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Making the bins a competition is sure to work with kids. Any time we have classes competing against each other, they go all out. I could definitely see this working across a few areas!
Without a doubt, climate change is affecting our local area.
In agriculture, farmers are finding it harder to produce crops due to the extreme weather conditions arising from climate change.
Coastal erosion is affecting our beaches and local coastal walkways.
Within our school communities we can do many things to help improve the current situation.
I think
1) showing and incorporating the lessons highlighted in this module would be a great starting point. It’s hard to believe that Ireland is the worst country at climate action, we must do more and kids are always willing to do the right thing and carry the message home.
2) Reduce, reuse, recycle-continuing and expanding on this message, recycling all lunchbox materials, composting and having a bin monitor. We also take part in the Picker Pals initiative, keeping our locality clean by litter picking. Electricity monitor in classrooms, turning off lights and whiteboards when not in use.
3)Planting in the garden, passing on the message of sustainability and providing some of our own food.
Climate change is everyone’s problem, we all need to work together, in our school community and with the wider community.
Love the idea of students donating or offering things like sports equipment they do not use anymore to local refugee centres. This is a great idea.
In my community Tralee International Resource Centre support integration between local and international communities in Tralee, Co. Kerry.
They provide support services to asylum seekers, refugees and broader immigrant communities in Tralee by providing a drop-in facility and moderating inter-agency cooperation.
A few things we could do as a school to support them, possibly organise a centre worker coming to speak to the students and inform them of how they can help in the local community. We organise a zoom call and meet some people from different countries and cultures. Maybe as a class, make cards/letters for children who are availing of this service. Making some sort of link with the resource centre.
As others have said, finding out about other cultures in our community and having information days/celebratory days of the different cultures-food, traditions, sports etc
Anything that brings awareness of inequality and fairness to children in our classrooms.
I agree climate change is so important to look at. It is affecting so many lives at a structural level currently – access to roads, houses, education and healthcare are all be affected by extreme weather conditions and climate change. Definitely something that should be discussed and highlighted in the classroom.
Housing is an area that affects children and families at both a local and global level.
I think the lesson plans provided are a brilliant way of highlighting inequality to children.
There are so many active opportunities throughout the lessons, they are very engaging with visuals and videos and then the fun games provide opportunities for learning too.
I think getting children working in groups and getting turns to discuss homes in Ireland and how some people have access to housing but others do not. Discussions on how we can help and allowing the children the opportunity to think of ideas how we can help others. Possibly writing to local tds and maybe getting people working with local charities to come in and talk to the class.
I loved the musical chairs game, the step forward activity and building the tallest tower with unequal resources.
At a global level I loved the video of 100 people in the world and how this would really highlight to kids the inequalities that exist in our world. Maybe pairing with a school in another country and discussing how we are the same and how we are different.
Also working on projects about homes around the world, taking a cross curricular approach.
Writing letters to local tds about the housing issues and maybe asking a local politician to come in and discuss how we can help.
I will definitely be using the lessons from this module in the future and recommending them to my colleagues so we can address these topics at a whole school level and maybe discuss as part of our SSE.
I agree with the fact that books and tv often show gender stereotypes.
Fairy tales really highlight this-the princess always in need of help from the strong prince etc!
It is important that we as teachers try to educate our students -as Emma Watson said-“if not you, who?” and “if not now, when?”
Unfortunately gender stereotypes definitely still are prevalent in our classrooms.
Two years ago, when I was teaching Communion class, one of the girls in my class wanted to wear trousers to her Communion. She ended up wearing a dress. The same girl loves sports and plays a lot with the boys. I myself was similar to this in school, I always preferred playing with the boys as I loved sport. Thankfully my family and this young girls family totally encourage this, but why is it still deemed as sports and being tough are for boys and wearing dresses and enjoying art are for girls!
In reality, our school staff highlights the gender gap-the majority of teachers are women, very few men. If you can’t see it you can’t be it.
Thankfully lessons as shown in module 2 are a great way of introducing gender stereotype topics, educating them on equality for all children.
The YouTube video on women’s rights would be a great catalyst for discussion too. Projects and posters displayed around the school on the 41 kids human rights are brilliant ways of introducing it to the whole school community and opening up discussion.
