Sustaining countryside crafts challenge pack by CDEC

Challenge Pack

Sustainin ng Countryside Crafts Challenges engaging real-life real life learning and critical thinking skills for Key Stage 2

Funded by the Lake District national Park Authorityy and the European Union Led by Cumbria Development Education Centre

Background Engagement with the rural environment and some of the craftspeople who work within it is essential in helping children to develop an awareness of their place within local communities. This provides the first step in understanding of the importance of sustaining rural communities for both present and future generations. This awareness and understanding is greatly enhanced by taking learning outside of the classroom and through the development of critical thinking skills based on the methodology of P4C (Philosophy for Children). Combining these two methodologies together is beneficial in developing pupils’ personal connection to their local community and encouraging deeper and wider thinking about the world around them. This motivates children to develop a sense of place and a sense of purpose within local communities, and provides a firm foundation in helping them become responsible citizenship and take steps to help make a difference in sustaining rural communities.

Learning Outcomes The ‘Sustaining Countryside Crafts’ project provides an opportunity for pupils to develop links with and increase their awareness of local craftspeople through a series of activities. These will motivate them to consider the importance of supporting local craftspeople. The activities provide opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of:      

The general meaning of fair and sustainable within a local rural context The value of local rural skills and products and how they link to local community Rural trade and supply chains – local and global What impacts rural trades have on natural environments Career opportunities within the rural community How to make a difference and support sustainable rural communities

The activities also give pupils the opportunity to apply skills and develop knowledge in a ‘real-life’ situation through interaction with rural craftspeople.

Why teach outdoors? “The classroom of the future should not be limited to a classroom at all– an ‘excellent’ curriculum would go beyond the traditional boundaries and offer real-world learning experiences outdoors” Taking Learning Outdoors – LTS2007 A real-world context for learning Learning in a real context can turn the abstract into the concrete. It helps inspire curiosity and investigation, which stimulates enquiring minds and helps pupils achieve. Outdoor learning complements indoor learning Recent studies show that the outdoors is a dynamic environment that stimulates creativity and enables learning to happen faster. Impacts positively on attitudes and self-esteem Children feel free to be themselves outside of the constraints of the classroom. Those who struggle to concentrate indoors often blossom outside, where their kinaesthetic learning needs can be addressed more fully. Increases knowledge of and care for the natural environment Regular direct contact with the natural world builds deep connections that last a lifetime. How can we expect people to care about something they do not know? Develops communication skills Communication can happen anywhere but linking it to learning in the local outdoor environment provides a real-life context that can bring language to life, give it meaning and provide a valuable shared experience.

Why Philosophy for Children? “Philosophy can be used to improve teaching and learning, for the lasting benefit of individuals and communities “ SAPERE (Society for Advancing Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education) Philosophy for Children is a way of learning and teaching, where children become more thoughtful and reflective and go beyond information to seek understanding. Children learn how to participate in meaningful discussions, where their ideas and those of others are valued and listened to. Children ask and discuss philosophical questions in a structured context. 3

Philosophy for Children Session Outline What follows is a brief outline of a typical P4C session. Community building activity (5- 15mins) Sessions start with a community building activity. Stimulus (15- 30 mins) This can be a story, case study, photograph, artifact or anything else that will engage the children in a philosophical questioning. The stimulus will change with the activities presented to the children Thinking as individuals, discussion in pairs (5 mins) The pupils are asked to take 30 seconds to think individually about what the stimulus made them think and feel – which might lead them to think of a question they would like to ask. You might ask them to close their eyes. They should then turn to the person next to them and swap their initial thoughts – for about 2 - 3 minutes. This should be a noisy time! It is important to give pupils time to think as individuals, before they hear from others. Speaking in pairs gives even the quietest pupil the chance to express their thoughts. Question setting in groups (5 mins) Pupils are then asked to form groups (say of 4). The teacher should ensure that there is a competent writer in each group. In their groups, they discuss and agree on a question that the whole group (class) might discuss together – arising from the stimuli. It is to be a philosophical question – one that is interesting and will lead to deep thinking (and perhaps other questions). They write it on an A4 sized piece of paper, putting their initials on it. Over time (and with helpful activities) pupils learn what is a philosophical question (as opposed, eg, to a closed question or one that requires factual research). Voting for one question (5 mins) Each group is asked to read out their question and to clarify it where needed. Pupils (as individuals) now have to vote for one question. The questions are laid out on the floor and pupils are asked to stand next to the question that they favour. This does not have to be the one that their group wrote. Some dialogue can take place – pupils can be asked to volunteer reasons for their choices – differing views (with reasons) can be sought. Sometimes similar questions can be merged (with agreement).

