Trocaire’s Better World Award recognises the work and learning that takes place in the classroom while exploring each year’s key Lenten theme. Lydia McCarthy explores an example from 2014.
Who are we?
Junior Infants Students and Múinteoir Ann Marie, Scoil Linbh Íosa, Galway
What we did
Scoil Linbh Íosa received a special merit for their project based on the theme of water around the world.
Schools receive an education resource pack at the beginning of Lent. Teachers are asked to submit the work carried out by their students.
Looking at Malawi, the students identified similarities and differences between life in Ireland and life in Malawi. They learned lots about Malawian culture.
Exploring the theme of water, the students discussed ways in which we use water every day and identified water sources around their school. They took a trip to the local river to explore the issue of a lack of access to water. The students learned about Enestina from Malawi who does not have access to clean, safe water.
How we did it
Múinteoir Ann Marie received the Trócaire education resource pack and explored the activities, videos and slideshows with the students in her class.
- The class compiled a scrapbook of the photographs and samples of their work from the previous 6 weeks
- The project was posted into Trócaire’s Development Education Unit after the Easter holidays.
Did we succeed?
The students’ learning went beyond the classroom in this project.
To fully empathise with Enestina’s lack of access to water in Malawi, they had to fully understand the important role water plays in their lives. This was achieved during the class trip to the local river. This also helped them to understand better, the journey that a child in Parts of Malawi has to make every day to get water.
Curriculum subjects that this project complimented:
- English
- Maths
- Geography
- Science
- SPHE
- Art
Lydia McCarthy is education officer with Trócaire. For more, visit Trócaire’s education section online.