DIVERSASIA - Best practices

Battlefront (www.battlefront.co.uk) is a cross-platform resource commissioned by Channel 4 Education and produced by Raw Television. A growing number of schools are using Battlefront to foster active citizenship amongst their student community. Context: Battlefront follows the lives of 20 teenagers who are driven by a passion for change. The teenagers embark on a process of campaigning using resources such as the internet to promote their individual issues and to gather support. Young people viewing the project on and offline are encouraged to get involved through online social networking and sharing sites, such as Facebook, Bebo, Flickr and YouTube. Method for inclusive practice: The Battlefront content, including videos and campaign blogs, can be used to stimulate discussion on the purpose of active citizenship as well as to encourage learners’ participation in their own campaigns – in or out of school. Focus of inclusive practice: The educational goals of this project are diverse. Firstly, it offers the opportunity for viewers to understand the issues the young campaigners are raising. Secondly, it also aims to enable young people to learn more about campaigning as a process and how to use social software resources to support campaigning. Level of success: A recent teacher workshop facilitated by Futurelab collected the following remark from a teacher regarding the use of Battlefront in her classroom: “The powerful aspect is its real-life authenticity. Our young people in schools can see what other young people are up to and that you can bring about a real change and you can have a voice.”