November 2017 – Rebecca Smith UWS ITE ePDP

Sustainable Development – Diversity

Diversity within learning for sustainability refers to both biodiversity and cultural diversity. Considering cultural diversity in a primary school setting is essential for meeting the following outcomes:

I can gather and use information about forms of discrimination against people in societies and consider the impact this has on people’s lives.
SOC 2-16b
I can discuss issues of the diversity of cultures, values and customs in our society.
SOC 2-16c
By comparing the lifestyle and culture of citizens in another country with those of Scotland, I can discuss the similarities and differences.
SOC 2-19a
I make decisions and take responsibility in my everyday experiences and play, showing consideration for others.
SOC 0-17a
By exploring the ways in which we use and need rules, I can consider the meaning of rights and responsibilities and discuss those relevant to me.
SOC 1-17a
I can describe the main features of a democracy and discuss the rights and responsibilities of citizens in Scotland.
SOC 2-17a
I can investigate the features of an election and the work of representatives at a local, national or European level to begin to develop my understanding of how democracy works.
SOC 2-18a
I can expect my learning environment to support me to:
develop my self-awareness, self-worth and respect for others
acknowledge diversity and understand that it is everyone’s responsibility to challenge discrimination.
I know that friendship, caring, sharing, fairness, equality and love are important in building positive relationships. As I develop and value relationships, I care and show respect for myself and others.
HWB 0-05a / HWB 1-05a / HWB 2-05a / HWB 3-05a / HWB 4-05a
As I explore the rights to which I and others are entitled, I am able to exercise these rights appropriately and accept the responsibilities that go with them. I show respect for the rights of others.
HWB 0-09a / HWB 1-09a / HWB 2-09a / HWB 3-09a / HWB 4-09a

It is also essential for ensuring that children develop caring attitudes and non-discriminatory perceptions of people who are different to them. This is an increasingly important issue due to the rising population of our country and the world and due to the increase in immigration. Britain is a culturally diverse country which means that we see and meet people who are different to us (in terms of looks, beliefs, sexualities, and abilities) every day. Over time that has impacted British culture and it is important that children become aware of differences and understand that we are all equal. I am a strong believer that no child is born with discriminatory attitudes and that sadly, these are installed in people by society. This must end and as children spend so much time in primary school, learning from their teachers and their peers, it is the perfect context within which to develop values and to take responsibility for preventing discrimination in the present time and the future.

In all primary classes I would focus on the children’s charter and on the rules within the classroom. Making children aware of their rights in simplified terms and exposing them to concepts similar to political processes such as voting for class representatives and class rules, will hopefully help them to develop a feeling of some power over their lives. This can also lead to conversations about why we need rights and what they mean for us. Children could also learn about different cultures through language, food, music, dance and by exploring the traditional clothes that people of different cultures wear. By learning about these throughout the year children will hopefully be less likely to develop an ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude as they will have learned about different cultures and explored why they might eat different foods/dress differently to people of other cultures. Not directly comparing one culture to typical western culture can also help to prevent an ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude; instead we should say “Why might people of this culture eat this food?” rather than “Why do they eat different foods to us?”. Bilingual books and wall displays, and the celebration of different cultural events may also be a good way to develop an attitude of different cultures as the norm and will develop a class and school respect for different cultures. In terms of disability awareness, we could arrange to play a disability friendly sport such as wheelchair basketball as part of a basketball P.E. block. We could also take part in challenges such as watching a video with no sound to see if we can read the lips of those talking – demonstrating the challenges faced by people with a hearing impairment. This could then lead to discussions about how they over come these barriers and could lead to a topic learning sign language. It is also important to discuss discrimination directly and to talk about the impacts it has on people, why it is wrong, and what we can do to combat it.

Biodiversity is also a very important topic which children must learn about. An appreciation with biodiversity will help them to understand the importance of different species on Earth and why we need to conserve them and treat them well. It also develops a general respect for the environment and for all living things.

