Advocacy
Students have knowledge of injustice in the world, have informed opinions about it, and know that their voice and actions have value. They can advocate for themselves and others.
As a teacher, I want to challenge and inspire my students through their learning. My students frequently collaborate with others and work with their peers. I want to incorporate technology into our classroom experiences as much as I can. I have a high set of expectations for my students' education, and it is my job as an educator to articulate and enforce those expectations.
Early childhood classrooms should be preparing students to be independent active members of a community. With a multitude of challenges confronting our communities, along with instant connectivity to a global society, civic knowledge couldn’t be more important to the curriculum in schools. Global warming, immigration reform, pandemic diseases, water access, education reform, and financial meltdowns are just a some of the problems students will face. We must prepare students to solve these challenges.
One of my primary focuses as an educator is to teach students how to think and not what to think. Through read aloud, science experiments, and social research, many students become inspired to do their part to make a difference about issues facing our world, but they are not sure where to start. Students begin to form opinions on issues through discussions and find their voice. Advocacy provides an opportunity for students to learn 21st-century skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, and creativity.
I encourage students to choose advocacy projects that they are of great importance to them. They also must come up with a plan to address the issues. Students then will develop creative solutions to educate others, raise awareness, and collect funds to support the projects for which they are advocating.
My students learned how to collect qualitative and quantitative data from their peers and parents about important issues that face their community and the world. During the data collection, my students noticed that their peers felt strongly about advocating for the World Water Crisis. My students worked together to come up with an action plan for their student-led advocacy project on water security.
My class wanted to make an immediate difference and improve the lives of a few individuals. They decided to hold a fundraiser. All the donations they received went to building wells in Ethiopia, which was an issue my students became passionate about after learning how difficult is to be a child there.
You can review the way I teach Advocacy in my classroom and one of my classes' student-led advocacy projects below.
Conclusion
As an educator, I must have meaningful conversations with students to help them learn about their personal beliefs and values. Young students begin to act as leaders in their communities when they focus their passion into involvement in social change projects. Students learned how to collect data from their peers and turn that data into understandable information. Although my students are only five and six years old, they are capable of establishing a change in their school, local communities, and in the global society.
The World Water Crisis project proved to be an impactful experience for my students. My classroom successfully fundraised 114 dollars. They donated this to Charity Water. This donation had an immediate impact for three people living in Ethiopia who now have easier access to clean drinking water.
This opportunity demonstrated that students voices could provide positive change here and across the globe. I enabled my students to learn more thoroughly about issues that are impacting the world. Through this learning, they were able to become empathetic and passionate about problems facing others. My students' 21st-century skills were improved by partaking in this advocacy project. Students were able to use critical thinking, communications, and collaboration all while enacting change.
Resources:
Sethi, K. (2010, January). Kiran Sethi: Kids, take charge [Video file]. Retrieved from : http://www.ted.com/talks/kiran_bir_sethi_teaches_kids_to_take_ charge.html