Introduction JTS’ Fair Trade education resources

What you’ll find in this section of our website is the outcome of joint work between JTS and the School of Education at Glasgow University.

The team at GU wrote:
‘There is a compelling rationale for the development of educational activities such as those already promoted by Just Trading Scotland (JTS). This rationale can be constructed on a number of grounds; in relation to curriculum, policy and pedagogy, and more profoundly, from an ethical standpoint. In each category there are strong contemporary steers at national level that schools may respond to.
Two of the four underpinning values of Scottish education are Justice and Compassion, also enshrined in the Scottish Parliament’s Mace. By exploring issues of fair trade in the context of the work of JTS, pupils are able to learn about these values.’

Perhaps more significantly, JTS products and resources provide opportunities for pupils to take action in relation to these values.

What you will find on these pages is principally focussed on the partnership that JTS has been building up with rice farmers in Malawi. We believe that the stories of the farmers, of how the introduction of rice as a new crop has changed their lives, and of their and our struggle to find assured markets for kilombero rice, will help students know and understand more about the lives of people in Malawi, about the plight of millions of smallholder farmers across the world, about the logistics of international trade and about the benefits of fair trade.

As time goes on we will be introducing new material about other crops and other groups.
We also hope shortly to introduce an award scheme for schools who find this approach helpful.
For the moment we hope you will use the material here freely and share with us your ideas and experiences.

The JTS Team