Transcript INNIVATIVE RESEARCH CONCERNING PRODUCTS AND …

DEVELOPING A NEW PEDAGOGICAL
APPROACH TO TEACH TOPICS RELATED
TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Adriana Alexandru1, Eleonora Tudora1, Ovidiu Bica1 and Rayner Mayer2
1National Institute for Research and Development
2University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
in Informatics, Bucharest, Romania
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1.
Institute for Education, University of Reading, UK;
2.
Ecoserveis, Barcelona, Spain;
3.
Commune di Bologna, Bologna, Italy;
4.
National Institute for R&D in Informatics, Bucharest,
Romania;
5.
Hespul, Lyon, France;
6.
Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern
Europe, Szentendre, Hungary.
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6 principal partners from 6 Member States who will
organise and resource the network activities;
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36 schools willing to trial initially the network
resources to enhance their science teaching and to
form partnerships with schools in other countries to
share ideas and experiences;
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20 associate partners who will support the network
activities and help disseminate the network outputs.
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The world has to stabilise global emissions of greenhouse gases by 2015
in order to prevent irreversible changes in climate. Pressure on
resources, changes in climate, the inability of species to migrate changes
will lead to regional conflicts and further environmental degradation.
This will require a shift from a carbon based to a carbon free society.
Within the UNESCO decade for promoting Education for Sustainable
Development initiative (ESD) which forms part of the Kiev agreement,
limiting climate change is a priority topic.
Science has to lead the way to more sustainable use of energy which can
be explored and discussed in lessons thus making science very relevant
to every day life. Identifying appropriate solutions to limit greenhouse
gas emissions from the home by up to 80% is very challenging.
Substituting renewable energy sources for fossil fuels and will lead to
new job opportunities and careers requiring appropriate local solutions.
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Tackling climate change represents a huge challenge. By 2050 global
emissions need to be less than half of what they are today if we are to
avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Even with action to reduce
emissions, some warming is inevitable and we will need to adapt to
things like more frequent heat waves and floods.
So tackling climate change needs a dual approach:
 Actions to mitigate – to reduced greenhouse gas emissions;
 Actions to adapt – to improve the way we cope with climate change.
The challenge of climate change requires not only an understanding of how
our actions influence the world’s climate, but also an understanding that
our actions can make a difference to addressing the problem. Solutions
will involve local actions such as using less energy and switching to
renewable and lower carbon energy sources. Actions at the local level
can also help us adapt – such as green planting to improve shade,
increasing biodiversity and more sustainable use of water.
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Develop EU wide network of schools. This EU project has a strong
focus on building links between UK schools and partner schools
across Europe. We aim to develop a thriving and sustainable
network with an emphasis on sharing experiences, diversity and
culture.
Enhance teaching and learning. The project aims to provide
access to a wide range of teaching resources, to support and
provide training for teachers, to make science learning
interesting, to develop new teaching approaches and embed
climate change in the curriculum.
Encourage positive action. Collective and individual action to
tackle climate change is a key element of the project. Schools can
act as a catalyst for action, to encourage whole community
involvement, to engender lifelong learning and develop life
skills.
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Preparatory work has been undertaken which has developed and
trailled multi lingual resources for students and their families
which are ready for replication and diffusion through a network.
The global aim of the network will be to:
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expand the resources,
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develop teacher training methods including distance learning,
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involve schools and link these across country borders.
The network will support teachers in providing science lessons
which will encourage sustainable solutions to energy use in
their homes.
By promoting the interchange of ideas,
observations and reflections, the network will help develop a
European consensus on building a carbon-free energy society .
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Schools face the challenge of including within their lesson plans
education for sustainable development of which limiting climate change
is a priority topic; so there is a need for - compiling suitable resources
for teaching such multi-disciplinary topics; developing a teaching and
learning process which will make such scientific topics more interesting
to students and relevant to their lifestyle; creating an understanding
about the ever increasing need to use energy more sustainably to
preserve life on earth..
The principal partners will be able to help such schools as they have
developed suitable multi-lingual resources for teachers as well as
students [www.eais.info and www.kyotoinhome.info] which link cause
and affect and suggest actions which enable energy to be used more
efficiently and introduce non polluting sources of energy.
