FEATU


Burma andMontecasino, in which families of our pupils had been affected. “


Like Jo Newman, Elizabeth Page, Headmistress of East Sheen Primary school believes strongly in the value of respect and tolerance saying,


“Children learn that all people have feelings, that there are facts and there are views, and views must be respected and views can be changed. The sixteen habits of mind incorporate behaviour for learning: we should, for


example, persevere, we should think together, we should think creatively, we should think flexibly and see things from different viewpoints. DrMvikeli Ncube, a chartered Psychology lecturer and author at Arden University argues that cultural education matters because culture wires the brain. He says, “Cultural education is an educational approach that unlocks wealth of cultural history an d insights into the modern-day world, preparing learners for engaging life in an international context. It is an approach that shapes students into balanced and mature adults with values and principles.”


He continues, “Cultural education is essential for early learning development. It has been argued that a positive education that promotes a variety of cultural values helps to produce well rounded students with an open mind to other cultures, religions and traditions. Therefore, education experts, teachers and parents should be at the forefront in instilling learners with cultural values both at school and home.” Vygotsky’s theory highlights that culture is a critical aspect in the process. It suggests


that all intellectual tools for learning and teaching


a cultural context w internalised by child which formal educa


society as guides. Therefore, says D


intellectual adaptation, like problem solving, tion seeks to cultivate, are ren first during socialisation in


r. Ncube, “Children’s learning ith competent members of


and understating is culturally mediated. Through culture students ar e more aware of where they came from and the values that bind them together. They learn to reflect upon their own culture as well as cu what matters most i promote the value t


s that this perspective would ltures of others.” Perhaps


group should seek t important or better


norms of behaviour In 2016, wanting


o impose their standards or than any other and that no hat no group is more


to do something to counter on any other group.


the divisiveness of Brexit, the Learn2Think Foundation launched the Tolerance Day


Programme for Schools (known as ToDay), on the premise that knowledge and understanding of other cultures would dispel fear and mitigate prejudice. It is focused around the United Nations International Day fo which was establish


ed in 1995 in response to the r Tolerance (16th November),


racial and religious wars in Bosnia and Rwanda.


FEAT RE: CULTURAL EDUCATI


TURE: CULTURAL EDUCATIONAT ON


In fact, in 2019 the Foundation received global UNESCO Patronage for the project and we were told, “By promoting tolerance, dialogue and mutual understanding through education this initiative is fully in line with UNESCO's


,


programmes on intercultural dialogue, inclusion and rights, and global citizenship educ Tolerance is a hard concept to defin


e and there ation.”


was initially some push back from people saying we shouldn’t just tolerate things that are ‘wrong’. When we think of tolerance however, as being fair to people whose opinions, beliefs, customs, race, abilities, gender, etc. differ from our own, then it means something different. It’s about iving everyone the rights we demand for urselves .


o g


For Learn2Think the message to children is that it helps to be curious about others, to always try and see things from another point of view, and, importantly, to give up needing to be ‘right’ about things.


Just because you voted for Brexit


doesn’t mean that you are ‘right’ and everyone who voted remain is ‘wrong’.


As Learn2Think director VirginiaMcLean says, “Mindful of how stretched teachers are, we wanted to make it really easy for schools to embed the teaching of tolerance through critical t hinking in day to day instruction. All our lesson plans are freely downloadable from our Tolerance Day website, and targeted by Key-stage,


curriculum and s bjubject; but also use games, great books, artists like Picasso, craft activities, and music to make them fun and spark children’s curiosity about others and the world around


them. Some of our favourites include the DNA of our class (a statistics-based survey of the cultural differences in the class or school) and the re- enactment of the Sneetches and the star- making machine.”


Learn2Think director Rhian Sellier says, “Then Trump was elected, and ‘fake news’ was everywhere. Our response was to add teaching resources, a book and a workshop called the ‘Truth Detectives’ to help children fight misinformation and bigotry. In 2017 we also launched the first journalism competition in the UK for 8-11 year olds to have their voices heard (in conjunction with the Guardian and theWeek Junior), and in 2019 we linked with Cumberland Lodge and the Ca mbridge Centre for Geo-politic s to focus on how lessons from history can usefully inform our present and future. Each year we strive to address a new issue, all the while building a library of available books, plays, games and lesson plans.”


Cultural education, in its ‘traditional’ form, is a wonderful tool to nurture our children’s creativity, confidence, collaboration, resilience and empathy, and it can also be so much more. Cultural e broadly as exploring the social behaviour of others, is tolerance, open mindedness


a means of instilling ideas, customs, and education seen mor


and global co-operation. Surely this is the route to the sustainable and peaceful future we want for


http://www.toleranceday.org/


ww our children.


ce


December 2019 2019


wwweducation-tod ya .co.uk.co.uk 73 www.


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