Eurochange Teacher's Handbook (Eng)

Eurochange
Teacher's Handbook

Project No. 2018-1-CY01-KA201-046877

Children inspiring children to become agents of change for a child-friendly multicultural Europe

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

EUROCHANGE Teacher’s Handbook

Table of Contents

- About the document

- The children-inspiring-children methodology

- Principles of the children-inspiring-children methodology

- Strategies underlying the children-inspiring-children methodology

- How children are involved in learning from each other?

- How to use this handbook?

- Activities
Collaborative art-making
Online intercultural pedagogy
Collaborative story-telling

The children-inspiring-children methodology

In acknowledging the importance of listening to children’s voices and promoting their active involvement in social reconstruction, the EUROCHANGE project employs the children-inspiring-children approach in order to meet its objectives (that we have already discussed in the introductory section of this report). The children-inspiring-children approach is a relatively new methodological tool that is mainly used in STEM and STEAM programmes rather than as a tool engaging children in sociological and activist work. The EUROCHANGE project seeks to employ this approach in sociological settings. In the following sections, we examine how children and teachers may work according to this innovative pedagogical approach.

The children-inspiring-children methodology

The children-inspiring-children methodology is a peer training methodology to be developed under the supervision of a teacher/trainer, where children teach and learn from each other, with the objective of achieving learning outcomes that promote and foment the diversity and the multiculturalism of Europe.

The EUROCHANGE children-inspiring-children methodology will centre in developing learning outcomes through three different types of activities:

-Collaborative art-making;

-Online intercultural pedagogy;

-Collaborative story-telling.

The children-inspiring-children methodology

For fomenting diversity and multiculturalism, we also centre on cultural heritage. We divide cultural heritage into different groups and thematic, something we believe will help then to apply it in multiples sets.

Types of cultural heritage:
-Cathedrals, Monasteries and Convents.
-Defensive Architecture.
-Industrial Heritage.
-Cultural Landscape.
-20th century.
-Traditional Architecture.
-Intangible Cultural Heritage.
-Research, Prevention and Conservation.
-Photographic Heritage.

Principles of the children-inspiring-children methodology

- Empathy: is the capacity to understand what another person is experiencing from within the other person’s frame of reference.

- Strength through Diversity: Diversity is the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin, and political beliefs. In diversity we see part of our strength, we have to use it to empower the methodology and foment cross-cultural understanding.

- Inclusion: entails involvement and empowerment, where the inherent worth and dignity of all people are recognised.

- Learner-centred: our methodology believes that the learner is also an important resource because he/she too knows something and is therefore capable of sharing something.

Principles of the children-inspiring-children methodology

- Interactivity: more student than teacher interaction. Students are given the possibility and the reinforcement to interact with the teacher, the other students, and all the class.

- Constructivism: students are expected to construct knowledge and meaning out for what they are taught and connecting it with prior experiences.

- Collaboration: our methodology is applied through collaboration; without it, it would not make sense.

- Guidance: the teacher guides the learner to discover things for himself/herself.

Strategies underlying the children-inspiring-children methodology

Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning is a teaching model entails the use of authentic and realistic projects, based on a motivating involving issue, task or problem, directly related to the context of the class, through which students develop competencies in a collaborative approach in search for solutions.

Inquiry-Based Learning
The key of an inquiry-based learning strategy is to make sure that the students are engaged with any material they are learning. Is an approach that emphasizes student’s role in the learning process. The objective is to encourage students to explore the material, ask questions, and share ideas.

Problem-Based Learning
It is a learning method where complex real-world problems are used as the driver to promote student learning of concepts and principles, opposed to direct presentation of facts and concepts. Problem-based learning can promote the development of critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills. It can also provide opportunities for working in groups, finding and evaluating research materials, and life-long learning.

How children are involved in learning from each other?

There are a number of studies that examine the strategies children use when they engage in a collaborative effort with their peers. The children-inspiring-children methodology mainly draws from peer collaboration and peer tutoring.

Peer Collaboration

Drawing upon previous research results, below we make suggestions about various ways to facilitate children’s learning from each other through the children-inspiring-children methodological approach.
a)Play: First of all, the use of play helps children to get involved in learning from each other. Children as young as three use communicative strategies to build on their partner’s utterances to construct shared meanings in play.
b)Dialogue: Children use dialogue to construct meaning and extend learning as their technological skills develop. The children engaged in purposeful thinking, questioning and collaborative talk which led to joint problem solving.
c)Performing Multiple Roles: children adopted different roles with their peers as they collaborated together. Repeating sessions of peer collaboration allow children to become familiar with each other, evolve their relationship and develop role alternation. children establish sound relationships with each other as a result of working together closely.