The associated partners will be able to assist in developing such
resources and learning methods either through their specialised
interests or through their activities to promote more sustainable use of
energy.
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collating and reviewing existing teaching resources to
ensure consistency with new understanding of causes
and impacts;
assessing existing teaching methodologies in learning
of multi-disciplinary science based topics, improving
the pedagogy and assessing the impact in network
schools;
monitoring the teaching and learning process of
limiting climate change and diffusing new knowledge
through sharing with partner schools and other
members of the network proving that cognition leads
to effect;
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involving each participating class and school to undertake one
action a year to limit climate change; assessing the impact of that
action by metrics to demonstrate the effectiveness of actions;
organizing an annual network event during which the resources,
methodologies, pedagogies and actions are reviewed and
improved for the following year (Barcelona – 2011, Reading –
2012, Budapest-2013);
making publicity and communication for enabling network
members to communicate effectively with their partner schools
and other network members on a regular basis; to share
information, observations, approaches to learning and successful
actions; to publicise network activities by working with other
networks and taking part in workshops and conferences; to
develop
and
populate
a
multi-lingual
website
(www.changingwithclimate.info) with information for both
members and prospective members.
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The global aim is to raise awareness by informing and
educating teachers, students and their families so
that they can do something in their homes to save
energy and help their country and the EU to reach its
Kyoto targets.
The existing resources and trials are extended to cover
the possible introduction of energy efficiency and
renewable energy sources concepts into energy
efficient homes.
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Resources and lesson plans
The resources are primarily in the form of activities which comprise:
background information to introduce the topic,
• worksheets for students,
• notes for teachers.
•
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Because of the nature of the observations and discussions, these activities
are best undertaken in small groups, where students can exchange
information and arrive at some conclusions. The principal role of the
teacher is to introduce the topic and facilitate and summarise the
conclusions of the various groups.
School Activities
Many activities have been developed and are being trialled to illustrate
subject topics. These activities can comprise one or more parts of a
lesson and lesson plans can be used to link to specific themes or topics
in various disciplines. What classes joining the network should do is to
link relevant climate change topics in various subjects so that students
understand the causes and impacts as well as the need for action.
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Romanian partner organized a training course for
schools (September 2011). The five schools
that has been involved in the first year of the
project were invited, each of them involving 2
teachers. Considering the recruitment of
schools from Romania, 4 schools sent their
profile in order to be uploaded to the website.
At the School day, the debate focused around
the following themes: held lessons on topics of
global warming and climate change, future
planned activities, views and presentation of
posters made by students.
Climate change poster presented during the
School day
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The Open University of Cataluña was the venue for the
1st annual meeting of our Changing with the Climate
network. France, Italy, Romania, Hungary, United
Kingdom and Spain were each represented by their
network partner and teachers from two schools who
had signed up as network members.
The opening event was a guided visit of the new Science
Museum which has a very extensive set of working
exhibits to illustrate scientic concepts which form the
basis of our current technological society.
The opening lecture was given by Jordi Pigem who
described how our energy usage had evolved since
the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Eleven teachers from five countries then described some
of their activities they had undertaken with their
students to understand and to initiate actions to limit
climate change. The audio visual evidence presented
by the teachers illustrated that the students had
accepted the need for change; they had enjoyed the
challenge of deciding what actions were needed and
how they would inform and influence other students
and their families.
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Participants at the first Annaual Event in
Barcelona
11 Romanian schools associated with the network was
described by teachers from Bucharest and Targoviste
(Dambovita County).
The teachers pointed out that the main objectives of the
schools involved:
• introducing climate change as a main topic
during their lessons concerning sustainable
development
• adopting an inter- disciplinary approach
• using interactive methods and techniques in
order to raise interest in climate change issues
among students.
• implementing a “Code of Manners” in the
network schools during the following years,
which should include behavioural changes such
as: a rational use of energy, a School Energy
Saving Plan, unplugging devices (TVs, faxes,
computers, etc) at the end of school programme,
turning off the lights whenever they aren’t
needed, finding school partners over Europe in
order to exchange ideas, opinions and create
common activities and encouraging community
involvement and develop life skills.
