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I like how you linked climate change directly to the children’s everyday lives, like the parks they play in and the food they eat. This makes the issue feel so much more real and relevant for them.
Your ideas for using nature walks, weather logs, and interviews are fantastic. They are simple but effective ways to help pupils observe and understand what’s happening around them. I also think your three actions are very achievable and would give children a real sense of ownership. The idea of lunchbox audits is great, it’s practical and gets families involved too.
Climate change has become very noticeable in our area over recent years. We are seeing more heavy rain, flooding in local roads and parks, and unusually warm periods in early spring and late autumn. These unpredictable patterns are affecting local wildlife, farming and even how safe it is for children to get to school.
In my classroom, I would start by discussing these local changes with pupils, asking them what they have noticed themselves and how it has affected their families. We could create weather diaries, track rainfall and temperatures over a term, and compare them with data from previous years. Bringing in guest speakers, like local farmers or environmental volunteers, would help children see that climate change impacts everyone.
Three actions we could take as a class to slow down climate change are:
Reduce Waste: Set up a recycling and composting station and have pupils act as monitors.
Save Energy: Create an “Energy Heroes” team to check lights, computers and heating are turned off when not needed.
Promote Green Travel: Organise “Walk or Cycle to School” weeks to reduce car use.
The Development Education modules connect well to School Self-Evaluation by helping us focus on sustainability, global citizenship and pupil voice. Embedding this learning into our SSE will make our school more aware, active and responsible in tackling climate challenges.
I love your ideas. Using storybooks like Homeland is a great way to build empathy and understanding. Encouraging pupils to write to elected officials is a brilliant example of active citizenship. Celebrating Pride and cultural diversity together shows a strong commitment to inclusion.
In County Kerry, the Tralee International Resource Centre provides crucial supports for refugees, including English classes, school liaison services, and family programmes. Knowing these services exist helps schools plan how best to welcome and include refugee pupils.
In our school, we could build on this by creating a “Welcome Committee” of staff and pupils to prepare multilingual welcome packs and organise buddy systems so children feel supported from day one. We could also invite the Tralee International Resource Centre staff to run workshops or storytelling sessions about migration and belonging.
Development Education can help pupils understand why people become refugees and explore ideas like empathy, human rights, and global citizenship. This could be woven into lessons in SPHE and Geography, helping children reflect on their own role in building an inclusive community.
From an SSE perspective, recording actions like buddy systems, translated materials, and cultural days will help us measure and improve our commitment to inclusion and wellbeing over time.
You’ve shared practical ideas that make sustainability feel real and achievable for children. Exploring fast fashion and packaging is so relevant and helps them see how their choices have an impact. I love how you linked it all to the Green Schools work and SSE.
Climate Action is an essential area for children to explore because they can see and feel its impact both locally and globally. In Ireland, more frequent storms, flooding, and extreme weather events have disrupted daily life, school closures, and even the local water supply. Globally, children are affected by drought, food shortages, and displacement caused by climate change. I would start by connecting climate action to students’ lived experiences in our own community. For example, we could investigate how rainfall patterns have changed or carry out a biodiversity audit of our school grounds.
To take local action, we could launch a “Reduce Our Carbon Footprint” campaign, with pupils leading energy audits, designing posters about switching off lights, and creating reminders to limit waste. Linking this work with our Green Schools programme and revisiting our existing Green Flag can give students a sense of purpose and achievement.
We could also connect with local organisations such as Tidy Towns or the council to participate in community clean-ups or tree planting. As part of SSE, we could survey students on their understanding of sustainability before and after the project, gathering reflections on how empowered they feel to make change. These activities help children develop as active citizens who understand that even small local actions contribute to tackling a global issue.
I really liked your example about your student wearing a skirt and how the class environment supported him to feel comfortable. It shows just how powerful it can be when we challenge stereotypes early on. Your focus on creating a safe and inclusive space is really inspiring.
Gender stereotypes can start shaping children’s beliefs about themselves and others from a very young age. One example I’ve observed happened during Aistear in a Junior Infants classroom. The children were choosing activities when a boy told another child that “the kitchen is only for girls” and that “boys should be builders.” The comment seemed harmless on the surface, but it clearly showed how early and naturally these assumptions form. Moments like this can influence children’s confidence, limit their interests, and send messages about what is considered acceptable for their gender.