The questions with no or little support can be put on one side. If there is a tie (or almost a tie), pupils can “sell” their favoured question and see if others will change places. One question is chosen. There are lots of ways of voting. This one is useful as it is kinaesthetic. Dialogue (30 mins) Before the dialogue begins the pupils should be aware of the ‘ground rules’: One person speaks at a time, everyone listens and shows respect for others’ views, they give reasons for their statements and build on what others have said – often starting with the words “I agree/disagree with what X said because …”, they don’t make it personal – it is about ideas and reasons for them. Everyone sits in a circle. To start the dialogue, firstly, the chosen question is read out and the group that wrote it is asked to provide some of the thinking behind it. Then the job of the facilitator is to encourage all the pupils to contribute thoughts (voluntarily) and seek other ways of looking at the issues, probing for reasons and seeking meanings of terms used. Sometimes an interim summary of the dialogue will be useful (and, of course, a summary is useful at the end, with a reflection on how far the question has been answered). To focus on key concepts (and to refresh proceedings by moving around) the facilitator might choose to use a concept line. Frequently the prompts “Agree” and “Disagree” are used but the prompts can be written at the time, to suit the dialogue. Possible statements for use with the concept line might include:   

“It is fair if everyone has the same” “It is fair if everyone gets what they want” “It is fair if everyone gets what they need”

The facilitator’s role is key – they keep the dialogue focused whilst allowing the pupils to express and follow through their own ideas. Central to children’s successful engagement with complex ideas and issues is the support given by the teacher/facilitator in teasing out reasoned views. This can be achieved by helping them develop different kinds of thinking, such as reasoning, creative, analytical and evaluative. Such thinking can be stimulated by the development of ‘effective questions’. Some of these are provided at the end of this section. A facilitator will try to anticipate where the stimulus might lead, but is also flexible as it might lead into unanticipated areas. Reflection/debrief (5 mins) Each pupil is encouraged to give a few words about their impressions of the dialogue – eg something that surprised them, or they learned, or if they changed their mind about something during the session. If struggling, they can say “Pass”. The pupils and facilitator might discuss concepts that need further exploration, perhaps during the following session. 5

Ending with thanks and praise for their work (with applause). Any concepts , ideas or questions should be ‘stored’ for follow-up work by writing them down and putting them on the wall as part of a display. This will help keep the questions fresh in the mind and will allow other thoughts and ideas to flow and be discussed outside of the philosophy session. Note:  It is useful to allow pupils to move around at some points during the P4C session – especially if they are young.  Pupils are not required to speak – they volunteer. P4C is about reasoning and digging deeper to explore issues.

WANT TO FIND OUT MORE! Contact Cumbria Development Education Centre for Continuing Professional Development Opportunities, resources to buy and free resources to loan. Visit the SAPERE website (Society for Advancing Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education) www.sapere.org.uk

P4C- Questions to aid facilitation Clarifying What reasons do you have for saying that?

Probing The Superficial

What do you mean by that?

Why do you think that?

Can you explain more about that?

What is the cause of that?

Have you an example of that?

What makes you say that?

What makes you so sure of that?

Why...Why...Why...?

Exploring Alternative Views Is there another point of view?

What is the difference between your view and ...?

Can you put it another way? Are you and s/he contradicting each other?

Scaffolding What do you think about...?

If .... then what do you think about..?

What is the reason for...?

You said... but what about...?

Seeking Evidence How do you know that?

Testing Implications

What makes you say that?

Is that consistent with...?

What is your evidence?

What would be the consequences of...?

What are your reasons?

How would we know if that is true?

What makes you so sure?

How can we test that in practice?

Evaluating Who can summarise the main points for us?

What new ideas have developed?

Can anyone say where our thinking has taken us?

If...why...?

