TY Business :Global Education

TY Business :Global Education

Transition Year students are taking a close look at globalisation in Business class. This is part of the WorldWise Global Schools Programme. Students are identifying how and why a business becomes ‘global’ and the resulting cultural impacts this has on different countries. While the consumer can often benefit from globalisation, does that mean that everybody involved benefits?

Linked with globalisation, students then progress on to the study of Fairtrade and why it is so important to choose these products where possible. While most of us will recognise the Fairtrade sticker on some of the products we consume, what exactly does this mean and who is it benefitting and how? Transition Year students are looking at case studies and videos of families and communities whose lives have been radically changed as a result of the Fairtrade movement.

Moving on to sustainable development and the environment, Transition Year students ask themselves what they do that impacts the environment in a positive or indeed negative way. Calculating our carbon footprint is an interesting experiment that highlights our own personal impact on the Earth. Students will record the overall tonnes of CO2 they con

sume each year then identify areas where the footprint is heaviest and whether consumption of goods and services in these areas represents the satisfaction of needs or wants. They then will make suggestions on how to improve their results for the next time they do the calculation.

Students also study the concept of ‘Fast Fashion’ and the ethical and sustainability concerns associated with the fashion industry. How can the fashion industry become more sustainable and whose lives are affected in the fashion chain? Students have the option of tweeting a photo of the label on an item of clothing and asking the brand in question #whomademyclothes on Fashion Revolution Day.

Students will combine their coding education previously undertaken this year and create a Transition Year Business website highlighting the global issues they have studied.Each student will include a country fact file section on a developing country which explores the relationship between these countries and Ireland, economic data such as imports and exports and industries as well as relevant geographical and historical data. Hopefully these websites will be an exciting resource for future Transition Year students.