I learned of this true story at a Danish national conference in
November 2013 on ‘Den Globale Dimension I Uddannelserne’ arranged by ‘Timbuktu
Fonden’ in Copenhagen.
See Danish conference papers & ppt in English: ‘Mobilizing
Support for Global Education: The case of Finland’ (website)
The two student councils at a suburban Copenhagen school were given
$ 20,000 each from local authorities to use as they considered best. The council
members representing younger students asked the teacher, who was leading
the meetings, how the council representing older students had decided to use
their money.
When told the older students would use their money for several small
purposes, one student said, "we want something different, like one really
big thing!" The younger council all agreed on this, and then someone said
that it should be something, that would show "who we are!". When the
teacher asked "so who are you?",
the students said "We are students from all over the world!".
The brainstorming went on for some time, but finally everyone agreed that a
globe would be a good idea, and it should be so big that you could climb on it!
The school contacted an architectural firm known for developing
unique and safe playgrounds. The architects came up with a project called
"The third Planet from the Sun": A huge globelike structure that
seems to have crashed on the playground, leaving the continents laying around
the globe.
Although the student council liked it, the cost exceeded the $
20,000. To make up the differences, various activities were organized to gather
more money, such as by selling "Shares" etc.
Finally, the children took over the new combined playground and
landmark, which is illuminated at night.
As you can see at these photos the kids have made it their own, and play
on it daily. This school landmark also demonstrates daily that we have more
that unites us than what divides us here on the third planet from the sun.
This text is "Teach GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP" network newsletter no. 9
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To read any of the previous newsletters simply visit the blog
Yours
Egon Hedegaard,
Educational consultant, independent instructor and Developer of
Education
Email: eghedegaard@gmail.com
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