In March 2020 a study was released showing that almost 50% of Spanish students considered The Climate Crisis as a problem the world needed to solve.
A massive 98% of them said they wanted to learn about it in an academic setting. Sadly, 4 in 10 of those students felt it wasn’t even talked about at school.
It is clear that education ministers are attempting to address this issue with updates to the education law (LOMLOE) giving a greater focus to the planet in its most recent update. You can read more about it here. Hopefully, this newly found focus on bringing sustainability to the forefront of education will help tackle the climate crisis by ensuring future generations are aware and prepared to help prevent an impending global catastrophe.
In today’s post we’re going to look at how you and your students address some of the sustainability issues
raised the LOMLOE in your classroom using the Your World Learning Experience 4.
What are Learning Experiences?
The learning experiences are stand-alone activities for both primary and secondary aged classrooms, aimed at helping teachers and students to work through the new additions to the law. They focus on key social justice issues ranging from gender equality through to the environment helping to develop both hard and soft skills along the way.
They have been created with the aim of helping our students develop more than just their language skills. The Learning Experiences are designed with specific tasks to aid learners in the acquisition of key skills such as critical thinking and collaboration. They will work on issues that go beyond the classroom and encourage them to develop into more rounded global citizens.
Understanding how to help the planet
The benefits of this learner pack goes well beyond simply helping our students understand the impact we, as humans, have on the planet. It also empowers them to make a difference. When assuming personal responsibilities our students develop a better understanding of the issues at hand and in taking positive steps, albeit small ones, it will heighten their awareness of key issues and help them develop a greener mindset.
Your World Learning Experience 4: Make Green Positivity Cards
This goal focuses mainly on the Sustainable
Development goal 11. Promoting Sustainable Cities and Communities but also has underling connections to an array of the goals set out in the 2030 agenda. The LOMLOE states “Students begin to adopt sustainable life habits, in order to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity from both a local and global perspective” This pack will help promote critical thinking and a whole host of sustainable habits.
The beauty of these sustainable life habits is that they create a greener mindset in our students and tend to grow into much greater actions in the long run, they also show that there is only one place to start when you want to make a difference and that is with yourself. It is also imperative that we, as educators, allow students to see and feel how the connection of our actions, as humans, have an effect on the planet.
Making the most from the learning experience.
Before you start
Have your students look at the image and identify as many of the different sustainable acts as they can. This is a great way to activate schemata and see how much our students already know. It also gives students a chance to say what isn’t in the picture. You can also check to see if students know why these acts are important. Which links closely to the “understand the systemic relationships between human actions and the environment” part of the LOMLOE.
Step 1
Goes a step further and asks students to think about the acts in the pictures and read a short conversation between two teenagers. Asking them to consider which of the two is most eco-friendly and honestly compare themselves to the person they’re most similar too. It’s very important at this stage of development there are no prizes for being the eco-friendliest person around. The aim is to simply try and do better.
Step 2
When at the analyse stage it’s important to impress upon your students that these acts are individual acts and will make a big difference to their own lives, however, the responsibility tackling the climate crisis doesn’t rest upon them, it is something everyone needs to address and take steps to positive change. The changes suggested are all very simple to action and a great place to plant the seed of environmentalism.
Step 3
When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, we all need a little positivity and a lot of creativity. Preparing the Green Positivity cards will provide your students with the perfect chance to use both. Not only that but it’ll also add in some incredibly useful phrases too. Having these positivity cards will serve as a constant reminder to you and your students of the steps we all need to take to be a little greener.
Step 4
At this stage we can truly empower our students. By now they have come up with the ideas they can easily action and now they can present them to their peers. It shows an understanding of the LOMLOE sections which says: “They should also adopt a sustainable and eco-socially responsible lifestyle”.
Once these ideas have been shown, presented and displayed we need to ensure that as teachers and mentors we refer back to them frequently to check in on how we are doing in our quest to be greener.
Reflect
Reflection is key to any lesson, not simply those about our behaviours. At this stage of the class, we should ensure our students have fully understood and find out from them what their biggest takeaway was from the class.
Final Thoughts
It’s wonderful to see the law makers are finally taking note of the changes our students want and need to have a better future. Thankfully, with resources like the Learning Experiences we can empower our students with the key skills they are going to need going forward to make a difference with a wide range of social justice issues in their world and beyond.
