Month: October 2015

The variety of films that have been made about the initiative across the world is amazing and here we share a few highlights. Happy viewing!

An animation film is one the major elements of the content created for the World’s Largest Lesson. It was developed through an innovative collaboration between Oscar winning animators Aardman and creative educator Ken Robinson, who recently spoke to the Huffington Post about the Lesson. The film has been a great success; it has been used in 160 countries!

The film we created is now just one of so many about the World’s Largest Lesson. The variety of films that have been made about the initiative across the world is amazing and here we share a few highlights. Happy viewing!

THE TRAILERS

The Jamaican Ministry of Education developed an advert to create awareness about the project across the country. It places the Global Goals in the context of Jamaica’s most pressing problems, all set to a superhero-worthy soundtrack, and was broadcast on local television: definitely worth a watch.

The winner of our lesson-plan competition, Sharee Ineson, shared excitement for the Lesson in New Zealand in her World Café video– shots of drawings and debates swing across screen and her student protagonists declare: “We will lead the World to make a difference. The future is now. Dear World, we are ready.”

THE GLOBAL GOALS IN SONG

Individual students, classes and whole schools have written heartwarming and humorous songs about the Goals. We were invited to pan across a School Hall in Brunei where the lesson is taking place to the tune of Michael Jackson’s Heal the World and to sit in the pews of St. Stithian’s school chapel in South Africa and hear as a choir of students sings their original composition on the Global Goals. Torriano Junior school, London chose an aerial view as their students practice some excellent teamwork to make the shape of each Goal, whilst students at R.E.T.N.S in Ireland cartwheel across screen to their own Global Goals version of a Flo Rida tune. Over in Buenos Aires, Escuela Técnica 12 took us on a tour of their neighbourhood as they collected rubbish with which they then constructed life-size Global Goals superheroes!

WINDOW INTO THE WORLD’S CLASSROOMS

Thanks to teachers and ministries sharing their footage, we’ve been given a window into what The World’s Largest Lesson looks like in classrooms around the world.

Did you ask your students: “What are the biggest problems facing the world?” How did their answers compare to what peers in Ecuador answered in front of their class, when their teacher asked the very same question in Spanish? Olga Campoverde has shared her lesson, so you can find out here.

And in Somaliland? Students at Fatuma Biihi Primary told us they thought it was caring for the environment. Find out what students said in Dubai, Argentina, Jamaica, Thailand and Perú.

Were students in Georgia as absorbed by the World’s Largest Lesson animation as your students? Lili Koridze’s class certainly were.

Perhaps you challenged your students to decide what they would do to help achieve the Global Goals. Did they, like students doing the Lesson with the Magic Bus in India say, that they would conserve water? Or did they have other creative ideas?

WHAT DOES YOUR WORLD’S LARGEST LESSON LOOK LIKE?

We want to thank everyone who has shared their video story so far – it is truly inspiring to see how the lesson has been transformed through the creativity and dedication of teachers around the globe. In this brilliant video from the Ecuadorian ministry of education, students are asked what they took away from the World’s Largest Lesson. The resounding answer? “Sí, yo puedo ser parte de la solución”. The conviction that ‘I can be part of the solution.’ We hope that, whatever language they might speak, your students are now saying this too.

Written by Eloïse Haylor of Project-Everyone

“Last month world leaders signed on to new global goals for achieving a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable planet. UNICEF and its partners worked tirelessly to put children at the heart of the goals and provide them a say in their future. Now it is up to us all to make sure we reach these goals. The first step is to make sure everyone – especially children – knows more about them. Children need to understand their rights and how they fit into this new global agenda, and they need to participate so they can claim a better future. UNICEF teams around the world are working with ministries of education and the World’s Largest Lesson to teach children about the global goals. Backed by knowledge, a young generation can be empowered to build a fairer and better world”

These words from Paloma Escudero, UNICEF Director of Communications, demonstrate the commitment that they are making to the goals becoming a real tool for change in children’s lives. The evidence of this is already being seen as the World’s Largest Lesson has been shared in 160 countries around the world! This amazing global reach would not have been possible without UNICEF, the founding partner for the initiative, with an incredible history, credibility and visibility in all corners of the world. This post highlights just a few examples of the depth and scale of this partnership.

KYRGYZSTAN

A UNICEF event in Kyrgyzstan.

On October the 5th, International Day of Teachers, Kyrgyzstan students were able to take part in the World’s Largest Lesson with a presentation by Minister of Education Ms. Elvira Sarieva, UN Resident Coordinator Mr. Alexander Avanessov and UNICEF Deputy Representative Mr. Raoul de Torcy. UNICEF were also able to produce their own pencils, notepads, mugs, and other teaching supplies with the seventeen Global Goals featured on them as a gift and reminder for the students that took part. Through their relationships in the country UNICEF brought together the event and speakers, which made the launch moment a nation wide event.

BURKINA FASO

“You are the future world leaders” Marc Rubin UNICEF Burkina Faso representative on the Global Goals in Nièga, Ganzourgou, Burkina Faso.

UNICEF has well-established networks throughout Africa, which enable their work to continue through complex and turbulent political times that some countries suffer. For the World’s Largest Lesson, UNICEF was able to access schools in Burkina Faso, despite the current crisis and ensure that students knew about the Global Goals. This allowed students to keep up to date with the rest of the world on the Goals and hopefully provide some encouragement to follow them when the country can hopefully return to stability in the near future. The lesson also provided students with a chance to talk about peace and justice, thus learning more about the world’s commitments to ending conflict.

SOMALILAND

A special lesson was shared by UNICEF in a number of schools here. Children responded with enthusiasm and embraced the idea that they too should feel responsible for looking after their environment and creating change where they think it is needed. This wonderful film here really does say it all.

 

UNIVERSAL

The Global Goals are universal, 192 countries have agreed to them. The World’s Largest Lesson reflects this approach and was taught in school across world, regardless of nationality or prosperity. Europe provided its own challenges and UNICEF helped to guarantee maximum reach into schools in Europe. The multitude of languages and governments, each with their own curriculum and often more than one ministry of education per country meant challenges were faced in trying to get the lesson integrated into school plans. But UNICEF, with an office in each country, were able to help us to overcome this. Lessons were held across Europe and UNICEF sponsored several unique lessons, from Belgium to Ukraine. They also organised ministerial visits, as seen in Ireland and coming up in Scotland on November 6th. UNICEF were also able to include the Global Goals into existing programs, the UNICEF Junior Officers in Slovenia were given a unique presentation for the World’s Largest Lesson.

This lesson in Bulgaria was led by their UNICEF country office.

Quite simply, UNICEF was able to expand the influence of the World’s Largest Lesson far beyond what would otherwise be possible. It just shows the power of goal 17 – Partnerships for the Goals!

by James Lister, Project-Everyone