To explore this in a primary school I have considered the way in which my lessons could plan out:

Biodiversity lessons

Overall, learning about diversity is essential for children to develop a respect for the world in terms of the environment and society and for them to develop compassion for others, as well as an understanding of the importance of difference.

Sustainable Development – Energy

Learning about energy has been something which I have found very interesting and I feel that it could be easily implemented into the classroom in a relatable way for children. We all use energy every day, without even thinking about it. Being asked to reflect and to think about how I had used energy from when I woke up to when I got to university made me realise the vast amounts of energy which our modern, Western way of life has accustomed us to use. I think that by asking children to do a similar task it would be very interesting to see how many of them would know just how much we do that uses, or has used, energy. This would be a very relatable way to begin a lesson on energy, helping children to see energy use as something which relates directly to their lives.

We then moved on to consider which of our activities used energy in the form of fossil fuels. For primary school aged children, the meaning of a ‘fossil fuel’ would have to be discussed and explored, and at this point making fossils using toy dinosaurs, shells and clay, would be a good way to contextualise to learners what a fossil is. It would also provide us with a concrete material with which to explain to learners that after many years, we use these fossils as fuel in the form of coal, gas and oil. This would then allow us to explain to the children that if we are running on fossil fuels, there are only so many fossils in the world; because there were only so many dinosaurs etc. so one day, fossil fuels are going to run out. Current statistics state that oil is going to last for around 50 years, gas is going to last for around 54 years, and coal is going to last for around 110 years. It would therefore be very important to explain to children why we need to cut down on our uses of these types of fuels and to get them to come up with ways in which they can contribute to doing so. This could be done by making mind maps in pairs and then bringing them all together as a class, discussing which actions use the most energy.

After explaining this to children, it would be important to begin exploring option of alternative fuels such as nuclear power, wind power, tidal power, and solar power. This renewable energy will never run out as we will never run out of wind, sun light, the tide, or nuclear power. Experiments could be done to show how solar power and wind power work, using strong lights to power battery Lego cars with solar panels on them, and using fans to blow model windmills, and potentially taking children to a wind farm, to learn about how the windmills actually work and to see them up close. This would be the perfect opportunity for a STEM project such as the one we heard about today. Projects like this one require the children to work in teams to make a model windmill, following a set of instructions. Taking part in a debate about the use of wind power as an alternative energy source helped me to understand that there are ups and downs to every form of energy and that some of them, particularly nuclear power, can be controversial and have negative impacts on the environment if we are not careful. Instilling this critical way of looking at information in children is very important as this skill will allow them to analyse and evaluate and create more effectively. By getting the class to take part in a debate, it would open up space for a research task which could be done during a visit to a windfarm; the children could ask the person doing the tour about the pros of wind power. They could also take part in a drama when we returned to the classroom, in which I was doing teacher in role, acting as an annoyed home owner who lived near the windfarm, while the children would ask me questions about whether or not I liked wind power and why. A debate could then take place after the drama in which half of the children acted as homeowners and people against wind power, and half acted as people who were for wind power. This could then be concluded by another drama in which the children act as council officials who have to decide whether or not to build a wind farm in a plot of near by land, and how to solve any of the issues and reasons against wind farms that people who live nearby may have. Once this discussion is over and the decisions have been made, the children could take part in the technology task in which they make their own model windmills in groups, which follow the original plan and which also follow the new criteria for windmills which they have decided to try out. They also must decide where on the land to put the windmills. This will be the experiment, as the children can take their windmills outside and count how many times they spin in 2 minutes, at different areas of the playground. This experiment will be to allow the children to make connections and to see if whether or not buildings and trees get in the way of wind power, and if the height of the propeller effects the wind power. The process, hypothesis, results and conclusion could be recorded in a learning log, which would allow the children to reflect on the experience and to highlight any problems which arose and how they solved them. It would also allow them to record their connections and evaluations of their wind farm project. This experiment would develop key skills such as hypothesising, systems thinking, problem solving, adapting, reflection and collaboration.

