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Hi Enda, I really like the idea of planting trees in the school community. Its a really nice idea and would be brilliant to get the kids involved in the process of planting and caring for the trees.
Climate change is having an increasingly negative effect on my local area through more frequent and intense weather events, sea levels rising and change in seasonal patterns. These events in turn are putting local biodiversity and the economy at risk.
It is important that as a teacher I get pupils engage in this issue and encourage them to become more environmentally conscious members of our school and local communities. Students could be motivated to engage in climate change activities by taking part in hands on activities such as a local climate impact field trip, a collaborative data analysis project on our local area and climate change or completing a project that highlights way we could become more environmentally conscious. In engaging in some of these activities, hopefully, the children would gain a deeper understanding on climate change and become a proactive citizen when it comes to climate issues.
3 actions our school/ children could do to make the world a better place and slow down the effects of climate change are:
1. Walk/ cycle/ scoot to school programme: encouraging students to take more energy efficient ways to get to school each day. In doing so, this reduces greenhouse gas emissions and promotes a healthy lifestyle.
2. School garden: having a school garden is a great way to help students learn about sustainable agriculture, composting and the importance of local food production. It highlights to the children how we could lower our carbon footprint by reducing the need to transport food.
3. schoolwide recycling programme: in our school we currently recycling, but I think by implementing a more comprehensive recycling programme it would encourage the students to become more sustainable. By promoting re usable items it teaches the children to become more environmentally conscious.
Hi Christine,
I really like your idea of a cultural day. Sounds like a great way to celebrate different backgrounds in the school/ class community. It would also be a great way for children to learn about other cultures and share their own culture with their peers.
Following some online research I found that there are quite a few organisations working with refugees in my local community. Some of these organisations I had heard of before and was familiar with the work they do, some organistations were new to me. A helpful resource I found while researching was the directory of migrant organisations and support groups in Dublin by the New Communities Partnership. It showed me lots of organisations in my area working with refugees.
In my school/ classroom we have had refugee children join us. Two things I did in my class I found really helpful in welcoming the children and making them feel safe.
EAL buddy: each class in my school has a nominated EAL buddy in class. Their job is to help children where English ins’t their first language. This can be from things like helping with spelling to playing oral language games linked to new words. The EAL buddy would also help the other children work through their EAL workbook that went through the basics from family, clothing, hobbies, etc. The EAL co-ordinator in my school would also take the children out with their buddies periodically to check in.
Classroom signs in their local language: in the past couple of years I have had a few students join from countries like Ukraine. A simple, yet very effective tool I found useful in helping these children feel welcome and safe in my class is, where possible, have labels/ signs in their home language around the class. These can be for things like the toilets, books, stationary, coat/bags area and lunch areas. If I couldn’t find a sign or label in their local language I often used a picture/ clip art to go along with the sign in English. I found this to be helpful in making the child feel welcome but also helping them in their transition in a new class/ school.
Hi Claire,
My school also has this issue of hot lunches going uneaten, and ultimately being wasted. Our green schools committee has tried tackling this before but the results we not great. On your post you gave some good ideas on things I could mention to my school in trying to promote less food waste. Thanks for the tips.
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Climate action (SDG #13) profoundly impacts children both locally and on a global scale. Here in Ireland, climate action efforts contribute to reducing pollution and creating healthier environments. This in turn has improved children’s overall well being and health. On a global scale, climate actions are helping to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. By addressing climate change, these efforts aim to secure a safer and more stable future for children worldwide.
As a teacher I can encourage students to take action to support SDG #13 by integrating environmental education into the curriculum I am teaching and foster a culture of sustainability in the classroom. Prior to starting this summer course I completed a course on creating multimedia resources in class to teach about climate change and sustainability. This course was highly informative and gave me lots of great ideas on websites and online resources I could use to teach about climate change and foster climate action in the classroom. By using these resources as well as resources highlighted in this module I feel that I can inspire the children in my class to make sustainable choices in their daily lives. As a teacher, I can also encourage the children to participate in climate action initiatives in our local area, empowering them to be proactive agents of change. This also aligns with ESD to 2023 priority action area 5 by fostering a sense of community and global citizenship in children and focusing on local level action.
Hi Barbara, I also enjoyed the video clip that focused on the children’s rights. Like you, I am looking forward to using the lesson plans available to help support me in teaching gender inequality and stereotypes.
It is very apparent that gender stereotypes may be affecting students already at a young age. Like many other posts in the forum, I have come across many scenarios where gender stereotypes are present, for example children playing with certain toys they perceive to be “boys and girls” toys.
In addition to this, in my years of teaching and creating and choosing resources I have found that gender stereotypes are present in the resources we use. For example, when I have found myself searching for a suitable image to go with a lesson I am planning on jobs/ occupations for example, more often than not gender stereotype images come up. An example of this being many pictures of male builders/ doctors/ etc where few women are portrayed in this role in the images available online. I have also found that in some textbooks/ pre made ppts, etc gender stereotypes are also portrayed in the images used.
Some possible ways development education methodologies could combat gender stereotypes could be facilitating open discussion about gender stereotypes and issues through discussion or debate, encouraging students and teachers to think critically about societal norms and stereotypes and showcasing role models in the classroom who have challenged traditional gender roles.
After reading ‘The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World’ by Eric Ehigie, it is clear that Development Education (DE) is of crucial importance in helping foster a sense of global citizenship and promoting equality and social justice. It encourages us to address global and local challenges as individuals and also puts emphasis on our shared humanity and interconnectedness.
As a teacher, I can include DE across many areas of the curriculum to promote critical thinking about social justice and global issues. It is a great way to encourage students to become more active not only in their local area but engage more with wider issues across the globe. It also helps students understand their roles as global citizens and motivates them to contribute positively to the world.
To encourage my colleagues to plan and use DE activities I could create a collaborative planning/ shared resource area in our school where teachers can create cross – curricular projects and resources that link to DE. The shared resource area would lighten the workload around the school, giving people access to a bank of resources they can use. This strategy may help embed DE into the school culture and curriculum in an effective way.