Development education can help tackle this by encouraging critical thinking and empathy. For example, storybooks that show boys caring for babies or girls working as engineers can broaden children’s understanding of roles. Role-play can allow children to experience different perspectives and challenge stereotypes in a safe space.
From an SSE perspective, integrating development education into our school plans could focus on promoting inclusion and equality. Gathering pupil voice, observing play choices, and creating action plans to address gender bias would help ensure all children feel free to explore their interests without judgement. Over time, these small steps can lead to a more open, fair, and respectful classroom culture.
I really enjoyed reading your post. I like how clearly you described practical ways to embed Development Education across so many subjects. Your idea of organising multicultural days is fantastic, it would give children a real sense of ownership and pride in their backgrounds while helping others learn and appreciate different cultures.
Dedicating a Croke Park hour to plan and share resources is such a good suggestion too. It would make Development Education feel more achievable for everyone and create a consistent whole school approach. Inviting a guest speaker would definitely bring it to life and show pupils how these issues connect to the real world.
Ehigie’s paper really struck me because it reminded me that education is not just about passing on facts but about helping children see themselves as part of something bigger. Development Education feels more important than ever. We have pupils in our classrooms who already know so much about the world through social media and news, yet they often feel powerless to change anything. I think our role is to show them that small actions matter and that they can be part of the solution.
In my own teaching, I would start by weaving in global themes through SPHE and SESE, like looking at climate justice or fair trade. Class discussions, projects and even simple activities like tracking where our food comes from can build understanding.
To encourage colleagues, I’d suggest we pick a shared focus for a term, maybe linking it to a global goal, so we are all working together. This makes it feel manageable and more meaningful.
SSE provides a perfect framework for this. We could set targets for inclusion, empathy and pupil voice, then use observations, pupil feedback and samples of work to see the impact. Development Education is not an extra subject, it is a mindset that supports all areas of school life.
I really like your approach to making air quality a relatable topic for pupils. Linking it to their own experiences with asthma or noticing fumes near busy roads will grab their interest from the start. The idea of using portable sensors and tracking traffic patterns is practical and hands on, which I think always helps to deepen understanding.
Research Question:How does the amount of litter in our local parks affect the animals and plants that live there?
To encourage children to participate in this investigation, I would start by taking them on a nature walk to the park so they could see the issue firsthand. We would bring clipboards to jot down observations and take photos of any litter or damage to plants. This real life connection makes the project meaningful and helps pupils understand why it matters. In class, we would brainstorm what animals might be affected and why. I’d use short videos and storybooks about pollution and climate change to build their background knowledge.
Children would work in small groups. They could tally different types of rubbish, create simple bar charts and map where most of the litter was found. We would discuss how litter can harm wildlife and talk about ways to prevent it, like recycling and picking up rubbish. To make the learning visible, pupils could design posters or a slideshow to share with other classes. Involving everyone in collecting data and sharing results helps build teamwork, critical thinking and a sense of ownership over protecting their local environment.
I completely agree with you, using weather proverbs is a clever way to make the topic more relatable and memorable for the children. It really does show how observant and inventive people were long before we had any modern equipment. I love that it encourages the children to chat with grandparents or older relatives about how they used to predict the weather. That kind of connection makes the learning feel meaningful and personal.
The EO Browser is a great tool that lets you explore real satellite images of Earth. It’s really easy to use and gives access to data from lots of different satellites like Sentinel and Landsat. You can look at how places have changed over time, track things like deforestation, urban growth, flooding or even melting glaciers.
In class, I’d use it to bring Geography and Science alive. For example, we could look at our local area to see how land use has changed or compare images before and after big weather events. I think pupils would love using it to investigate real-world environmental issues and then present their findings. It also builds STEM skills and really helps children see the link between human activity and changes in the environment in a way that’s visual and engaging.
I really like your ideas here. I agree that the Paxi video and the prediction tool are great for sparking discussions about climate change in a way that feels clear and manageable for children. I think your suggestion to add a hands on experiment is a great idea. It would help make the learning feel more real. I also love the idea of creating an action plan as a class. It’s a nice way to show pupils that their ideas matter and that they can actually do something to help.