Using the Challenge Pack The Challenge Pack consists of a series of activities to build an awareness and understanding of what is ‘fair’ and ‘sustainable’ within the context of sustainable local crafts, whilst at the same time providing opportunities to investigate similar situations on a wider and more global scale. This is achieved by developing a journey of learning by weaving together four pedagogical strands: 1. Enquiry-based active learning and teaching methods The Challenge Pack provides a toolbox of activities based on enquiry-based active learning and teaching methods. 2. Building a community of enquiry on real-life experiences The activities are designed to draw from the interaction between pupils, teachers and local craftspeople who come together to form a community of enquiry to develop dialogue enriched with real-life skills and experiences. This requires active community engagement through craftspeople visiting schools or vice versa. Wherever possible it is recommended that the activities take place outside of the classroom in natural surroundings, as this is provides a real-life environment to stimulate emotive, critical and creative responses from pupils. 3. Developing critical thinking skills Critical thinking skills provide a fundamental foundation for the activities set within the Challenge Pack and methodologies for facilitating these are signposted throughout. Nonetheless, pupils will gain significantly from the activities if a trained P4C practitioner facilitates the critical thinking skills activities and is able to develop and build a community of enquiry built on the robustness of P4C methodology. Please refer to the Philosophy for Children Session Outline for further details of the P4C methodology. Full training in this approach is recommended. 4. Literacy focused activities The real life experiences presented by local craftspeople provide exciting stimuli for literacy focused activities. These include listening, speaking and reading skills, enriched by critical thinking skills and new vocabulary that enable pupils to express themselves creatively and imaginatively across a range of different situations and scenarios.

Sustaining Countryside Crafts – learning themes The sustaining countryside crafts project consists of four learning themes: 1. Understanding fairness and sustainability Focuses on … helping pupils develop a critical understanding of the concepts of fairness and sustainability set within the context of rural communities and the craftspeople and other rural crafts people who work there. 2. Getting to know our rural community Focuses on … helping pupils to learn about their rural surroundings and exploring their local rural community 3. Real-life experiences of local craftspeople Focuses on … helping pupils get to know a local craftsperson through real-life relationships and help them to begin to understand rural trades and the importance of these in supporting sustainable rural communities.

Acknowledgements The Sustaining Countryside Crafts project has been developed by CDEC (Cumbria Development Education Centre) with funding from the Lake District National park Authority and the European Union.

Topic 1: Understanding fairness and sustainability In this topic children have the opportunity to consider the concepts of fairness and sustainability set within the context of rural communities.

Activities Activity 1:

What is fair?

Activity 2:

Thinking about fairness

Activity3:

What is sustainable?

Activity 4:

Thinking about sustainability

Activity 1:

What is fair?

Learning objective(s)  To consider what is fair and what is not  To introduce ideas about Fairtrade

What is fair?

Resources  Coloured stickers – two colours  Prizes or treats (optional) Time needed This activity can be run while doing other work in class or preferably while taking part in activities outside the classroom. It should continue for approximately one hour in total. What to do At the beginning of the session go around the class sticking a coloured sticker on each child. You can do this randomly, or follow a factor such as hair colour (blond/not blond), eye colour (blue eyes/not blue eyes) or a common article of clothing (wearing a jumper/not wearing a jumper). If the pupils ask what the stickers mean tell them that they will find out later. Proceed with your planned lesson but choose one of the groups to favour. Let them answer questions, praise them, give them rewards. Treat the other group less favourably – don’t choose them to answer questions, don’t give them any rewards. Debriefing / reflection Discuss with the class what happened.       

What do they think the difference is between the two groups? Were both groups treated fairly? They should be quick to recognise that one group received preferential treatment. Was this fair? Explain that you were showing them how people sometimes get treated unfairly – for no good reason. Can they think of other situations where this happens. Allow the opportunity to discuss the examples they come up with.

Further activities Consider some more fair / unfair scenarios:  

Aaron is called names because he wears glasses. Shannon has a birthday party coming up. She invites all of the girls but none of the boys.

Activity 2:

Thinking about fairness?

Learning objective(s)  To explore ideas about Fairtrade

That’s not fair!

