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I very much like the ideas you have shared Anthony of engaging children directly with taking climate action through planting, clean ups, Tidy Towns. I definitely agree that utilising the deposit return scheme as a teaching tool has the capacity to achieve several positive goals – encourage & increase rates of recycling, fundraising for school projects and community engagement.
The SDG that probably will resonate most especially with children on both local and global levels is SDG 13 on Climate Action. It is becoming increasingly obvious and evident that the impacts of human-caused climate change are being felt everywhere and it is essential that we educate our children about what is happening, why it is happening and what steps we as individuals, schools, communities, nations and a planet can take. There is little evidence to date of top-down impetus to meaningfully address climate change – governments are paying generous lip service but they do not seem to be prepared to take the necessary action. The ongoing focus on economic growth as the only valuable measure of a state’s success speaks to a worrying disconnect between those in power and the general populous. Our job as teachers will have to include clearly educating children on the inter-connectedness of the planet on all matters climate. This may involve having to encourage children to question the lifestyles them may lead for example. Having taught in a school in a relatively affluent area, it was not uncommon to hear of multiple foreign trips for families in the course of a year or high levels of material consumption. It is increasingly likely that the catalyst for behavioural change by adults will have to be ignited by children and as teachers, we will have to play a role in helping children to navigate such issues in a sensitive, understanding but very honest way.
This is very interesting Keelin and I will certainly be borrowing your ideas and suggestions about how to ensure children have the opportunity to engage in all kinds of play, regardless of gender. The cultural gender stereotyping is not an issue I have encountered explicitly yet but it is good to be aware that this is a further aspect of a sensitive issue that may need to be addressed in the years to come. Thank you.
Gender stereotypes present unfortunately regularly in school, in my experience. Even in mixed-gender schools, I have observed that children primarily divide along gender lines when it comes to free-play periods, whether that be within the school day or at break/lunch time. I have noticed that younger infants are a little more likely to play together in the yard but that by the time most have reached senior infant stage, the ‘norm’ has developed that boys play with boys and girls with girls, almost exclusively. Despite this being addressed in formal classes such as PE so that groups are constituted with a mix or balance of girls and boys, the practice rarely extends to the playground when the adult influence is removed. I am genuinely unsure of how to address this challenge as I also don’t adhere to the idea of adults determining with whom a child/group of children should play in their own time. What I have observed is that where children do upend the gender norms and gravitate towards children of the opposite gender for play, is that this is positively received and is supported. This is an absolute necessity for teachers and undertaking the development education module and delivering development education to children is an effective way to understand why this is so important, and how teachers can play a crucial role.
Ehigie’s article is a very interesting read in that it gives great insight from an author with firsthand experience of how Ireland has been changing in recent years. I have long subscribed to the ideas that we are all linked as neighbours across the planet and that it is vital for people to take an interest in and to learn about not just what happens in their own state, but in all countries around the world. When we consider the climate crisis, in particular, it is essential that we recognise that the impact of poor and failed policies will not be confined to national borders or frontiers.
It is, in my opinion, essential that children are taught about the inter-connectivity of the world’s systems and about how taking responsibility for actions includes recognising that actions taken in the global north or industrialised countries can have devastating consequences for the global south, and ultimately the global north also. As Ehigie observes: “… it is individuals who manufacture the systems, and those same
individuals, with the conscience and moral vigour they develop from self-reformation, can amend those systems…”.The status quo will never change if we do not engage children and young people in an honest discussion about how the world operates. In ways it is more difficult to teach children who are part of education systems operating in wealthier countries (notwithstanding how the resources of such states are used) to appreciate the lived experiences of those in other, less industrialised countries. It can also be difficult to navigate engaging with children of more affluent societies about the historical practices and injustices that have led to the creation of an unequal and imbalanced world.