Global Citizenship

November 30th, 2009

Childrens’ Rights

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories citizenship, europe, international

2009 is the twentieth anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The European Commission is running a competition to mark the anniversary, and invites young people aged 10-18 to form small teams to design a poster which illustrates one chosen Right from the set. The deadline is 19^th March 2010, and the overall winners will travel to Brussels for the awards ceremony. The website also has quiz text about the CRC and educational material.

November 27th, 2009

Copenhagen and Climate Change

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories ICT, europe, international, sustainable development

The UN Copenhagen summit on Climate Change (COP15) in December is now just a few weeks away, and a steady flow of new websites and educational opportunities is emerging.

The Danish Ministry of Education has supported the creation of an international Teachers site (in English) on climate in education, called Teacherscop15.dk . This website assists teaching about climate issues and provides themes and ideas for learning more. Schools in Scotland can take part in educational activity with schools from Denmark and around the world, and can upload examples of their project work such as presentations, video clips, etc to put their own school on the interactive map.

Oxfam has published a new online resource to support education about climate change, its impacts, and the need for positive action.

And SCIAF, the Scottish aid and development charity, also has fresh educational resources about the injustice of climate change and the need to tackle its causes and consequences.

The UK government’s ‘Act on Copenhagen’ website provides updated international news about climate change and information about action in social and economic sectors of the UK.

November 10th, 2009

Remembrance

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories citizenship, europe

The veterans charity Erskine has published findings from its recent pupil survey timed to coincide with Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day (11th November) and the commemoration of British war dead. It is concerned about problems with misconceptions and lack of knowledge about the events of World War Two, with significant proportions of students having a sketchy appreciation of key individuals and aspects of the history of that period.

The Daily Mail also expressed alarm in its article “Hitler, the German football coach, and other historical ‘facts’ according to our schoolchildren”.

Curriculum for Excellence represents an opportunity to cover such underpinning knowledge to support effective learning in areas such as Social Studies, Citizenship and Holocaust Education.

November 10th, 2009

Innovative Teachers with ICT

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories CPD, ICT

A Scottish teacher has taken the second place Award in the Community category at the worldwide ‘Innovative Education Forum’ in Brazil. He was recognised for his work on Computer Games in the classroom and promoting the benefits through learning communities. (editorial interest: Ollie Bray is currently on secondment to Learning and Teaching Scotland)

Microsoft runs this international education gathering as part of its ‘Partners in Learning’ programme, which includes the Innovative Teachers network that connects teachers with an enthusiasm and talent for ICT through online communities in each country. The November edition of ‘Teaching Scotland’, the magazine of the General Teaching Council Scotland, includes an article about the programme and how Scottish teachers can get involved.

On the 1st December there is an opportunity for Scottish teachers to share experience,views and ideas with colleagues in the rest of the UK at the UK Innovative Teachers Froum in Birmingham. The Partners in Learning website has full details.

November 6th, 2009

Highlands schools and sustainability

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories sustainable development

Two primary schools in the Highlands have featured on the BBC website for environmental aspects which aim to make the schools more sustainable by design.

Acharacle school is being built with many environmentally-friendly features including a wind turbine for power and rain water to assist toilet flushing.

And Glenelg school has fitted solar panels to the roof of its pupil bike shed to harness renewable energy, as part of Highland Council’s commitment to energy management.

November 6th, 2009

Citizenship and Rights

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories citizenship

A story in ‘the Scotsman’ described work by a West Lothian teacher on the theme of Child Soldiers, human rights and international humanitarian law. This topic was the basis for a very successful seminar for teachers at the recent Scottish Learning Festival 2009 in Glasgow.

British Red Cross is one of the non-governmental organisations which is involved actively in work with Scottish schools on issues around human rights and conflict, and their Education website offers very useful resources. Their staff can also work directly with schools to run presentations and interactive sessions for pupils on humanitarian issues.

November 6th, 2009

Homecoming and St Andrew’s Day

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories homecoming

Homecoming Scotland 2009, the celebration of Scotland’s culture and heritage, is coming to an end, and there will be events around Scotland to round off the year’s activities in a grand finale. The Scottish Government has announced plans for the biggest ever celebrations of St Andrew’s Day.

The success of the Educational dimension to Homecoming will be recognised and celebrated at a showcase event in Edinburgh on 23rd November. For details of that event for schools and teachers, contact the team here at LTS by phone 0141-282-5193

November 6th, 2009

Racism and Education

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags:  : Categories citizenship

Show Racism the Red Card, a charity which supports anti-racist education, is running a creative competition for schools and colleges. Individuals and classes can both submit entries across, participants need to register their interest by 27th November, and the closing date for actual entries is 29th January 2010.

The SRTRC competition task is to produce a piece of creative work which communicates the message that Racism is not welcome in Scotland. The work can be in one of a range of formats, which include art, music, multimedia, t-shirt design and creative writing.

Another approach to anti-racist education is using Film and storytelling to get young people engaged with the topic. The movie “Skin” was in cinemas earlier this year, and is now available on DVD at low cost. The charity Film Education has produced an online educational resource to accompany the movie, which helps teachers to address issues of racism through work on citizenship, English, history and modern studies.