World Issues Survey Conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Geographical Association February 2009

World Issues SurveyConducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Geographical Association

February 2009

Contents

In this summary report:

– Background & methodology

– What young people think is important

– What young people learn at school

– Learning about the wider world

– Key findings

Background & methodology

Background

The Geographical Association commissioned research with 11-14-year-olds to inform its role to promote geography.

The aim of the GA’s 2009 manifesto programme A Different View is to restate and reaffirm geography’s place in the school curriculum.

GA wished to understand what drives interest in the subject amongst pupils at Key Stage 3, and what issues they would like to learn about.

The research examined the issues that Key Stage 3 pupils think are important and whether they feel they are learning about them. It explored:

- The wider world issues that pupils think are important

- Whether or not they have learnt about/discussed them at school

- The lessons in which they have learnt about/discussed them

- The importance they attach to learning about these issues

Methodology

Results are based on 598 interviews carried out face-to-face with young people aged 11-14 years old in England; fieldwork ran between 15 and 22 January 2009

Results are based on all respondents unless otherwise stated

Base sizes are shown in brackets

Where results do not sum to 100, this may be due to multiple responses, computer rounding or the exclusion of don’t knows/not stated

An asterisk (*) represents a value of less than one half or one percent, but not zero

Data are weighted to gender, age and region

What young people think is important

What young people think is important Young people age 11-14 most commonly mention Crime and anti-social

behaviour (61%) as affecting the area where they live. Young people in GORs* West Midlands (70%) and South East (68%) are more likely to flag this than their peers in GORs East (52%) or London (50%)**.

This issue is also more likely to be mentioned by young people in school Years 8-10 (65%) than those in Years 6 and 7 (53%). By social class, C1 young people are more likely to mention it than ABs (64% versus 52%).

Overall, Economy and jobs (37%) is the second most frequently mentioned local issue, but is significantly more likely to be mentioned by young people in GORs East Midlands and West Midlands (46% and 51% respectively) than by those in GORs North East (23%), Yorkshire (30%) or South West (18%)**.

No other issue is mentioned by over 15% of young people. Environment and climate change (14% overall) is more likely to be

mentioned in London (25%) and the East Midlands (20%) than in the North West (8%), East (7%) or South West (7%)**.

* Government Office Region; ** Indicative finding: some small base sizes

What young people think is important The picture is much more mixed when young people consider the issues

affecting the world, although Crime and anti-social behaviour (45%) is once again the most cited. Young people in the North East, North West, West Midlands and South West are much more likely to say this than their peers elsewhere. For example, well over three in five young people in the North East mention this issue (67%) compared with less than one in five (18%) in GOR East**.

Differences also emerge by social class (52% in AB and 51% in DE versus 41% in C1C2).

War and terrorism (44%) replaces Economy and jobs (41%) as the issue in second position overall, with War and terrorism particularly top of mind in the South East (64% compared, for example, to 28% in the North West and 32% in Yorkshire)**. Mentions of Economy and jobs is highest in the West Midlands and London (58% and 55% versus, for example, 18% in the South West)**.

As with War and terrorism, Environment and climate change (34%) and Poverty and hunger (32%) are seen to be much greater problems globally than locally.

61%37%

14%12%

8%6%6%

5%4%4%4%

1%

Crime and jobs the big issues locally

Crime and anti-social behaviour

Base: 598 children aged 11-14 years old in England, 15-22 January 2009

Which of the following issues, if any, do you think are the main issues affecting the area where you live at the moment? Please choose up to three.

Economy and jobsEnvironment and climate changeHealth and illnessPopulation growth and migration

The future of water, oil and gasWar and terrorism

Poverty and hunger

Wildlife conservationTransport and world travelExtreme acts of nature

Other 3%

None of these 9%

Don’t know 10%Inequality and discrimination

45%44%

41%34%

32%13%13%

12%11%

6%4%4%

Crime, war and economy big globally



Which of the following issues, if any, do you think are the main issues affecting the world at the moment? Please choose up to three.

Economy and jobsEnvironment and climate change

Health and illness

Population growth and migration

The future of water, oil and gas

War and terrorism

Poverty and hunger

Wildlife conservation

Transport and world travel

Extreme acts of nature Other 1%

None of these 1%


72%

54%

46%

38%

35%

Crime and economy most important issues combined



And which of the following issues, if any, do you think are the main issues affecting the area where you live/the world at the moment?

Economy and jobs

Environment and climate change

War and terrorism

Poverty and hunger

Combined local area/world issues: Top 5 mentions

What young people learn at school


Crime and anti-social behaviour (50%) and Environment and climate change (46%) are the issues most likely to have been learnt or discussed at school, followed by Poverty and hunger (32%), Economy and jobs (30%), and War and terrorism (28%).

Those aged 13-14 are generally more likely to have discussed wider world issues, such as crime and the environment, although this may be due to having been at school longer than younger pupils.