This project would be about the children planning and constructing their very own wind farm and would allow them to take on many different roles. It would also provide an abundance of opportunities for IDL and would take place over a long period of time. It would be an interesting context in which children could both learn about fossil fuels, and become aware of why and how we need to cut down our uses of them, and the use of renewable energy to fuel our planet. It would also allow the children to develop numerous skills such as the ones mentioned above and to explore some of the challenges which their designs and ideas may face.

There are also various other routes which this type of lesson could take, including swapping windmills for another type of renewable energy, or considering the use of hydrogen to power cars.

From listening to a guest speaker today – a teacher from Onthank Primary School, the main lesson which I have learned would be that maths and literacy are not for everyone in the traditional sense. However, the education system can and must change to suit those who it is currently not working for, and projects like this can be an opportunity for engagement and for learning for those pupils who find traditional methods of learning tough to cope with. By showing us the work she has done with her pupils, this teacher inspired me today and reminded me that teaching is about so much more than learning how to read, write and count; it’s about setting children up for life and giving them the skills they needs to be resilient and successful.

Sustainable Development Serial Days Tasks

This is the school which I am on placement at. I have labelled the playground, which has painted lines for sports, the outdoor learning classroom, which has a blackboard and wooden benches and tables, and the bicycle rails, which are the first evidence of learning for sustainability for a fist-time visitor of the school.

From observation of the school grounds and the school environment, I have seen further engagement with sustainable education. This includes an eco-committee which have fairly regular meetings and a board near the main office which is updated with plans and actions of the eco-committee. There are also recycling bins for paper in the classroom. However there are no recycling bins, such as food bins, in the staff room. There is a garden with flower beds which was created a few years ago. However, vandalism of the garden means that it is now littered and unsafe for the children to use. My class are currently studying ‘This Morning I Met a Whale’ by Michael Morpurgo. This book focusses on the damage that humans are having on the natural environment and contains very powerful messages about the need for children to do something to prevent further harm to our planet. If this book is used to successfully capture this theme and to teach the children more about sustainability then it could be a fantastic way to engage them in the subject and make it relatable.

There is a large concrete playground for all of the children to play in during break and lunch time. This is a traditional playground with no green space and with fences all around it. It is safe but it is not stimulating. In discussion with the teachers of the school about this we agreed that they are very limited as the location if the school (in the middle of a town) does not allow for much green space. They also said that there is a forest and a play park relatively close to the school and some of the teachers take their classes to these spaces for structured play or as rewards for good work and behaviour. Although, some teachers said that they find this too stressful and too difficult to organise due to a lack of confidence, the risk assessment forms and careful planning that they feel they would need to do. Outside of the school there is an outdoor classroom. When I saw this I thought it was a fantastic idea as it makes the idea of taking the class outside a bit more structured and possibly not as intimidating. However, upon reflection I feel that the classroom may limit teachers due to limited space and traditional desks and a blackboard. So, maybe it would be a good place to begin and end an outdoor lesson and to congregate throughout, but I think that most of the learning could be done outwith this area. From talking to the teachers about this space, the majority of them reported that they have never used the space because they don’t know what they would use it for. Some of them also said that if they were to use it would be for lessons that they could do just the same indoors, and with the Scottish weather it seems that to do the same lesson outdoors would simply lead to everyone being cold! This highlighted for me that we need to consider the difference between learning outdoors and outdoor learning. For example, taking a lesson in which times of silence and deep concentration are required outdoors is probably not something which I would see any benefit in. But, taking an interactive lesson where collaboration and team work as well as physical movement are required outdoors would, to me, seem like a worthwhile task. There is also a play space inside for the primary one and two classes to use for directed play. This space has various different materials including easels, water trays, sand trays and tools to play with the sand, a tent, building blocks, Lego and paint. The number of materials in this space and the way that they are set out make it a very suitable space for structured play. There is a lot of empty space for exploration and the materials are spread out across the room and organised into areas. There are also aprons for the children to wear and low sinks around the room to allow the children to get messy and explore the materials. My first thoughts when I saw this space was how good it would be for teaching early numbers and graphic knowledge. The tent also makes it a good space for pupils to interact and to take time out if they feel they need to.

