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I agree Elaine, having completed this module it has really helped me reflect on my own practice in my classroom, little tings where we are unconsciously embedding gender stereotypes. Small changes in future teaching will make a big difference. I completed a Summer course a couple of years ago on LGBT+ and it really opened up my eyes to how we as teachers represent gender identity, it has changed my teaching where I hope I am more inclusive and mindful, and this module has further reinforced this.
Gender stereotypes can begin to shape children’s perceptions of themselves and others from a very early age. These ideas are often unconsciously reinforced at home and can become further embedded during a child’s early school experiences. During my time as a primary school teacher particularly in the junior end, I observed how certain play choices tended to align with traditional gender roles. For example, many of the girls gravitated towards the dolls and home corner, while the boys were more inclined to play with cars, diggers, and construction toys. Some boys didn’t like to be part of any group that had a pink theme and the girls also didn’t want to choose blue for different activities. It feels as if the pink and blue ideal is firmly ingrained before the children even enter school, a clear indication that gendered perceptions of gender stereotypes were already taking root. While not true of every child, these patterns were noticeable and concerning.
Introducing Development Education (DE) at the Junior Infant level could be a powerful step towards challenging and reshaping these early stereotypes. DE encourages inclusivity, respect for diversity, and critical thinking, even at a young age. By embedding messages of equality, fairness, and representation into early learning experiences, we can begin to shift pupils’ understanding of what is considered ‘normal’ or acceptable for boys and girls.
I would try to involve promoting open-ended play where all children are encouraged to engage with a wide variety of toys and roles, regardless of gender in my class. Storybooks featuring diverse characters, classroom discussions around fairness, and modelling inclusive behaviour are also a method I would use in my class, as they all contribute to an environment where children feel free to explore their interests without fear of judgment. I would move away from segregating children according to gender, for example I would have mixed lines, and mixed teams in sport. Over time, this approach can lead to more inclusive, balanced experiences and help foster greater self-confidence, empathy, and mutual respect among pupils.I completely agree, embedding Development Education in the classroom is essential. Teaching global issues like climate change, inequality, and human rights through a variety of subjects and practical and active methods like debates allows pupils become empathetic, informed, and critically engaged global citizens, whilst becoming aware of current global issues taking place today.
I completely agree, embedding Development Education in the classroom is essential. Teaching global issues like climate change, inequality, and human rights through subjects and active methods like debates helps pupils become empathetic, informed, and critically engaged global citizens.
Ehigie (2021), in “The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World,” explores the vital role global citizenship plays in building a more sustainable and interconnected world. The paper calls on individuals to become more conscious of global issues and to take responsibility through sustainable actions that benefit society as a whole.
In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving world, Development Education (DE) is more important than ever. It empowers pupils with the skills and understanding needed to address pressing global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change. DE fosters critical thinking, nurtures empathy, and promotes an awareness of the world’s diverse cultures—qualities essential for nurturing responsible and informed global citizens.
In my classroom, I would embed DE across a range of subjects: In Science, I would incorporate topics such as environmental sustainability and climate action. In SPHE, I would explore human rights, equality, and global responsibility. In Geography, pupils would study a variety of countries, engaging in research, presentations, and collaborative projects. I would also organise multicultural days, giving children the opportunity to share their heritage and learn from one another.
Beyond the classroom, I would propose dedicating a Croke Park hour to Development Education. This would encourage collaborative planning among staff and provide time to create DE-focused resources. I would also invite a guest speaker to offer expert insights and inspire further engagement with global learning.Research question
What are some ways we could help the environment by reducing our carbon footprint when traveling to school?Firstly, we could brainstorm some ideas together, such as walking or cycling to school, taking public transportation, or carpooling with friends.
The children could create a chart or graph to compare the carbon footprint of different modes of transportation. The children could have the research the average amount of emissions produced by cars, buses, trains, and planes per passenger mile, and then create a visual representation of the data. This could be a fun and interactive way to learn about the environmental impact of different modes of transportation.
The children could do a survey of how all the families in the school currently to school. They could deliver their research finding of the emissions from all the different modes of travelling to school. There could be a whole school approach whereby walking to school and cycling and carpooling are promoted. The children could then repeat the survey several week later and see if there has been a reduction in the overall carbon footprint of the school.
