The Just Children Story Sack

The Just Children story sack, a resource for exploring global justice issues in early childhood education, was launched on Thursday 7th April in University College Cork as part of the International Conference on Early Childhood in Developing World Contexts. The resource was produced by the Education for a Just World partnership between the Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Education, St Patrick’s College and Trócaire.

The Story Sack was launched by Arlene Forster, Director, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), Eamonn Meehan, Trocaire and Dr Fionnuala Waldron, Dean of Education St Patrick's College and attended by the Conference participants and early childhood educators at Primary and Pre-school level who helped to develop the resource. A paper entitled Education for a Just World, detailing the work of the partnership, the research undertaken which laid the foundations for the Story Sack and the process involved in the Story Sack's development was also presented at the Conference by the partnership. The paper and the Story Sack drew a very enthusiastic response. There was enormous interest in the Story Sack which participants took away with them. Participants included those engaged in curriculum development and early childhood education including: lecturers, researchers and Third Level undergraduate and postgraduate students from South Africa, Uganda, India, the UK, Ireland and elsewhere. As the launch happened on the first day of the Conference and the paper was presented on the second day, many participants took the opportunity to express their enthusiasm and give feedback. It was widely felt tha the contents of the Story Sack: the learning experiences contained in the resource handbook, the storybook, poster/photos, cd and puppet were inspirational in providing educators with tools for engaging young children aged three to six years in global justice issues.

Over the next 12 months, the partnership intends to continue its focus on early childhood education. It plans to continue to research children’s developing conceptions in relation to global justice issues between the ages of 3 and 8 and to develop whiteboard resources.

 

 

Last Updated: Tuesday April 12 2011