Remco

Class project. Set up a partnership with another school from the Global South in which you raise funds to support a student and/or teacher exchange. This will allow students from both schools to experience a different setting. It is important to emphasise that learning occurs in both directions and to avoid any stereotyping of rich/poor settings. To avoid the travel element, meetings via a video platform can be arranged based on questions raised by students on both sides of the partnership with each class conducting research and preparing presentations in answer to questions.

For further advice on school linking see this pdf document.

A series of photos of people from various regions are presented to students. Students are asked to classify the photos according to the quality of life of these people (food, home, education, health, job, human rights etc.). They discuss the differences of peoples’ life quality and wellbeing and propose ways that people individually and collectively can help other people in need.

Students plan, for example, “A day against discrimination” and include a series of actions in their school and in their community for promoting inclusion and acceptance of all.

General idea: Analyse sustainable business board games and make their own games. Creating games in teamwork facilitates engagement with the topic and community thinking.

Game-example: 3rd World Farmer

Developing World Farmer is survival role-playing online game which gives a striking, first-hand insight into extreme rural poverty, and the hardships and challenges faced by the millions of starving, struggling farmers and families of developing nations. In the game, the player manages an African farm and is soon confronted with the difficult choices that poverty and conflict can cause.

Benefits:
Experience everyday developing world hardship in a safe environment. Learn about obstacles of the poor, which, in turn, will spark reflection and discussion about solutions to those problems. Make positive social changes, such as building networks and organizations that help people in developing world countries, and sparking interest in similar topics throughout developing countries.

Students investigate to find out the least wealthy countries in the world and reasons for that poverty.

Students explore which of these is the most appealing, trustworthy, effective and what support programmes are there in their country that are involved in these countries.

Students explore whether it is possible to get in touch with a representative of those programmes and arrange a meeting/talk.

Students decide on a programme that they feel is effective and then decide how they can support it.

Useful sites:

Scenario development workshop. Develop in pairs of threes, 2 different visions of education in 50 years from now:

  1. Nothing changes, same procedures as right now
  2. Fundamental changes to access to education, global literacy increase.

Present this to others and explain/discuss your different future scenarios.

Students are divided into 2 groups and discuss “The good things in our world that improve our quality of life, health and wellbeing” and “Ways that contemporary way of life impacts on our health and wellbeing”.
Groups present their result to the plenary and discuss their thoughts, feelings and things that they would like to change

Provide to the students a scenario e.g. how refugees, immigrants and refugee flow can ‘affect a country’s well- being’. Students analyse and reflect on two suggested responses to this and discuss how they might affect society’s health and wellbeing. One is that every foreigner returns back to his/her country, and the other is to adopt measures of adaptation and resilience of these people. During the debate students elaborate the beliefs and values behind each one and identify the mechanisms and strategies for each solution.

Compare and contrast the ways that people ensured food security in the past with how we currently do this, e.g. look at the practices of indigenous societies today. Visualise different future scenarios for maintaining a sustainable food supply; consider how they might be achieved and how they play out in society, e.g. would your suggestions be sustainable if everyone adopted them?

Game-example: The Hunger Games Adventures

Teachers and parents need to know that The Hunger Games Adventures is a social game played on Facebook. It’s based on The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games film, but does not depict the Games themselves (where 24 teens fight to the death in a brutal version of reality TV). Instead, gameplay focuses on life in District 12 where players learn survival skills like harvesting, hunting, and crafting. The game is free to play, but players can use Facebook Credits (purchased with real money) to advance faster. The game is still in beta, so it remains to be seen whether the story will eventually take players into the Arena to participate in the Hunger Games themselves.
We can talk about the post-apocalyptic setting. What survival skills would it be important to learn if you found yourself in a similar environment?

Students explore the spread of wealth/poverty in the school neighbourhood and key services provided by NGO’s and the government.
Students explore the manifestoes/pledges/plans of local political parties represented in the town council and analyse (1) the likely consequences of these positions on poverty in the neighbourhood and (2) the role of the government, NGO’s and individual responsibility in these.Students set out different futures without poverty and consider routes to achieving these asking questions like ‘What would happen if we ….?’
Students reflect on the outcomes of this process, supported by the opinions of local formal and informal leaders (religious, cultural, business, etc.).
Based on the outcomes of the discussions, students write individual or groups plans for the area entitled ‘Getting rid of poverty from the neighbourhood’
The plans are presented and discussed.

(For the Netherlands a useful start point is here.).

Split students into groups of 3 or 4. Ask each group to draw a large outline or silhouette of a person. Ask them to think about what qualities and characteristics an educated person might have. Students should write these in the silhouette of the person.

Next ask them to draw a big circle around the silhouette of the person to represent the world. Students should now discuss what the qualities and characteristics of a world full of educated people would be and write these down.

Students can also add pictures and symbols to their drawing.

Ask groups of students to share their ideas.

With students in pairs, ask them to think about the opportunities that could open up as a result of everyone having access to quality education. Ask them to come up with a list of five opportunities to share with the class.

Divide students into three groups. Each group is responsible for one dimension (social, political, economic) and discusses and then presents on a flip chart how it can affect people’s health and wellbeing. 

Using the web game, students are asked to find the connections between the three dimensions and reflect on how these as a whole affect health and wellbeing.

Using the results of the two previous activities, in groups students create a concept map presenting the causes and consequences of social, political and economic dimensions to peoples’ wellbeing.

Students then discuss the values and beliefs underpinning the decisions behind social, political, economic dimensions that impact on health and wellbeing.