Pre-Planning
Practical Concerns
Before the work can begin, a review is required to examine practical classroom issues in relation to the numbers of children and the levels of support available. It is also important to review the levels of access to technology and equipment.
The following table addresses these practical concerns.
Familiarisation with the Methodology
Our methodology has been used extensively within CEPNET and in other work with children and young people across Europe. For example, within one of these projects, a range of useful resources were developed to demonstrate how each stage of the process can be delivered. Furthermore a wide range of the projects produced by the children and young people can be viewed. Videos, presentations and handbooks are all available to assist in this familiarisation work. These resources can be found at this link: https://wyredproject.eu/
It might be useful to consider this toolkit as a stepping off point. It describes how to go about different types of research, creative and journalistic type projects with a class. There are lots of tips, insights and examples.
Familiarisation with the Competence Framework
It is important that we are all familiar with the CEPNET competence framework. This is in many ways the engine that is driving us.
We are interested in developing the skills, attitudes and knowledge base for our students. When we are looking at the potential for our students to develop over the course of the project, we are looking at the range and scope of the student’s potential development. We will not necessarily be looking to evaluate and review all of progress happening, but as teachers, we might be seeking to capture examples and case studies through which we can highlight the value of the methodology and project, as well as demonstrating the importance of allowing our children be exposed to different ways that they can express themselves and their ideas and opinions.
It will be important that we can find ways of explaining some of these competences to the children in our classes so that they can take pride and ownership of their individual and group progress.
The manner in which we capture this learning will evolve. Some feedback will be directly from the students as they participate and actively engage; some feedback will be from the teachers’ perspective in how they have noticed specific changes in a student’s behaviour or levels of engagement; other feedback will come through the student council; finally also from other members of the school community including principals and families.
As an example, we can see that these competences are considered important in Ireland from the perspective of their national curriculum agency. We want to be able to show our children and young people that this project is helping them develop a wide range of skills, from becoming active citizens to communicating about sustainability and many, many more.
Resources:
NCCA Primary Curriculum Framework PDF
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Familiarisation with the SDG Framework
The teaching of the SDGs in schools can often be linked to the delivery of a specific part of the curriculum and much like other aspects of the curriculum, some students may not fully engage with the key messages. This may be linked to the time available to the teachers to include such a focus in their lessons, or the lack of appropriate or accessible resources.
It is important as part of our pre-planning work that we become familiar with the range of issues within each of the 17 SDGs. Through CEPNET, we may well take the opportunity to organise webinars or discussion groups on specific themes, should there be an interest.
Certain themes may be of greater interest to our students and they could be encouraged to examine and interpret some of the key messages. For instance the following target 4.7 could be explained within a class discussion and could elicit a response as to how it may relate to their lives.
“by 2030 ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development”
There may be shorter texts that the children can seek to focus on and potentially use as the basis for posters within the classroom.
Image: To Do List for the Planet
Resources:
https://sdgtoolkit.org/tool/sdgs-for-kids
https://www.youth.ie/documents/sdgs-youth-resource-pack/
Key CEPNET Principles
As we prepare for the initial classroom based activities, it is no harm to remind ourselves of the key principles that underpin and inform the CEPNET approach.
These include the following:
- VOICE: Importance of the children taking the lead, the adults as facilitators; Fostering the voice of the child
- DEBATE: Ensuring debate and discussion about the core issues
- ANALYSIS: Research acting as a tool to promote critical thinking
- WORLDVIEW: Democracy and the role of the children’s council; Engagement of wider community where possible; Bringing issues of sustainability into the processes
- ACTION: Active learning and participation at all times; Action as an outcome of the learning
These child-centred values already form the basis for how our schools work with their students and how our teachers create empowering environments in their classrooms. Participation in the CEPNET project is offering a space and opportunity for taking all these principles and values and adding a new methodology that can bind these together. As part of the project progress, we also want to use our approach to enhance these values within the classroom and the wider school community.
As we move through the project phases, the children will be given a chance to add to the body of work already developed using the methodology. They will be given a chance to evaluate their experiences and they can therefore add their understanding as to what this means in practice as they participate and evaluate the phases of the cycles.
Resources:
CEPNET video from children in Omagh
We will develop an outline of these principles and values so that they can be communicated clearly to the children. Posters can be created by the students to highlight what these mean.
Summary of Pre-planning Steps
The preparation for the initial student engagement will involve the following steps to be completed by teachers
- Complete the questions on practical concerns
- Review existing support materials, especially the tool kit
- Review the competence framework
- Create an outline of the CEPNET values