The environment is also significantly more likely to be discussed in the South West (62%) and South East (54%) compared to the North West (31%) and London (36%)**.

Over half of young people in GOR East have discussed poverty at school compared to a fifth of those in the West Midlands (51% versus 20%), while war is most commonly mentioned by young people in the South East (42%) and West Midlands (36%) versus 13% of young people in Yorkshire**.


Young people who have learnt about or discussed any of these issues at school are most likely to have done so in Geography (49%), followed by PSHE (30%), History (29%) and Citizenship (27%).

There are significant differences in the proportions of young people discussing these issues in Geography by:

– Year group: 57% of Year 8s and 52% of Year 9s, compared with 45% of Year 7s and 39% of Year 11s

– Social class: 59% in AB versus 44% in DE

Overall, young people aged 11-14 are most likely to expect to learn about these issues in Geography (42%), more so than for Humanities (31%), Citizenship (30%), or PHSE (28%).

50%46%

32%30%

28%26%

25%17%17%

16%13%13%

Issues learnt about at school



And which of these issues, if any, have you learnt about of discussed in school? Any others?

Economy and jobs

Environment and climate change

Health and illnessPopulation growth and migration

The future of water, oil and gas

War and terrorism

Poverty and hunger

Wildlife conservation

Transport and world travel

Extreme acts of nature

Other *%

None of these 7%


49%

30%

29%

27%

25%

17%

11%

Geography top subject for discussing issues

Geography

In which of the following subjects, if any, have you learnt about this issue/these issues? Any others?

Citizenship

PSHE

English

Science

History

REOther subjects below 10%

None of these 1%

Don’t know 3%

Base: 529 children aged 11-14 years old in England who have learnt about issues at school, 15-22 January 2009

42%

31%

30%

28%

26%

24%

18%

10%

Geography where discussing issues expected

Geography

In which of the following subjects, if any, would you expect to learn about these issues? Any others?

Citizenship

PSHE

English

Science

History

RE Other subjects below 10%

None of these 1%

Don’t know 10%Base: 598 children aged 11-14 years old in England, 15-22 January 2009

Humanities

Learning about the wider world


The majority (93%) of young people aged 11-14 think it is at least fairly important to learn about the issues affecting people’s lives in different parts of the world; 46% think it is very important.

Young people in social class AB (62%) are significantly more likely to think it is very important to learn about these issues (versus 44% in C1C2 and 38% in DE), as are pupils in Year 7 (53% versus 41% in Years 8-10).


Because a large majority (over 90%) of young people ‘agree’ it is important to learn about a range of wider world issues, it is more instructive to consider the relative proportions that definitely agree it is important to learn about them.

Young people aged 11-14 are most definitive about learning about how the world they live in may change in the future (59%), changes to the world around them and how they occur (56%), where resources, such as food, energy and water come from (52%), and – finally – people, societies and cultures in other parts of the world (49%).

Furthermore, young people in social class AB are generally more likely than those in other classes to definitely agree, e.g. 70% versus 49% in both C1C2 and DE regarding where resources come from.

Overall, two-thirds (63%) agree that not enough time is spent learning about the wider world in school, although only 19% definitely agree (a further 28% disagree). Agreement differs significantly by region with 78% in Yorkshire and 77% in the North West agreeing versus 44% in the North East and 45% in the South West**.

46%

47%

1%

2%5%

Learning about people’s lives elsewhere

Very important

Don’t knowNot very important

Fairly important

Not at all important

How important, if at all, do you think it is for people your age to learn about the issues affecting people’s lives in different parts of the world?


59

56

52

49

35

37

40

42

3

4

4

4

1

1

2

3

2

2

3

% Def. agree % Tend to agree % Tend not to agree Def. disagree % Don't know

Learning about future change

To what extent, if at all, do you agree or disagree with the following statements? It is important to learn/think about …


People, societies and cultures in

other part of the world

Where the things I use, such as food, energy and water,

come from

Changes to the world around me

and why they occur

How the world I live in may change

in the future

19%

44%

20%

9%9%

More time needed learning about wider world

Definitely agree

Don’t know

Tend not to agree

Tend to agree

Definitely disagree

To what extent, if at all, do you agree or disagree with the following statement? There is not enough time spent on learning about the wider world in school?


Key findings

Key findings Young people see Crime and anti-social behaviour as the most

important issue affecting either their local area or the world generally, followed by Economy and jobs. War and terrorism, Poverty and hunger, and Environment and climate change are also seen as more important issues globally.

Crime and the Environment are the subjects that young people are most likely to have learnt about/discussed at school.

Geography is the subject in which young people have most often learnt about/discussed these issues at school, and the one in which they most commonly expect to do so.

The great majority think it is important to learn about issues affecting different parts of the world, particularly how the world they live in may change.

Most young people think that not enough time is spent learning about the wider world in school.

Documents

World Issues Survey Conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Geographical Association February 2009