Global Citizenship

June 6th, 2011

European awareness

nickmorgan

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

There are many ways for teachers and pupils to increase their knowledge of Europe, its cultures and institutions, enabling them to become more active citizens of the European Union. Here’s just two:

Today primary school children from all over Scotland gathered at the Scottish Parliament for the final rounds of the Euroquiz competition. Teams of pupils answered questions about many aspects of life in Europe, with their classmates back at school able to see the event through a live broadcast on Holyrood TV. Pupils from Edinburgh Academy won the competition, (pictured here on the stairs of the Parliament) with Cairneyhill Primary in Fife the runner-up. Congratulations to all the young people who took part in the contest this year.

The Scottish European Educational Trust (SEET) has been running the quiz since 1993, as a means to promote and encourage learning about Europe, with sponsorship from Standard Life. The European Parliament office in Edinburgh also supports this work, and has a great variety of resources to help teachers embed a European dimension in their classrooms.

BBC Scotland website carried a news story about the day. And the BBC Radio Scotland show hosted by Fred Macaulay featured the competition in this morning’s broadcast. Fred interviewed a teacher and pupils from Kirknewton Primary School, who described the benefits of the experience and tested the knowledge of the radio presenters.

Comenius School Partnerships, funded by the European Commission, are another common way for students and teachers to increase their involvement with European isuues and cultures. Last week Hutchesons’ Grammar School held an event in Glasgow to celebrate the conclusion of a successful two year partnership with schools in Nuremberg, Germany, and Radomsko, Poland.

Students from these three high schools collaborated on a series of creativity projects, using photographs and film to document their activities and the urban spaces of each city. The organisers say “key to the success of the partnership has been a willingness to embrace new ideas, be open to cultural differences and recognise the benefits of exploring a range of different approaches to learning and teaching outwith the classroom”.

Nick

June 2nd, 2011

Games Legacy and Scottish education

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: games legacy
 : Categories commonwealth, games and sport, international

Scottish schools, teachers are steadily increasing their engagement with Global Citizenship through the contexts of the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Scottish Government and its agencies work with the various organisers of the different Games to extend the educational dimensions of these mega-events and stimulate school involvement.

A Games Legacy for Scotland blog carries frequent updates about opportunities, events, and descriptions of how schools are taking up the themes. For example: Hundreds of schools have registered with the ‘Get Set’ network of the London Olympics; and thousands of Scottish school pupils will be taking part in sporting activity this week as part of the National School Sport Week 2011.

In addition to the blog, there is a national group on Glow for Games Legacy, giving teachers a number of ways to keep up to date with developments and activities across the country.

June 2nd, 2011

The Story of the Food on Your Plate - SDEN Seminar, 9 June 2011

kmayer

Comments: none Tags: Tags: events, food
 : Categories sustainable development

A mouth-watering portion of Food and the Environment, seasoned with a sprinkling of the Schools Global Footprint resource.

9.30am - 12.30pm Thursday 9^th June

The Melting Pot, Edinburgh

Join us for a taste of the new Eco-Schools Scotland topic. This seminar, delivered by Eve Keepax (Eco-Schools Scotland) and Amie Fulton (Sustainable Scotland Network), will build on the introduction to the topic held in November, covering new ground now the topic has been launched. You will be given the opportunity to learn about curricular links, resources and teaching aids for the topic, some of which will be taken from the Schools Global Footprint resource. You will look at developing a Food and the Environment Action Plan (based on an Environmental Review) as well as ways to monitor and evaluate progress.

At the end of the seminar participants will:

• Be familiar with the ‘Food and the Environment’ topic
• Have confidence to apply/teach about the topic in school
• Take away resources and activities relating to the topic

To book, please email: [email protected] or call Ben Seymour, Network Co-ordinator on 07506 189 600 for more details.

June 2nd, 2011

‘Project Connect’

kmayer

Comments: none Tags: Tags: climate and energy, food
 : Categories citizenship, international, sustainable development

SCIAF’s new ‘Project Connect’ provides a dynamic and engaging opportunity for schools to develop their global citizenship education across the curriculum by linking directly to countries and people that SCIAF supports.

The aim of this project is to encourage learners to investigate, compare and contrast as well as respond to the situations of their ‘global neighbours’. In identifying similarities and differences of the lives of people around the world learners reflect on their own circumstances and become aware of global challenges such as climate change and food production. It also fosters a reflective approach to values such as fairness, justice and peace and allows learners to respond constructively to challenges they identified.

The project relates directly to many of the experiences and outcomes set out in ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ linking to a wide range of curriculum areas such as literacy and numeracy, health and wellbeing, social studies, and RERC/RME. It also provides the backdrop for enterprising activities and financial education.

By signing up for the project you are able to obtain a wide range of support materials, receive up-dates on your chosen country and welcome people from the countries you support in your school.

For more information visit: http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/youth/connect/how_it_works