My discussion with the pupils about these aspects of sustainable education somewhat surprised me. I spoke to the two members of the eco-council in my class and asked them about their role in the school. They both said that they enjoy being part of the council and I know that they go to meetings once a week (when I am in the class). However, at first neither of them could confidently tell me about their role and about what they do for the school. They said that they are in charge of the recycling bags for paper in each class. I asked if they were in charge of anything else and they said no. I have so far attended 3 assemblies and there has never been any mention or update of the plans and actions of the eco-committee so it seems to be more of an exclusive thing rather than a whole-school approach. However, there are a lot of children who cycle to school. There is no reward system for this, simply many of them enjoy riding their bikes to school and live close enough by that they can do so. I then asked the children about the outdoor classroom to which they said they had never used and some did not know it was there. It seems to be that there are so many opportunities within this school that are not being grasped and from my experience so far, I would put this down to a lack of time and different priorities. I also think that many of the teachers seem to have a lack of confidence to explore these new opportunities and to take learning outwith the comfort and safety of the classroom. There is evidence of sustainable education, but I would say that there is room for much more. I am eager to see how my class progress in their learning using their novel study, and I hope to see that they learn a lot about sustainable development from it.

Sustainable Development – Disasters

Middleton (2013, p.467) says “natural hazards should be defined and studied both in terms of the physical processes involved and the human factors affecting the vulnerability of certain groups of people to disasters.” Therefore, natural disasters can be defined as uncontrollable events which have devastating impacts on the lives and environment of the area in which they occur.

There are many different types of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and disease epidemics. Most of these can be related and if one happens it is possible that another will follow. The likeliness that a country will suffer from a natural disaster depends on past experiences of natural disasters, scientific forecasts using data, and the extent of population growth within the country. The likeliness of natural disasters occurring is increasing, due to a combination of environmental factors such as global warming impacting the climate, and social factors such as more countries reporting natural disasters.

Before learning about natural disasters on this scale, I had not considered how strongly politics impact on their power and effect. Mitigation is not always possible but extensive efforts are being made by scientists across the world to mitigate the effects of natural disasters. The political will and economic status of a country heavily dictates the ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a natural disaster. In order for countries to prepare for disasters, they have to have enough money and resources to do so. They also must have a non-corrupt government which has natural disaster preparation as a priority. Having a government which has many inter-national allies is also important as this means that the country is more likely to receive help if and when they need it. Preparation takes place at a local, national, and inter-national level. This can be by means of government policies, training in schools, local building supports, and guarantee of funding from other countries. It is the government’s job to prepare the country adequately, respond as quickly as possible by sending out emergency services and putting emergency plans into place, and to rebuild the country after the disaster has hit. International and non-governmental organisations also take part in the response by providing the people of the country with aid and helping them to rebuild schools and other community hubs. These aim to work unbiasedly but can sometimes be pressured by governments to prioritise certain things.

By comparing two case studies about Japan and Haiti I found that developing countries have less money and so less resources, meaning that their preparation for natural disasters is poorer. Poor preparation then leads to slower and less effective responses and this then means slower and often less effective recovery. Developing countries also often have fewer countries who are willing to help them, but it is these countries who rely most heavily on international aid. This may be related to the fact that the media and people of power indirectly portray messages about who is most worthy of help (Nix-Stevenson, 2013).

