Up to the challenge



Teacher Marlon Kaup and his Grade 10 International Baccalaureate students at Holy Trinity Catholic High School, in Edmonton, review material for the World’s Biggest Lesson, which takes place April 23, 2008. Students, working in small groups, brainstormed questions such as “What do you think is necessary for a good education?” and “Why is it important to receive a good education?” The worldwide event, which will be recorded in Guinness World Records, is intended to draw attention to Global Action Week.

Kaup is one of several social studies teachers who will host classroom guests for the World’s Biggest Lesson. Politicians are invited to return to school for a day to learn about the importance of education. Guests invited to Holy Trinity High School include senators Tommy Banks, Grant Mitchell and Claudette Tardif; Alberta’s Minister of Education Dave Hancock; and Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel. —Photo by Koni Macdonald

Canadian teachers invited to teach World’s Biggest Lesson

Teacher colleagues across Canada are invited to smash a Guinness world record by teaching this year’s World’s Biggest Lesson on April 23.

The World’s Biggest Lesson is the highlight of this year’s Global Action Week (GAW), which will be held April 21–27 by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), a coalition of charities, teacher organizations, trade unions and citizens’ groups worldwide. GAW is held annually to mark the anniversary of the 2000 World Education Forum in Dakar and to remind world leaders of their promises to ensure equitable access to quality education.

The GCE hopes to raise awareness of the plight of children and adults who miss out on the opportunities an education offers. Around the world, more than 73 million children are out of school, and approximately 800 million adults are illiterate, the majority of them women.

To be officially recorded in Guinness World Records, you must register at the Canadian Global Campaign for Education website (www.campaignforeducationcanada.org), which offers simple instructions, a registration form and a copy of the World’s Biggest Lesson plan.


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