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Climate Change is becoming more and more prominent each year in Dublin. We see more extreme weather patterns such as storms, flooding and winds in the winter and much higher temperatures during the summertime. There have been numerous occasions where schools have had closures due to flooding, adverse weather conditions and snow and this is becoming more regular as time goes on. This impacts our local environment and also the education of our students.
I would begin by having the students in my classroom complete an energy use ‘audit’ in our school. Firstly identifying all of the ways in which we are wasting energy in the school and the coming up with proactive ways in which they could help to combat this. I would take the children into our local community to see if we can observe any impacts of Climate Change in the direct area. We would use resources such as photographic artefacts and google maps to identify any changes that have occurred in the area recently.
Firstly I would have my class create a biodiversity friendly area in our school garden (as suggested on the Green Schools website) where we allow nature to take control and for the space to be given a chance to go wild, we would plant trees and create log piles and possibly a small pond. This is a very proactive and child led way for the children to have an area they can regularly visit to observe how they are working towards combating climate change.
My class would create posters and a school-wide initiative where each class competes against each other to reduce their energy usage across the course of a week. At an assembly at the end of the week, each class could present the ways in which they reduced their energy usage.
We would start a ‘waste free’ lunch campaign to reduce the level of food waste in our classroom. The children could create a presentation and talk to the principal about why this would be a great school-wide initiative.
Hi Alison, I love the idea of having an eco team within the school who take ownership of pushing forward initiatives to make a better school community. I suspect the same issue may occur with our rubbish and recycling bins in our school so I will be taking this forward to our principal in September!
Upon researching the support of refugees in my community I came across an amazing initiative by a local Secondary School. A student watched a documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh following the life of a refugee in Ireland. The school then invited the director and the main character to their school for a screening and q&a. It has shown that this was incredibly moving for the students in the school and really demonstrated to them that no matter where someone has come from, we are all ultimately the same. Allowing this open dialogue and communication for children directly with someone who’s lived experience is one as a refugee is invaluable.
As a school which has a number of students who are refugees we work to create an inclusive and inviting school community. Including their native language in signage and posters, having the student teach a bit of their native language to the class and reading dual-language storybooks so they feel included and valued are just a few examples. It is imperative to embrace different cultures and all they can offer to our school community. A way in which our school community could be welcoming towards refugees would be to make posters and signs for our local shops, businesses and parks that are welcoming and inviting. Letting the people who visit our area know that everyone is welcome!
Orla, this story about the pupil in 6th class in your school is truly inspirational and moving! As others have commented it really is a testament to how resilient (although they shouldn’t need to be) children are when faced with adversity. I have no doubt that this child will go on to have a fulfilling and special life ahead.
Hi Claire, I really like your idea of getting the children to research where their clothes come from. It is so important for us to educate children on the background of how their clothes are made and come to be. I like that this can focus on local businesses and their level of sustainability but also where the close we dispose of go worldwide.
I would choose to have the children work on the topic of Climate Change in response to Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. This topic is very prevalent to all students as we see the impact of Climate Change in our day to day lives. The students are constantly hearing about topics such as global warming, greenhouse gases, rising sea levels, melting ice caps and so on. I think it is important for them to truly understand the impact of Climate Change in their own personal lives and what we can do to help prevent this.
I would begin the series of lessons by using a book/video demonstrating the different ways in which we see Climate Change happening throughout the world. I would then get the children to work on a hands-on research project where they observe the weather we are currently experiencing and compare and contract how this is different to in the past. I would split the children into groups and have them choose a country to research the impact of Climate Change in that area.
In order to support the SDGs in Ireland in support of ESD to 2030 Priority Action Area 5: Accelerating Local Level Actions, we could work as a class to create our own school garden, gain a green schools flag, conduct school-wide research into the modes of transport most popular within the school and even organise school wide events encouraging children to find alternative, more energy efficient ways to travel to school. I think it is important for the work to be action based and led by the students themselves.
Hi Ciara, I definitely agree with you that these stereotypes are ingrained and assumed by children and it is important for us to challenge this. I noticed the same pattern with a lot more boys signing up for STEAM club in my school too. I agree with your point about it being important for us to show photographs and evidence of people of all genders doing jobs they might believe are Moreso for ‘boys’ or ‘girls’ to challenge this.
I feel really privileged to be able to say that my school community as a whole is one that really works to combat gender stereotypes within our classrooms. That said, I can recall an incident in my Senior Infant classroom where during a dress-up day one of the boys decided to wear an Elsa dress as he loves the movie Frozen. The class in general embraced him with excitement and complimented his beautiful dress but one girl in the class stated that he should not be wearing a dress because he is a ‘boy’. This was not coming from a place intended to cause harm or hurt but instead demonstrated how deeply gender stereotypes are ingrained in children from a young age.
From this point I continually reinforce challenging gender stereotypes in our classroom through role play, storybooks, dress up, classroom job roles and open conversations. I particularly love using the little people, big dreams books in my classroom to show the children all of the amazing women in history and their achievements.
This module really demonstrated some great development education methodologies which can be implemented in order to combat stereotypes within the classroom. I particularly liked the use of ICT, hands on resources such as photographs and props, artistic approaches such as posters and action based activities such as assemblies or speaking to the principal. These methodologies really allow the children to take ownership of their own learning.
Hi Harriet, I really love the key rules of looking after ‘yourself, nature and each other’ in your ‘Nature Explorers’ programme. I think this really demonstrates how easily you can help the younger children to develop their understanding of the concept of global citizenship. I will definitely be researching this for my future class.
I found the paper ‘The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World’ (Ehigie, 2021) a really insightful and eye-opening demonstration of what exactly Global Citizenship is and what this looks like in our society today. I really liked the quote ‘We, as human beings, are truly bound to one another, and the job of the global citizen is to recognise this, find their place in today’s world, and see where they can use their unique abilities to improve it for those who are less fortunate’ (Ehigie, 2021). This simply encapsulates what it really means to act in Global Citizenship and why it is important.
As educators it is imperative for us to include Development Education and activities in our classrooms to ensure that the future generations of adults are firstly aware of the issues in the wider world such as poverty, gender inequality, humanitarian need, climate crisis and racism but to name a few but also understand their role as global citizens. I think it is important for us to give students ownership over their own education, providing them with the structure and resources to research and consider causes they feel passionate about and to work together to think of ways they act as global citizens.
As a teacher, at times it can feel overwhelming and almost impossible to cover all of the topics and areas across the different curricular areas. I think I would try to encourage colleagues to plan development education activities by showing them how easily and cohesively this aligns with the SESE and SPHE curriculum. The resources and lessons signposted in this module would be really beneficial for colleagues in order to show them how easily this work can be integrated. In particular, I would guide them towards the ‘Irish Aid’ resources as these are really well laid out and accessible for all teachers. Having Development Education integrated into the School Self Evaluation would aid in making Development Education a core aspect of our school.
Ehigie, E (2021) ‘The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World’, Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, Vol. 33, Autumn, pp. 135-144.