SSE could involve using all the lesson plans across a period of time in all the classrooms, discussions in assembly, buddy systems with older kids working with younger kids, possibly visits from women in careers typically deemed for men and vice versa coming in for talks.
Development education is important across the board. As teachers and educators it is our duty to impart awareness to kids in our class and the wider school community.
Children love when things are fair-rules in the class, everyone being treated fairly and this generally follows suit when you discuss issues in our society.
Children often find it hard to understand why people would be treated unfairly due to where they live, colour of their skin, gender etc
Therefore it is so important that we nurture this from a young age.
Using the teacher handbook discussed in module 1 and the lesson plans provided is a great starting point and something to think about for SSE, every class picking a lesson from this and expanding on it. Involving parents and the wider school community, possibly picking a month in the year to highlight ‘Development Education’, projects, art work, a month or even a fortnight of celebration within the school community. It is all about taking action and getting the children active.
As was mentioned in the article it can be overwhelming when we try to overcome all the issues at a global level or even think how are we helping at a global level, but every action counts and hopefully bringing awareness to the children in our care will have a bigger impact, as they impart their wisdom in the local and wider community.
I agree group work could work so well here. Kids love the independence of researching themselves. When they discover their own facts on aquaculture and report back to the class, I find these facts stick with them a lot longer than any facts I will give them!! Projects including science, history, geography, art, literacy, sphe and maths, gives scope for every child to find their point of interest in aquaculture.
The online lessons and resources developed for the ARC are really child(and teacher!) friendly. I could definitely see myself using these as an introduction to aquaculture in the classroom. They have so many connections to various subject areas-geography, science, history, maths, literacy. Science, technology and engineering are all included throughout the various lessons and I think getting the kids involved and active within these lessons would really reinforce how important aquaculture is in our community. As a whole school project in SSE we could look at working towards a blue school award.
I love the idea that you adopt a patch of the beach to clean up and litter pick. Such a lovely idea. We are Picker Pals in our classroom and could definitely add something like this to our duties!
Sustainability is so important in today’s world. Children are becoming more aware of this and it is our job as educators to develop this further.
In my own classroom we have been using Picker Pals an initiative to encourage sustainability, recycling and protecting our environment. It has elements that touch on our beaches and protecting our sealife, encouraging children to litter pick and refrain from littering our environment and waters.
I think expanding on this through SPHE and SESE, encouraging questions, where does our food come from, how can we ensure that what we are eating had come from a sustainable source. Recognising labels, helping with the weekly shopping and discouraging food waste.
Children are always wanting to learn how to improve the environment and become more sustainable, hopefully adding topics on aquaculture to my teaching next year will improve and promote this.I also agree with the slide showing all the vitamins and minerals available in seafood bring a great visual for kids. It’s hard to believe that so many vitamins and minerals are readily available in seafood!
I also like the idea of the eye spy in the supermarket and think it is so important to reach children about food labels and their meanings. I often think many adults don’t understand or know all the meanings of certain food labels, so by educating the kids in our classroom, they can take that information home to their own households and develop knowledge around nutrition and seafood.Nutrition of Seafood in the Classroom
This is an area that personally I am very interested in. Even as a young child myself I was always interested in food, it’s origin and nutritional facts.
I have played sport from a young age myself and love to impart the importance of nutrition to young children.
I think generally kids want to do the right thing and eating healthily is one of those things. The more they know, the more likely they are to include seafood in their own diet.
I think bringing to the basics that protein is found readily in seafood and fish and that protein helps build and repair muscles and that muscle growth and repair is so important first for everyday healthy living and also if we want to be good at sport or athletic in any way. Also reminding children of brain function and the nutrients we need for this which are found readily in seafood also.
I often give kids in my own class an insight into my own lunch box which they love. A balanced lunch box could include some sources of protein. Myself, I like to have salmon or prawns at least twice a week. I love all types of seafood and try encourage kids where possible to increase their own intake. Living in a coastal region of Kerry and living on the island of Ireland, I think it is so important to educate kids on the nutritional value of seafood.