Question 3- Having gone through the resource Nose high to the sky, I think this is a great set of lessons, which will help the children see with relationship between space and earth, and identify how they relate to one another. It allows the children to see different angles, and perspectives where they look at photos of the earth from observation satellites, photos taken from astronauts onboard the international space station, and also from the ground. They can look at these pictures and compare and contrast them. I think it will help the children see the importance of satellites in space, which allow us to watch over the earth. They will be able to see the advantages for each particular set of photographs. For example the observation satellite pictures allow you to see the atmosphere as well as the ground, gives you a different view of the Earth. Photographs from the ground are useful if you’re looking for something more specific like one building or one thing. Again, they will be able to identify that photos taken from space, give an entire picture if they wanted to look at an entire city or a desert this type of photography also allows you to monitor in area over a number of weeks and months and perhaps make predictions about weather. Overall I feel it is a very worth while resource that I would use in the classroom.
I agree Michelle I don’t think the video Home is age-appropriate for primary school children. However, I do feel that there is some vital and important information contained in the video that could be adapted and used in the classroom around class discussions on climate change. As you mentioned, I think it would be more effective to provide the children with manageable ways and ideas in which they can take on in their lives, and pass on to their families at home.
I found the information presented in module three very interesting. It really brought about the stark reality of climate change. I think the Home video might prove difficult for students, I would build up to it with some lessons where we had a talk and discussion on the main points of it. I think I would choose to show clips from the video of the main points instead of showing the video in full. I found the statements presented effective and I think they could be developed further with the children. Also, the Ted talk from Greta Humburg was thought provoking, it is very relatable for children, as she is similar in age and it really shows what a difference one person can make. I think, it would help to make the children feel empowered them where they feel that they can make a positive impact. This can be achieved with simple activities in the home, like turning off lights when not needed, recycling in the home and planting trees. I think the footprint calculator would be a good activity that the children might enjoy, and they could perhaps pass on some of the ideas and tips from the video to their families at home.
Activity 3: Climate reporters provide a variety of resources that make predicting temperature change engaging and exciting. There is a lot to explore in this topic and many skills to be drawn on as a class. To begin with, I would play the Paxi video as a visual and relatable starter for the topic. This would help the students familiarise themselves with the greenhouse effect while providing a simple and clear explanation of the greenhouse effect with lots of clear imagery. I also appreciated how the video ended with a positive outlook on how we can change our actions to help reduce the effect.
I would use the temperature predictor tool to show students how temperatures can increase in our local area and the factors considered when predicting future temperatures. I really enjoyed this task and believe it would make for an extremely engaging group project for senior classes.
You have given a great variety of activities, which has really got me thinking for my own classroom come September. I love the idea of integrating real-life challenges that require students to apply knowledge from various disciplines to find creative solutions. Through robotics projects, scientific experiments, coding activities, and engineering design challenges, students develop not only subject-specific skills but also essential competencies such as collaboration, communication, and adaptability. By embracing the holistic approach advocated in Liston’s paper, it allows for the creation of a dynamic learning environment that prepares students to tackle complex problems and thrive in an increasingly interconnected world.
I found so many resources in module one very helpful, and I will certainly be using them in my teaching next year, they offer great opportunities for children to advance their stem skills.
I found the videos that were provided, particularly useful when explaining the difference between weather and climate, very age-appropriate and user-friendly, and I think they would really appeal to primary school aged children.
The ESA Nose up high in the sky resource is a great programme of work that could be used over the course of a few weeks. It not only incorporates developing the children’s stem skills, but also integrates with literacy, numeracy active and practical learning. It provides the children with many opportunities to get outside to create and record and interpret results from the weather station. I think creating the weather station is very appealing and the children would get great enjoyment from it, whilst learning at the same time.
Activity two – Weather Detectives
I really liked this resource because it allowed the children to get outdoors. It is great that they can come up with their own weather devices by making them themselves from every day materials. It also allows them to get outdoors checking the rain,gauge, the wind speed and also the temperature using a thermometer.
Overall, I think the activities provided in module one have a great scope to be differentiated and altered slightly to suit many age groups. They not only provide opportunities for children to improve their stem skills also skills such as investigating monitoring, analysing recording, interpreting, which is very important, especially for the older classes.
