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Hi Rachel,
I like your three ideas, particularly the tree planting initiative and feel I could implement this in our locality.
Climate change has had an impact in our local area in two ways. Firstly, an increase in storms and adverse weather conditions and secondly, an increase in flooding in certain parts of the locality that are beside the river. Children in our school are able to see for themselves that climate change has an effect on their lives. It is also important to teach that it affects peoples lives all over the world in different ways – some more severely than others. I would use the 5 lessons outlined in this module to teach about climate change as they have clear engaging activities and really clarify the necessity for actions to slow down climate change. 3 actions are as follows:
1. Have energy monitors in each classroom that rotate weekly whose role is to turn off light switches, plug out appliances, turn off the interactive whiteboard, make sure taps are turned off etc.
2. Have a whole school energy free 15 minutes once a week where we turn off all sources of energy
3. Place a big focus on reduce, reus, recycle – particularly on reusingFrom researching this topic I have discovered that there are two local organisations that work with refugees and people in need in my community. The first is Saint Vincent de Paul. This organisation does fantastic work in the community – providing food, clothes, energy vouchers etc. for people. It also provides services that check in on refugees and elderly people. There is also a direct provision centre in my local area. A group of teachers volunteer in the centre a few times a week teaching English to the adults. This is something that I personally would love to get involved in in the coming school year. As a school we can help out the local Saint Vincent de Paul by holding an open day for refugees where people can meet with our students and parents and celebrate different cultures. This could be done as part of Intercultural Week that we celebrate every year. In this we invite parents and family members in to the school and celebrate the diverse cultures through food, dance, stories etc.
I too agree with your points above and have seen some children become anxious about climate change and global warming. Great idea to give parents a heads up.
The Sustainable Development Goal that I have chosen is Goal 13 Climate Action. This Goal is vitally important as climate change, global warming and issues of pollution etc. has an effect on everyone and we all need to work together as a global community to solve this issue. I would encourage students to take action firstly by using the resources from this course to educate children on what Climate Action is and how it can be done, starting with simple things that we do in our day to day lives at home and at school eg. Saving energy, saving water. We would continue to implement the Green Flag in our school and encourage all children to get involved. At a local level, we could link up with the local Tidy Towns committee and link in with local organisations responsible for climate action and climate change. We could also invite in guest speakers to talk to the children about these issues.
From Junior Infants right up to 6th Class I believe that gender stereotypes can be very evident in our schools. From younger children playing with separate ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ toys to older children playing separate ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ games on yard – eg. Boys playing soccer and girls playing volleyball. I believe that Aistear and how this is facilitated can have a very positive impact on younger children and challenge their beliefs on gender stereotypes. A situation that I have often seen in the classroom and throughout the school is asking for ‘strong boys’ to do jobs that involve lifting things, moving tables and chairs etc. As teachers, and often without meaning to, we an play into these gender stereotypes, so it is vital that we are self-aware and discourage things that enable these stereotypes. To teach about gender inequality I would use a lot of discussion based activities to challenge children’s thoughts. I would also use the fantastic lessons outlined in this module.
I found ‘The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World’ to be very insightful. The author gives a very interesting account into his experience of growing up in Ireland and his outlook on racism. Development Education is absolutely vital to include in our classrooms. We live in a modern, diverse Ireland, however often children in our schools can be unaware of development education issues, particularly Global ones. I would teach Development Education through SESE, SPHE and English subjects. In History lessons children can learn about key people throughout history that have made significant changes for equality and rights for others. In Geography, we can teach about different parts of the world and different issues people face in these parts, water, education rights etc. In SPHE we can look at morals and challenge the injustices that are faced in the world. I have taught some of the Global Goals lessons and have shared them with colleagues in my school. I found them to be fantastic and the children really learned from them. In English, children can read novels relating to Development Education for example ‘I Am Malala’.
Hi Dareca,
I really love the idea of ‘Adopt a patch of beach’! This is something that I can suggest in my local community.
There is a big emphasis on sustainability in our school. The following is a list of initiatives that take place in our school to educate the children on and promote sustainability:
- Green Schools – we have achieved a number of Green Flags and have an active Green Schools committee
- Our World Irish Aid Awards – the children in 5th class take part in the Irish Aid Awards that focus on a particular theme from the Sustainable Development Goals each year
- SDGs – children from 3rd – 6th classes complete lessons on the SDGs every year
- Energy Free 15 – We have a weekly energy free 15 minutes where all lights, taps, switches, laptops etc. are turned off to save energy
- Link with tidy towns – the school links with tidy towns on beach clean ups, village clean ups, guest speakers etc.
- Local Environmental Groups – the school links with local groups that have come in to chat the chidlren about sustainablity, looking after our waterways – children have gone on field trips to the local river to explore the flora and fauna there.
- Bike Week – children are encouraged to cycle to school and walk where possible
- Food packaging – children in the senior end examine food labels and learn about the Bord Bia Quality Mark, Fairtrade etc.
- School Garden – we grow potatoes, carrots, lettuce and other plants in our school garden and the children are very involved in this process.
The food pyramid, healthy diet and nutrition is a topic that can be covered in SPHE and Science and I also like to link it to Gaeilge and English lessons. I have been teaching 5th class for the last number of years and I start lessons on this topic by asking the children for prior knowledge. Usually by the time the children reach the older classes they have a good bit of prior knowledge on the food pyramid and healthy eating so I like to delve further into the topic by exploring the macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients in food. The nutrition of seafood is one area in which we could explore further. We can examine the benefits of protein and look at food labels for seafood products to determine the amount of protein. We can look at fats and what types of seafood contain important healthy fats. We can also examine the vitamins, minerals and amino acids in seafood such as iron, vitamin D, Vitamin B-12 etc.
Hi Michelle,
I agree with you on what you have stated above. There are lots of ways of exploring this topic in a cross curricular way.
I found the four videos to be very engaging, interesting and enjoyable. Using these online lessons and resources that were developed for the ARC has given me multiple ideas that will enhance my own teaching practices, that will align with the STEM education policy statement and STEM education as a whole in our school. These resources emphasize the importance of experiments, active-learning, hands on teaching and will develop children’s skills such as innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork etc. I found lesson two, ‘The Nutrition of Seafood’ to be very interesting. The content in this video is part of the curriculum, however I would never think to focus in on seafood. This topic can be integrated across lots of subjects from science, English, art, maths etc. I also found that the videos are an excellent way of opening up children’s eyes to the vast array of jobs that relate to aquaculture for example marine biologists, farmers, lab workers and could inspire children to work in this industry in the future.
