We would like to draw the attention of pre-school teachers to global problems, the necessity to implement global education elements in everyday work considering children’s rights and other values that education has to offer. Our aim is also to educate the families and make them more sensitive to children’s rights, respect and acceptance.
explain Dr Wanda Baranowska, project coordinator at the UL and Dr Ewa Kos, researcher engaged in the project, from the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Lodz.
The GainKids project comes within the framework of Global Society concept. It emphasises the necessity to implement global education elements at the stage of pre-school education. The aim of global education is providing a better understanding of the phenomena that concern more and more people around the world, as well as the improvement of critical thinking of kids in nursery schools and schools. The project also strives to overcome stereotypes and prejudices in human relations.
What is global education?
Its wide definition was developed in 2011 by a team consisting of the representatives of, for instance, Ministry of National Education, teacher training centres, universities and non-governmental institutions.
Global education can also be called developmental education or education for sustainable development; it is a part of civil education and upbringing that broadens its scope by making people aware of certain phenomena and the correlations between people and places. Its aim is to prepare the recipients to face challenges concerning all humanity.
Global education puts emphasis on:
- explaining the reasons and consequences of the described phenomena,
- showing the impact of an individual on global processes and the impact of global processes on an individual,
- overcoming the existing stereotypes and prejudices,
- developing critical thinking and change in attitude.
Global education improves the following abilities:
- detecting and understanding global correlations,
- critical thinking,
- practical use of knowledge,
- making conscious decisions,
- cooperation on the local, national and international level.
Teaching resources from children for children
Children from “Pomarańczowa Ciuchcia” nursery school in Warsaw and their teachers have been engaged in the project.
Their opinion is extremely important in the process of preparing teaching resources related to the project. Together with the children and pre-school teachers, we have prepared a set of educational tools, including: fairytale books, a set of animated films, a textbook for teachers and a guide to develop the skills related to global society.
said Dr Wanda Baranowska and Dr Ewa Kos.
One of the books from the series – “Przyjaciele Jednorożca” (Unicorn’s Friends) – which discusses the topic of diversity, was created in Poland. There are five books in the series, each of them discusses a different topic and is created in a different member country. At the time of the Polish publication, the following books were published: “Akiak i jajko” (Akiak and an Egg), “Kotka Mia” (Mia, the Cat), “Spotkanie na Akwarelowej Ulicy przed artystycznym Patio” (Meeting at the Watercolour Street in front of the Patio), “Deszczowy Potwór” (Rainy Monster).
Kids reading the unicorn’s story, are able to familiarise themselves with universal cultural values and their factors and elements. The contents connected with quite complicated topics for children are provided in the form of an inspiring narrative. The book has been created in order to give young readers the pleasure of reading and an incentive to observe the world, learn through listening and think about what they are interested in – explain UL researchers.
It is also important to emphasise that the book is created by children for children. Thanks to this, the organisation of the book content and the unicorn’s human interactions are close to the children’s experiences. The aim is to provide the children with knowledge and change their values and attitudes towards other people and themselves – say the researchers from the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Lodz.
Teachers from the University of Lodz consult the pre-school teachers
In the research part, the researchers from the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Lodz have used a focused group interview (FGI). It is one of the qualitative research methods which involves a discussion between people with the same experiences. 6 people were invited to form an expert group (teachers, teaching advisors, consultants, researchers). Considering the expectations, aims of the GainKids project and the type of topics covered during the interview, it has been decided that it is necessary to create a small research group. It was meant to encourage the discussions on hard or sensitive topics. Another advantage of creating a small research group was the fact that the group was consisting of experts who could discuss the problems from the research perspective in detail.
The aim of the study was to:
- recognise global education practices and the possibilities of their development from the pre-school teachers’ perspective;
- examine global education barriers during the teaching process;
- recognise pre-school teachers’ attitude towards global education in nursery schools.
GainKids Project
The project is implemented within the Erasmus+ programme and will last until the end of March 2023. APEI - Associação de Profissionais de Educação de Infância in Portugal is the project manager.
Project partners:
- Univeristy of Lodz, Poland
- Instituto Politecnico de Braganca, Portugal
- Aidlearn, Consultoria em Recursos Humanos Lda., Portugal
- Association of Human Rights Educators – AHEAD, Spain
- Associazione Culturale Piccabulla, Italy.
Source: Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Lodz, global education definition – Centre for Environmental Activities “Źródła”;
Edit: Promotion Centre, University of Lodz