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A workshop was held at Voievodul Mircea High School,
Targoviste, Dambovita County, on June 14, 2012,
which highlighted the experiences of various
regional high schools and colleges in protecting the
environment and was reflected in network member’s
actions. Students and teachers from the following
schools participated: "I.H. Rădulescu“ Targoviste,
"Aurel Rainu" Fieni, "Petru Cercel“ Târgovişte, "Bălaşa
Doamna" Art High School Târgovişte and "Voievodul
Mircea" Târgovişte.
The workshop sessions were coordinated by Adriana
Alexandru from the National Institute for Research
and Development in Informatics, Bucharest and
Nicolae Olariu from Valahia University of Targoviste.
Students and teachers presented the results
accomplished in environment protection or climate
change effects limitations campaigns and promoted
the World Water Day and World Environment Day in
their schools. Every participant highlighted the
positive experience acquired during his participation
in this educational network. Teachers of the two best
presentations were invited to participate in the
second annual meeting of the network in Reading.
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The main event was a one day workshop on teacher
training education in which various pedagogical
aspects were discussed and developed. Teachers
from all six countries in the Network joined with
other teacher educators in October 2012 at
Reading University's Institute of Education. We
shared our news and activities through posters
provoking much discussion and learning about
each other's cultures.
A full day training event combined practical work on
climate science knowledge, with pedagogical
activities such as a game and how to interpret
graphs. There have been positive evaluations of
this event which was subsequently used in a cross
border workshop held in Toulouse with French
teachers.
However the poster session provided a good
overview of what was being done in member
schools and the twinning session resulted in new
links being created between schools. Face to face
contact is always more useful in initiating
partnerships than contact at a distance.
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APPLICATION TO JOIN NETWORK AS A MEMBER
Our school/class is interested in joining the network which will link other schools/classes
throughout Europe in a common effort to limit impacts of and adapt to the changing
climate. We realise that positive action is required and we are willing to:
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2.
3.
undertake a small number of lessons each year (say 5) which link the causes,
impacts and options for limiting climate change;
undertake one individual action and one collective action annually to limit
climate change;
share our observations and actions with a partner school/class in another
country.
The network will initially link schools in the countries in which the partners are active that
is UK, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary and Romania.
If your school has links with schools/classes in other European countries then you should
invite them to join the network.
The network is collating suitable resources and is developing methods of supporting
teachers and classes in using these resources and linking to topics within the national
curriculum.
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APPLICATION TO JOIN NETWORK AS A ASSOCIATE MEMBER
All the available evidence suggests that only a few years remain in which to
stabilise the concentration of greenhouse gases in the upper atmosphere
to prevent irreversible changes in climate. To mitigate and adapt to
changes in the climate is a huge task which should start in schools and
be incorporated into the lifelong learning process.
The network is collating suitable resources and is developing methods of
supporting teachers and classes in using these resources and linking to
topics within the national curriculum.
The role of the Associate Member in each country is to help
schools/classes understand likely impacts and assist where possible
with local actions to reduce their carbon footprint.
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Details of:
 which classes;
 how many pupils.
 topics covered with relation to climate change.
Collecting the data about each school in order to be uploaded
to the web site.
16 Romanian schools are now part of CwC network
Each school is required to link with a partner school in
another country, to share activities, and you should let us
know if this has been done.
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There are already some resources:
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KYOTO IN HOME HANDBOOK (www.kyotoinhome.info);
GREEN PACK (www.greenpack.org);
TREAM – EAIS APPLICATION (www.eais.info).
We have collected any others resources:
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EYEMANAGER GUIDE;
http://www.changingwithclimate.info/index.php/ro/resurseeducationale/external-resources/104
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The education of the young generation in climate change,
energy saving, rational use of energy and renewable energy
sources is a key factor for creating responsible future
energy consumers.
Through developing suitable resources it will be possible to
help people to understand and appreciate the environment
and their role with respect to sustainable development, to
determine them to change their patterns of consumption
and investment in order to become sustainable citizens.
Sustainable Energy is not only an environmental necessity;
it makes economic and social sense.
Students and their families are willing to change the way in
which they view their use of energy provided that they have
sufficient knowledge and understanding of why such
changes are necessary. The work must be carried forward
until all students in all schools throughout the EU become
involved in limiting climate change through reducing
environmental emissions from their homes.
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The 9-th edition of INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
November 22-23 2011, TARGOVISTE, ROMANIA