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There are 17 sustainable development goals set of in the document by the United Nations. Although some of them don’t appear completely relevant to the children in my school, a number of them did. One in particular that I think could affect the children in my school at both a local and global level is goal 8 ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’. Working in a disadvantaged area there are high levels of unemployment and low paid or zero hour style jobs with little worker protections. There is also high levels of school dropout and children not completing second level and therefore not carrying on to third level education. Children from this area need to really be encouraged that they can do what they want educationally and also to remain in education. Having past pupils in to speak to the children and encourage them would be great for the children as it would show them what others from their area can achieve. Also working with the parents and involving the home school liason teacher to encourage children to remain in education is a vital component in encouraging children to stay in education. It’s really important that the children are shown that they are capable of being what they want to be and showing them that they can be whatever they want to be. This isn’t an easy task however, as they are fighting against the grain of what is normal within their area.
Shona, I agree that gender stereotypes are often very evident through books, tv programmes etc so they’re already ingrained either consciously or subcounsciously in the children’s minds. I agree that as teachers we need to be deliberate in our actions and words to promote a gender equal and inclusive learning environment.
Children appear to always come in with gender identities already fairly strongly embedded. I feel this is often even more evident with boys. I often see that boys will regulary need encouragment to play with dolls or the kitchen area whereas the girls are quite happy to play with construction activities and more traditional ‘boys activities’. I think you also see it a lot when speaking about clothing and boys will often say that they can’t wear pink because ‘it’s a girls colour’. These stereotypes are all important to be aware of as teachers so that we ensure the children in our classes are aware that boys or girls can become whatever they want regardless of their genders.
Orla, I think it’s a great idea to look at organizing professional development to promote collaborative planning and create a bank of Development Education resources so that everyone within the school knows where to go to find resources to aid with the teaching around Global Citizenship.
From reading through Ehigie’s 2021 paper ‘The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World’ it is clear that although
we have come a long way in relation to being Glabal citizens and understanding equality and social issues, however
we still have a long way to go. It is essential that we are all aware of the importance of global issues such as poverty,
inequality, hunger and political instabitiy and how these can impact our daily teaching and what the children infront of
us are being exposed to on a daily basis. Given children an awareness of Development Education helps them become more
empathetic towards the plights of others. This is something that we can look at doing with children of all ages as it’s
important that all children regardless of age become aware of the needs of others in an age appropriate way. It is
important that we teach children from an early age that regardless of our differences, we are all members of the same
global family.
