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Mr. Wright’s imagination
—www.cbc.ca/thisisthat
The satirical CBC Radio show This Is That has reported that the newly appointed chair of the illusory Canadian Education Committee, Harold Wright, would like to see all books with talking animals removed from Canadian schools. Apparently, the mythical Mr. Wright believes that, rather than encouraging children’s imagination, talking animals "only create a delusional sense of reality." We believe that Mr. Wright is wrong.
Creative play leads to active play
—www.abc.net.au
A two-year study led by Dr. Brendon Hyndman of the School of Medical Sciences at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, indicates that children are more active and play more creatively when their playground is equipped with familiar, moveable objects.
Activities of children aged 5 to 12 were compared at two schools. One school playground received objects such as crates, buckets, pipes, hay bales and swimming pool noodles, while the other was equipped with only standard, fixed-in-place playground equipment.
Students playing with the moveable objects were found to take 13 more steps per minute than their counterparts using the traditional playground, and sedentary behaviour decreased from 61.5 per cent of children to 30.5 per cent.
Hyndman says the students began building their own unique structures using the objects, necessitating negotiation, sharing and collaboration. The students seemed to relish the opportunity to use their creativity and imagination.
"In this day and age, with obesity increasing and physical activities decreasing in the schoolyard, we are looking for strategies to increase children’s engagement in the playground and a range of play behaviours," Dr. Hyndman told the Australian Broadcasting Commission.
The good old days
—www.teen.com
According to Kaitlin Cubria, associate editor of teen.com, elementary school will always be more awesome than middle school and even high school. Making friends is much easier in elementary school than in later years, and elementary school has nap time, in the middle of the day; snack time, when you can eat in class; and, best of all, fun time—time in the school day, other than recess, that is dedicated to simply having fun.
Forgotten WWII air raid shelter unearthed beneath elementary school
—www.huffingtonpost.com
The Yorkshire Press reports that an abandoned World War II air raid shelter has been unearthed beneath Hensall Community Primary School, in North Yorkshire, England. The shelter was found during work on building a new classroom.
Beginning in the 1920s, England developed all sorts of underground shelters, in gardens, cellars and even subway stations, to protect its citizens against air attacks. These types of shelters are still being uncovered, decades after they were last used. This discovery will provide a hands-on history lesson for the students, their teachers and area residents.
Plan A
—www.uniqueteachingresources.com
If Plan A doesn’t work, don’t worry—the alphabet has 25 more letters.
Education in the midst of conflict
—www.theguardian.com
Former British prime minister Gordon Brown has written in the Guardian about a unique project in Lebanon that demonstrates that education beyond borders can be a reality.
Photo by Mohammad Hannon/AP
Local Lebanese children, who attend school in the morning, are sharing their schools to allow Syrian refugees to learn during a second afternoon shift. Some Syrian refugees also attend the morning school, and the shift system is allowing many more children to be educated. Ten donor countries have contributed aid.
Brown adds that "The idea of education without borders is coming alive in one of the most dangerous areas of the world. … But 60 years on we have yet to establish the principle that even in the throes of conflict children will be provided not just with food and shelter, but with education."
The complete article is available at http://tinyurl.com/ps8vw6q.
