PRIDE OF OUR PLACE - The Centre for Cross Border Studies

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Disappointing aspectsThere were few aspects which disappointed the children except where they did not getenough time to talk or play or eat together. The group work approach is valuable as itfacilitates more than just one-to-one meetings, and thus pupils are not anxious about having totake full responsibility for initiating a conversation. It is essential that the social skills aretaught through working in pairs and in groups and that children are afforded opportunities topractice (e.g. through role-plays) meeting and greeting new friends, asking questions,initiating, maintaining and sustaining conversations. This should be an integral part of allcurriculum work: children develop an understanding of what the responsibilities are whenengaged in activities and projects of this nature.These are valuable life skills which enhance self-esteem and boost confidence. In the words ofone pupil at the end of Year One:I think they should make it more interactive, because when I went up to our partner schoolI did not sit with people [from that school]. I sat with my friends. I did not know anythingabout them, so I did not make friends. Also we sent profiles with pictures and our namesbut no one knew who I was.We can learn from the above comment for future project work. For all children, there is anexpectation that a project such as ‘Pride of our Place’ will provide an opportunity for them tomeet and interact with others. Within the project structure every effort must be made tofacilitate this expectation. Getting feedback from the children after the events is essential sothat lessons can be learnt and built upon for the following year. One of the strengths of ‘Prideof our Place’ was that the project ran for three and a half years and afforded schools theopportunity to learn from each year and review and plan for the following year. Here are somemore pupils’ views:I enjoyed the visit to the other school because I think the people felt more comfortable intheir own school and they talked to you more.Really excited, but I was a bit worried about them in case they didn’t talk.Last year it was a bit scary going into other schools but this year it’s different –easier thisyear we knew each other’s names.I felt very excited to know that we could show off our school and chapel but a part of mefelt very worried that it would rain. It was also a lot of responsibility on me.I felt there was a lot of pressure on my shoulders. However I also felt very excited.Enhancement of children’s learning experiencesAll the teachers stated that the quality of the children’s learning experiences had benefited asa result of participation in the project. In the final self-reflection questionnaire, completed byteachers at the end of the project, nine of the thirteen teachers who responded to the surveyrated the improvement in the quality of the pupils’ learning experiences as to ‘very significantextent’, with the remaining four rating this aspect to a ‘significant extent’. Some of these areasof experience were:Pride of our Place 2002-200647
• Respecting difference• Taking responsibility• Active learning through studying the local environmentFirstly, they have developed an extraordinary interest in history – national andinternational; secondly, they have developed a great pride in their locality.(Teacher, Year Two)The children took a greater interest in their environment and local history.(Teacher, Year Two)The local study was a wonderful experience. The area chosen is a short street, steeped inhistory. The work was very practical so it suited the whole class. Bringing history alivemade the course in class more relevant – the street we studied spans many centuries.Geography was also covered. It was on an historical walk of Dundalk after the project wasover that the real benefit emerged. The class displayed knowledge of the area that wasamazing and were open to new information in a very positive way. (Teacher, Year Two)Children today learn far too much from textbooks. For us there were no textbooks as such –the children had to go out, observe, record, research, appreciate, do, make, communicate.The project provided the context – this made it all more meaningful. (Teacher, Year One)I had prepared my project on ‘River Studies’ really well and the pupils got more out of it.The field trip was invaluable and must now be an essential part of future river studies.(Teacher, Year One)Other quality experiences noted by the teachers were:• Visiting another school, learning about another school, and making new friends.I felt they were more confident this year because they were not the first group from theschool to be involved. (Teacher, Year Two)New ideas and situations were put before the children. The core issue of the project,interaction with the partner school, brought new experiences of meeting and working withstrangers. The strangers were only such for a few minutes. (Teacher, Year One)As the second group doing the project they weren’t ground breakers, they were well treatedby the first group. (Teacher, Year Two)• Communication skills, e.g. interactingwith children from the partnerschool; presenting ‘Our Place’;sharing their experiences and havingthe confidence to do so.A willingness to plan for themselves –the drama work was entirely written bythemselves. (Teacher, Year Two)I tried to make the focus much morepupil-oriented. They had ownership48 Pride of our Place 2002-2006
Page 1 and 2: PRIDE OF OUR PLACE2002-2006FINAL RE
Page 4 and 5: TABLE OF CONTENTSAcknowledgements 0
Page 6 and 7: CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTIONThe project
Page 8 and 9: • To facilitate pupils to explore
Page 10 and 11: • Water studies: river studies (D
Page 12 and 13: School Project Partner Project Date
Page 14 and 15: It was with great interest that I w
Page 16 and 17: and June. Many of these partnership
Page 18 and 19: esteem was integral to the developm
Page 20 and 21: There have been many beneficial lea
Page 22 and 23: They took responsibility for their
Page 24 and 25: The two-day residential workshops e
Page 26 and 27: One very helpful resource was the h
Page 28 and 29: the children were now very proud of
Page 30 and 31: The importance of learning in the c
Page 32 and 33: connected. I didn’t know that Cú
Page 34 and 35: talking, comparing notes, playing f
Page 36 and 37: e its most beneficial and valuable
Page 38 and 39: CHAPTER FIVEIMPACT ON THE TEACHERWh
Page 40 and 41: Already overloaded school work left
Page 42 and 43: Site visits, the use of ICT and the
Page 44 and 45: • Whole school involvement is par
Page 46 and 47: They only wrote once and I wish I c
Page 50 and 51: and made suggestions aboutformat. T
Page 52 and 53: I have learned that they do things
Page 54 and 55: Working in groups and greeting new
Page 56 and 57: Children had to think about their m
Page 58 and 59: CHAPTER 7IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITYI t
Page 60 and 61: I think he benefited greatly from t
Page 62 and 63: CHAPTER 8CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDA
Page 64 and 65: As a result of the rich information
Page 66 and 67: As the project developed over the t
Page 68 and 69: Opportunities were provided for the
Page 70 and 71: Practical aspects• Once-off conta
Page 72 and 73: It is recommended that a structure
Page 74 and 75: APPENDICESAppendix ATeacher Questio
Page 76 and 77: • Story• Use of drama• Interv
Page 78 and 79: Characteristics of GoodPracticeQues
Page 80 and 81: Characteristics of GoodPracticeQues
Page 82 and 83: Appendix DEVALUATION OF ‘PRIDE OF
Page 84 and 85: Since detailed information was obta
Page 86 and 87: such as making bird-boxes. Myths an
Page 88 and 89: • The context of this project als
Page 90 and 91: partner school. The whole area of s
Page 92 and 93: that teachers should, if possible,

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