Partnership activities have contributed to the ongoing integration of global citizenship into the schools’ curricula with a particular focus on the Sustainable Development Goals on rights and climate. Cultural exchanges and knowledge sharing have enabled the partner schools to build strong, supportive relationships.
Shared learning
A key focus of the initial partnership project in 2015 was agriculture and farming. Students learned about different soils, the importance of water, compost, crops, harvesting, and crop storage and uses. They learned about which plants and crops would grow best in their respective areas, which went beyond simply the plants themselves and led to much deeper learning about why different crops flourished – or not – in different places. One of the key pieces of work was students finding out from their international partners about different climatic conditions and their impact on farming, which engaged their communication, collaboration and critical thinking skills. The partnership was extended to include the primary sector in 2017 with the help of Connecting Classrooms funding.
Incorporating the SDGs into teaching and learning
This enabled four teachers from Scotland to visit their partner schools in Kenya in early 2018, where they worked on environmental projects and strengthened the partnership further. It was decided that the follow-up project would focus on SDG 5 relating to gender equality and would target students aged 9 to 14. The project aimed to promote the teaching of citizenship by providing students with opportunity to understand the importance of equal rights, develop a feeling of belonging, and acquire skills that would enable them to bring about positive change. Students were encouraged to compare their experiences of their own lives and responsibilities with those of their Kenyan counterparts, look at the similarities and differences between contexts, and discover why these exist.
Working with their international partners
Students from both countries developed activities around this theme to share with their partners, including dance, drama and written work, which was shared via WhatsApp video and email. There were even virtual guided tours of the schools and their grounds, and the Kenyan students planted trees to acknowledge the work being undertaken. Scottish students presented their achievements at a community event which contained their own performances and video performances from the Kenyan schools around the theme of gender equality.
Impact and next steps
Further Connecting Classroom funding enabled four Kenyan teachers to visit the Scottish cluster, where they worked alongside their partners and engaged in bilateral learning and development, as well as enjoying a programme of community events. As the partnership has progressed and grown, it was decided that the next project – being undertaken at the time of writing – should focus on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The key elements will be learning about rights, learning for rights, and learning through rights. It is hoped that students will learn about the rights they have and lead their own learning to look at the rights of children in other countries. They will be able to look at any differences in these rights, and why such differences exist. Work and learning are continuing in both countries, with the Scottish schools working towards the Rights Respecting Schools Award.
Through this continuing partnership a professional relationship has been established and grown which has helped form the basis of an international teaching community where practitioners are working together across age and subject groups. The aim for the future is to continue to strengthen these bonds in a spirit of creative and reflective dialogue. There are already plans for more teacher visits, with the hope that these can be extended to include student visits in the near future.