It is not just the poorest countries that tend to suffer most from natural disasters, but the poorest people in a country. Middleton (2013) discusses that it is often the poor, the young, the old, disabled people, and people of minorities who suffer most heavily from natural disasters. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that many of these people have less choice about how they are going to deal with hazards. Some of them may also find it more difficult to evacuate and a lack of social support can mean that they are more reluctant to evacuate. In addition, Stout and Buono (2008) says that there is evidence of government and organisational corruption in many countries which have previously suffered from natural disasters as the rich were favoured and given priorities for many things including reconstruction. Developing countries and poor people rely heavily on charities and other non-governmental organisations for aid and support during these times of crisis.

This is not to say however that the richest countries and the richest people do not fall victim to natural disasters. Middleton (2013, p.468) states that “very rich societies suffer the highest property damage”. This may be due to the fact that they have more expensive structures and generally more property on their land for the natural disaster to destroy. This may mean that their more expensive buildings are going to cost more for them to replace.

All of this knowledge is relevant to teaching as children must learn about the different natural disasters which occur. Nix-Stevenson (2013) discusses the importance of educating people about natural disasters as she says education leads to knowledge which leads to power. This power then leads to the ability to take action. It is through explaining these things to children and helping them to relate to natural disasters by doing cross curricular activities that they will develop an interest in events such as these. This interest will then help them to foster critical skills when they next hear about a natural disaster and to question whether or not they think that the media has portrayed it accurately. Guest speakers such as charity workers and video chats with children from countries which are prone to natural disasters would be a good way to show that these things happen to people just like them. We could also do drama activities such as a talk show within which different children acted as interviewers, emergency services workers, survivors, government officials from different countries and charity workers, discussing their preparation, response and recovery from a recent imaginary natural disaster. There are also many literacy lessons which could take place including a newspaper report and a diary extract. Maths could also be covered as learners could interpret graphs and plot points on a grid in relation to detection of hurricanes for example. All of these activities would help learners to develop their knowledge of the subject and to develop critical thinking skills.

There are also a variety of skills which I developed and which learners would develop through completion of science experiments related to natural disasters. By completing an activity using bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, fairy liquid and food colouring to represent a volcanic eruption I developed my ability to use and apply models. Learners could also develop this skill by making their own tectonic plates out of play dough and connecting them to those shown on a map of the tectonic plates. By pouring the acid and water on to rocks before hammering them I was developing my skills of pattern seeking, exploring and fair testing as I was investigating which rocks would be broken by the hammer and then considering the common properties of the rocks which could and couldn’t be broken. I also had to ensure it was a fair test by only dropping the same number of drops of acid and water on to each rock and hammering them the same number of times. This type of things would not be suitable for primary school children. However, the skills can be developed through other activities such as making model buildings of different materials and using fans to replicate the strong winds of a tornado, or shaking the table to replicate an earthquake, and then testing which of them collapsed and which remained standing. The learners would be required to make sure that the models were placed in front of the fan for the same amount of time and at the same distance from the fan for the results to be accurate.

Through development of my knowledge and by practising my skills in these areas I am now more confident that I will be able to transfer them to children through different IDL activities.

References

Middleton, N. (2013) The Global Casino (5th edition). London: Hodder Arnold. pp.467-496.

Nix-Stevenson, D. (2013) Human Response to Natural Disasters. SAGE Open. [Online] Vol.3(3), pp.1-12. Available: http://journals.sagpub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244013489684

Stout, A. and Buono, R. (2008) “Natural” Disasters are Social Problems: Learning from Katrina. [Online] Available: http://www.sssp1.org/file/AgendaforSocialJustice/Agenda_For_Social_Justice_2008_Chapter_4.pdf