Time required 60 minutes Resources  Activity Resource Sheet– The Toy Story  Activity Resource Sheet - The Toy Story Role-play cards  20 x 50p pieces  A wire car toy and banana fibre doll from a southern country eg Ghana in West Africa  These can be purchased in fair-trade shops and are available through the CDEC loans service What to do This activity follows the P4C methodology – A specific stimulus for this activity is provided below. Please refer to the Philosophy for Children Session Outline for further details of how to facilitate this type of activity. This activity works well if set outside the classroom. This will put the children in a real-life situation as they act out the roles in the story.

1. Stimulus (5 minutes) The group are divided into six equal groups who sit side by side each other to form one complete circle. A wire car toy and banana fibre doll are put in the centre and the main story (black text) should be read aloud. As the story moves from character to character the toys move from one group to another with a growing pile of money. After the main story has been read out say "but wait a minute - each of these people want to say something to you". Then the story is repeated but this time we pause at each character and we hear from the people in the story individually (red text) - each role is taken by a different group of children 'speeches' are given to them on cards and one or more of the children in the group reads the card aloud. The story now changes and becomes less simplistic and more thought provoking.

2. Philosophy for Children session (30 mins) The Philosophy for Children Session Outline will follow the presentation of the stimulus. Questions to help the facilitator to stimulate dialogue are shown below.

Questions to stimulate dialogue (if needed):       

How much were the toys worth? Do some people need more money than others? Should children have to work to help their families? Is it fair that some people have more money than others? Are home-made toys better than those you buy? What will happen if the tourists stop coming? Reflection/debrief (5 mins) –

3. Reflection/debrief (5 mins) Each pupil is encouraged to give a few words about their impressions of the dialogue – eg something that surprised them, or they learned, or if they changed their mind about something during the session. If struggling, they can say “Pass”. Discuss with the class how the dialogue developed and how this related to the learning outcomes.  

Can the think of similar situations closer to home in their own community? Do they own any home-made toys?

Further activities Work with the children to:  

Make some home-made toys in class. After they are made consider how much work went into making them and the value of the materials used before deciding on a fair price to sell them. Consider alternatives to: Everyone has to have a Playstation/ PSP

Activity 3:

What is sustainable?

Learning objectives  To introduce the concept of sustainability  To consider what we mean by sustainable Time required 40 minutes Resources  Activity Resource Sheet - Sustainability Slogans  Paper and pens to write your own slogans What to do Pupils are provided with a selection of Sustainability Slogans. These are definitions of sustainable development. They have been written by children, teachers and others involved in the field of sustainable development. Some reflect unsustainable behaviour whilst others sustainable behaviour. 1. If working outside the classroom sets of colour coded sustainability slogan cards can be hidden and the children challenged to find them within a given time. 2. Working in small groups, each group is given a set of cards and asked to put them into two separate piles. One representing sustainable behaviour (happy world - good for the plant), and one representing behaviour that is not sustainable (unhappy world - not good for the planet). There may be some slogans that the children find difficult to put into one pile or the other – these can be placed in the middle. 3. The pupils rank the slogans in order from most sustainable to least sustainable. 4. The pupils can generate some of their own slogans. Reflection/debrief There are many definitions of sustainability and the concept can become confusing. A picture depicting scenes of sustainable living e.g. planting trees, recycling will help to make the concept more accessible. Further activities Work with the children to: 

 

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Look for other definitions of sustainable development and put these definitions on a classroom display together with images. List how many ways you can be more or less sustainable in class and at home Role-play a scenario that predicts living in an unsustainable school/world 10 years from now Role-play a scenario that predicts living in a sustainable school/world 10 years from now 14

Activity 4:

Thinking about sustainability

Learning objectives  To enable pupils to understand what we mean by sustainable development development  To help pupils understand the importance of sustaining woodland Time required 60 minutes Resources  Activity Resource Sheet - Ten Tall Oak Trees Poem What to do This activity follows the P4C methodology – A specific stimulus for this activity is provided below. Please refer to the Philosophy for Children Session Outline for further details of how to facilitate this type of activity. This activity works well if set outside the classroom sitting next to a tree or in woodland. This will allow the children to feel part of the story. 1. Stimulus (5 minutes) The class is divided into ten small groups who pretend to be an oak tree in a forest. orest. Each group is given a verse of the poem to be read out aloud in sequence from 10 trees to 1 tree. As they read the poem the children in that group role-play play the actions then collapse to the ground as the trees fall. Finally, with all the children on the ground recreating the loss of forest the teacher reads out the final verse.

