Development Education at University Level in Slovakia: Experiences and Challenges

This paper describes the context of global and development education in Slovakia through the implementation of a curriculum development project (titled ‘Capacity-building of human resource for health in Slovakia for international development aid’ (CABIS-IDA)), which was developed using innovative teaching and learning strategies. Participants in the training programme reported a high level of learning and provided important feedback on appropriate adult centred teaching methods. The project proved the necessity to include development and global education in formal education within the universities in Slovakia. The content of the programme was piloted and supported participatory teaching methods, which are new to the teaching culture of the country. The outcomes of the project show that the traditional paternalistic teaching philosophy and methods used in Slovak universities create serious obstacles to introducing global education into university teaching. Persisting cultures hamper the development of curricula that could more closely explore current global challenges to development and promote critical innovative thinking among students.