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I think it’s a great idea to link up with the Tidy Towns, this would be a great way for students to see the impact local people are able to have on their community and hopefully encourage them to get involved in clean-ups in their community.
he topic I would focus on with my students would be sustainable development goal 12, responsible consumption and production. Children are affected by this locally as overconsumption is considered the norm in our society and this puts pressure on children to have the newest and coolest clothes, shoes etc. Globally, children are put in increasingly dangerous situations in order to prodice these products. Their environments are suffering enormously. To encourage students to support the this goal, I would encourage them to integrate sustainability into their daily lives. I would start by incorporating lessons on sustainability and environmental impact into the curriculum, emphasizing the importance of responsible consumption. I would organise interactive workshops and projects that highlight the benefits of recycling, upcycling, and mindful purchasing decisions. I would organise for students to participate in local clean-up events, fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility. I would promote the use of public transport, cycling, and walking to reduce carbon footprints and introduce initiatives like zero-waste challenges or school gardens to teach practical sustainability skills. By making sustainability a tangible and integral part of their lives, students will be more motivated to adopt and advocate for responsible consumption and production both within and beyond the classroom.
Hi Andrew, I think your methodologies are great. Project-based learning is an excellent way for students to learn about climate change. I think inviting local experts in to talk to the students too would be really beneficial.
Hi Hilary, it sounds like your school has some great initiatives already running! I love the stay and play idea. We also have an amazing HSCL who recently created a cookbook with parents in our school. They created recipes from their respective countries and the proceeds of the cookbook went to charity. I will definitely suggest the stay and play idea for our school this coming year.
Crosscare is an organisation in the local area that works with refugees. They provide support and advice to refugees, migrants and their families. They help people to renew Irish residence permits and provide translation services for people too. This organisation runs many groups for young people such as Outdoor learning, counselling and youth club. Furthermore, crosscare provides hot food to refugees, migrants and others at risk of homelessness and food poverty.
This organisation promotes the inclusion of refugees and migrants into our society and works to best support them. It would be beneficial for our school to get the opportunity to listen to someone who works in crosscare or to someone who uses crosscare’s services. As a school, we could complete fundraising events for crosscare, so they can continue the good work they do. We could run an event called multi-cultural day where students and families from all different backgrounds can educate each other on their culture, language, foods, and traditions from their country. It is important to provide students with the opportunity to learn about new cultures and appreciate differences and similarities from each.Hi Christina, I really like your idea of completing a whole-school project based on the school’s carbon footprint. I think this would be a great way to promote the students understanding of a carbon footprint and how different decisions we make in our day-to-day lives can positively or negatively effect our carbon footprint. This is a great idea.
Climate Change is affecting my local area in a variety of ways. Every year there is an increase in extreme weather- ranging from heavy rainfall and flooding to higher than usual temperatures. This was particularly evident in Winter when warmer than usual weather resulted in the regrowth of flowers earlier than usual. Furthermore, the price of food has increased because of global shortages on various products. This contributes to the economic crisis and the number of people who have been forced into homelessness. In my own school, many families are homeless and living in hotels. This has a massive effect on the students I teach. They are tired, scared, hungry and are showing decreased focus and attention.
In order to take action and slow down climate change I think everyone can make three small changes to their lives that would have a big impact on the world. Firstly, looking at our diet and the amount of food that goes to waste. Planning our meals better and ensuring that you use all of the food bought in smart ways can greatly decrease our carbon footprint and hopefully slow the effects of climate change. Also, eating more seasonally will greatly help our environment and promotes the growth of our fruit and vegetables in a more natural way. Finally, allowing our grassy areas grow naturally with wild flowers and weeds will promote the local ecosystem and allow the bees and other insects to pollinate the area and thrive.
As a lesson, we could look at commonly wasted foods and create recipes to utilise these foods before they’re wasted. Development Education can be looked at with SSE by looking at different curricular areas and how development education could be integrated and taught in different class levels.I completely agree with your ideas that project-based lessons can really develop our students interest in development education and encourage them to take action and get involved in their school and local communities. Providing a bank of resources to share with teachers can be an extremely positive way to promote the teaching of development education in our schools.
was This reading was an extremely interesting read and was a great catalyst for reflection on potential roadblocks or challenges to development education in primary schools. In particular the part on the power within the system of self. It can be difficult to understand the impact one person making changes can make on the wider world and this can be a challenge when young people are trying to commit to making changes. In order to tackle this in school, teachers could teach students about the young people who have made huge impacts on the world through making small changes or developing new projects. Teachers could look at students from the BT young scientists or activists like Greta Thunberg. As part of SSE, schools could develop and edit their whole-school plans to include teaching on the global citizenship goals in different year levels and through different subjects. It is important that we, as educators, promote, encourage and provide opportunity for our students to engage with development education and to complete projects to tackle some of these issues in their local communities.
hi Claire,
I think that your idea about involving the student council in tackling gender stereotyping is an excellent idea. The students in the school I work in respond so well to student council initiatives that I think this would be an excellent opportunity to allow the students to really explore the topic and take ownership of their learning
Gender biases and stereotypes are ingrained in our society. You see it everywhere, in advertisements on the television, on clothes in shops, in books our children read and the toys that children play with. It is crucial that schools consider the impact these biases can have on children and work towards meaningful approaches to actively go against the gender biases many of us grew up with. Being in an educate together school the children wear their own clothes. This can have its own challenges as children can comment on one another’s outfits-discussing if they fit in with what is cool for boys or girls to wear. This can put a lot of pressure on children who want to conform to gender norms and fit in based on the clothes that they wear. Also, I agree with many of the posts above, that I have witnessed children scolding boys who want to play with dolls or to play role play games on the yard. As educators it is impoetsnt that we allow all children to experience playing with different types of toys and to normalise this behaviour. I think that schools are definitely improving in identifying gender stereotypes and trying to overcome these. In our own school we have changed from having specific girl and boy toilets. The toilets are gender neutral now. In the junior end of the school, aistear always includes role play where all children are scaffolded to take part. I think it is important to also consider the books that we use in classrooms and to perhaps consider using books that show people of all different genders and backgrounds achieving and experiencing success in many areas. Also, explicitly teaching lessons on gender stereotypes and getting the students involved in these discussions can really enable students to challenge the gender biases they are experiencing and see that activities, clothes, passions and interests are not limited based on gender.