young people. This process of internationalisation is particularly important within a city such as Leeds which, while ethnically and culturally diverse, still retains areas of exclusive ethnic backgrounds for whom racial and cultural understanding has not yet been achieved. The partnerships offer young people the chance to experience first hand cultural and ethnic differences and gain a greater understanding of their overseas partners, helping to counter the lack of such contact and learning within their own communities.