Sustainable Development – Interdependence

Interdependence refers to the reliance of different organisms and species on each other for their survival. It impacts the world environmentally, socially, and economically. The food web is an example of interdependence as humans, for example, eat fish which eat smaller fish which eat insects and plants in the ocean. A concerning impact of this is the fact that humans have been and are continuing to pollute the ocean. By doing so we are injecting chemicals into the waters which are taken in by plants in the sea and then eaten by fish. These chemicals then move up the food chain and into our own bodies, causing damage to our health and the health of the ocean’s many species. This made me consider the impact of every day human activities such as using certain shampoos and soaps which contain micro-plastics and allowing them to flush from the shower into the ocean and contaminate it. After learning about this I have become more considerate of the consequences every day activities such as this may have on interdependence in the wider world. Over fishing and hunting are also causing problems within interdependence by disrupting biodiversity. We researched interdependence within the oceans more carefully and created an infographic under this Padlet: https://padlet.com/louise_mckie/pybl2vzwsv0b

From researching the Living Blue Planet Report 2015, I developed my research skills and my critical literacy skills as I read through the text and had to pick out the important pieces of information and make sense of the bits that I didn’t understand using the pictures and surrounding information. From making this infographic I developed my ICT skills as I had never used this website or created an infographic before.

In a primary school class I would focus on relating interdependence to the children at first in order to make it relevant to them. By working on simple activities such as making models of different animals and plants out of clay and then using these models to create our own class 3D food web example, the learners would hopefully develop a good understanding of how all living things rely on each other for survival and to grow and develop. (I can explore examples of food chains and show an appreciation of how animals and plants depend on each other for food. SCN 1-02a) Making connections in this way would be a good way to develop critical thinking skills as the children are being forced to consider where the animals and plants will appear on the food web and why. This would be a good topic to cover if the children had previously studied mini-beasts as they would have knowledge of them and their predators to help them develop their understanding. I also like the idea of using the models and/or photographs of objects and sorting them into categories of living and non-living things prior to this activity as it would help learners to develop their understanding of what it means to be ‘living’. (I can distinguish between living and non living things. I can sort living things into groups and explain my decisions. SCN 1-01a)

As well as considering the human impact on interdependence, we considered endangered species and how different species meet the demands of their environment through social arrangements. I developed my knowledge of this, considering hierarchies, cooperative hunting, and defence. To develop an understanding of these social behaviours in the classroom I could relate it to a history lesson of how humans organised their environment to ensure the food and resources were equally spread out in the past. They could also do a research task which will require them to research different endangered species by using the charity websites which support them. This would develop critical literacy skills as they have to determine whether their sources are biased or not and also have to pick out the important information from texts.

Visiting two different types of farms – one small farm which sells its milk privately and one large commercial farm – taught me that farmers rely heavily on the economic factors of interdependence to maintain their careers. Recently, due to the world’s poor economic state, a false prediction was made that countries such as China would be demanding more milk from the UK. However, this was not the case and it lead to the UK producing too much milk to sell. This lead to the price of milk being driven down drastically and many farmers were forced out of business. The price is slowly rising although it is still not at a high enough level for many farmers to continue with their work. The smaller farm which we visited uses more traditional methods and, living on a farm myself, I related more to these methods. The large commercial farm uses high tech robots to milk the herd of around 200 cows and produces vast volumes of milk daily. Although the cows are kept indoors all year round and are all artificially inseminated by female sex sperm cells. Comparing the two farms developed the skill of comparison and listening to two arguments and coming to my own conclusion. This would be a useful activity for children in schools as it raises the important issues of animal welfare, GM crops, and so called ‘factory farming’. There were convincing arguments on both sides and I felt that although it is nice to see cows running around outdoors, the increase of rain in Scotland means that keeping the cows outdoors in the mucky cold is not always the most efficient or kindest way to treat them. This helped me to develop a more well rounded knowledge and understanding of the different methods within the farming industry and I think that it would do the same for children. It would also help them to develop skills of observing and justifying their answers. A follow up activity for a trip such as this may be getting learners to write a persuasive piece of writing about the method of farming they agree with and why.