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Hi Claire,
The idea of the school garden is simple yet effective. When I was a primary school pupil we had a school garden as our school was always promoting sustainability and the importance of looking after our environment and having the school garden definitely was a fun way for us to do that and feel as though we were playing our part.
Unfortunately climate change is having an impact on my local area. I think we can all agree that the weather is being impacted greatly by climate change as we have been experiencing extreme changing weather patterns. Wildlife are suffering, people’s physical and mental health is being affected and many people’s job have been impacted.
We are all being affected by climate change but if we didn’t tackle it right now our children will suffer greatly.
One action I would carry out in my school would be to emphasise what is climate change and why is it happening. Children have an idea of it but they don’t fully understand the severity of it.
The second action I would take would be to promote ‘Scoot to School’, walking and cycling. This will lower carbon footprint and it is a positive thing for physical and mental health,
The final action I would take would be to work closely with the the Green Schools Committee in my school to decrease waste in the school and to ensure everyone is using the bins and recycling correctly
Hi Seán,
The Buddy System sounds highly effective, I think it’s a great idea and one I would like to implement into my school!
In my local area there are a few organisations that help refugees settle into the local area. Irish Refugee Council and Cross care are 2 big organisations that do a lot to help refugees. As well as that, my local library hosts events for refugees from Ukraine.
To welcome refugees into our community our school can implement a number of strategies to make it an easy transition.
Firstly, we can organise donation drives for clothes and food to create a welcoming environment. This could be set up in the school hall with essential clothing/food e.g old school uniforms, clothes, jackets and non-perishable foods.
Secondly, making sure the school, school website and the documents are available in different languages will create an environment that is inclusive and welcoming.
Thirdly, hosting international days/weeks where children are able to showcase everything their culture has to offer, such as, food, clothes, their language and their traditions is a great way for people to gain knowledge of the different countries and their cultures.
Hi Christine,
Your decision to look at homelessness is very topical at the moment as it is a pressing issue both nationally and internationally. This issue relates to many children so it is important to approach this with extra caution.
A sustainable Development Goal that I would like to focus in on would be SD13- Climate Action.
As we are all aware, climate change is a growing issue that is affecting each and every one of us. Some countries are experiences extreme weather changes that is negatively impacting health and wellbeing, food produce and travel. For children, they are experiencing extreme worry as they are seeing the negative impact climate change is having on our world. By teaching children from a young age on what we can do to help with climate change, that will allow them to understand that they have a voice to help and protect our world.
To support climate action in my school, I would teach and explore the extreme changing weather pattern here in Ireland and in other parts of the world. As well as that, I would work with the Green Schools Co-Ordinator to organise events in the school to promote climate action. Celebrating days such as World Water Day and reinforcing the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling is a good start.
Hi Laura,
I definitely agree with the statement that we should introduce Development Education right from Junior Infants and continue it along right up to the senior end. It would make a huge impact and help stop negative stereotyping.
I think it is known that unfortunately gender stereotypes exist in a lot of classrooms from the junior end right up to the senior end. Within my classroom, I noticed gender stereotypes present during an Art lesson. We were creating Spring Art and the colours I had placed in the tray were bright colours. Some children turned around voiced that they didn’t want to use them colours because they were ‘too girly’. This sparked a discussion around what makes colours/things ‘girly’ and it allowed for a healthy debate that got the children thinking critically.
Development Education methodologies can play a massive part in combating gender stereotypes. Educators can create an environment that is welcoming and inclusive by promoting gender neutral language and using resources that do not promote gender stereotypes. As well as that, promoting diversity within the classroom, showing achievements from all genders allowing children to understand that barriers are being broken down and that they can achieve anything they want as they get older.
Upon reading ‘The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World’ by Eric Ehigie, it is important that we all work together to create a world that encourages people to learn about different cultures, end stereotypes and promote peace. As Global Citizens, we can all make a differences and it is vital that children are made aware of this from a young age.
In my own teaching, I will teach about the challenges some people face across the world. This is effectively done through integration. Integrating these topics throughout a wide variety of school subjects such as SESE is an effective teaching strategy which will encourage critical thinking and develop empathy. Teaching children the knowledge and skills they need to make a difference will help them recognise and promote diversity.
To encourage colleagues, I will share resources, knowledge that I have and present workshops based on how we can implement Development Education throughout the school day. As well as that, encouraging the school to host events and promote inter-cultural days will create an informed, respectful and welcoming school community.