Why is it a bad thing to continue to cut down / destroy trees and woodlands?

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What value do the trees have... to different people? ... to wildlife? ... to the world?

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Do we really need all of the things that we cut down trees for?



How can we make our world more sustainable?

3. Reflection/debrief (5 mins) 

Discuss with the pupils how the dialogue developed and how this related to the learning outcome(s).



Can they think of similar situations closer to home in their own community? Can they think of anything in their class / school /homes which has required the cutting down of or destruction of trees? Can they think of any way in which they could help make things better for the future?

 

No tall oak trees, Search the fields in vain, Only empty skylines, And the cold, grey, rain.

Further activities Work with the children to: 

Reinforce the message of sustainability - through the concept of sustainable forestry:  You may be aware of the idea of “sustainable forestry”, which is the concept of a “tree for a tree” or in other words, a tree is planted for every one chopped down rather than simply clearing an area and then using the cleared land for another purpose.  Sustainability is basically a way to ensure that the damage we do today is not paid for by the generations of tomorrow. It means taking responsibility for what we use and do and ensuring that we put something back when we take something from the earth, however small or insignificant it might seem.

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Create a Wonder Wall - Put the questions and any relevant thoughts generated during the activity on a classroom wall display.

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Find out if any local woodland has been lost - compare historic and modern maps or get the pupils to write a letter or questionnaire asking family and other community members if they know of any such loss or otherwise.

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Relate their own poem or storyboard of changes in local woodland area (cutting down or replanting).

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Write your own poem based on the life cycle of one oak tree. You could start with ‘One tiny acorn growing on a stem’

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Write your own poem about planting new woodland with oak trees.

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Brainstorm solutions for: How to encourage people to plant more trees

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Contact local farmers, foresters or coppice workers to see if they have any woodland conservation projects that you could learn more about or get involved with. 16

Topic 2: Getting to know a local rural community Focuses on â&#x20AC;Ś helping pupils to learn about their local rural surroundings and the people who work there. In this topic, children have the opportunity to consider the importance of rural localities and local rural communities. They will realise that they have a role to play in helping to support and sustain their local rural community.

Activities Activity 1:

Contrasting urban and rural areas

Activity 2:

Finding out about people who work in a local rural area

Activity 3:

Thinking about how people working in rural areas are linked to each other and the countryside

Activity 1:

Contrasting urban and rural areas

Learning objectives  To understand what urban and rural mean  To recognise and appreciate the similarities and differences between urban and rural Cumbria Time required 60 minutes Resources  Activity Resource Sheet – Describe urban and rural Cumbria  Activity Resource Sheet - Urban / Rural Photos What to do Pupils should work in small groups. 1. At the beginning of the session, the pupils are the introduced to the terms ‘urban’ and ‘rural’:  When we say Urban we mean the city and town areas.  When we say Rural we mean the countryside. 2. Set the class a challenge to describe urban and rural Cumbria.  What does urban Cumbria look like (traffic, people, roads etc.)?  Can they think of any words to describe what urban Cumbria is like (big, grey, noisy etc.)?  What does rural Cumbria look like (fields, animals, tractors etc.)?  Can they think of any words to describe what rural Cumbria is like (quiet, green, muddy etc.)? 3. Ask the pupils to observe local urban and rural scenes. Go outside the classroom to take three photographs of the surrounding environment. Print these out and get the children to compare these to three photos of a local contrasting environment (alternatively use the Activity Resource Sheet – Urban / Rural Photos).  Were they correct in what they thought urban and rural places looked like, and in choosing the right words to describe them? Debriefing / reflection Ask the pupils to look carefully at the contrasting urban and rural photos and to think about and discuss (with a partner or small groups):    

What aspects of urban Cumbria and rural Cumbria are similar and different to each other? Why might there be these differences and similarities? Does living in either urban or rural areas make you different from each other? What connections are there between urban and rural Cumbria (work, produce, recreation)?

Each pair then shares their thoughts with the class –thoughts and ideas are record on cards and placed with the photos on a graffiti wall.

Further activities Work with the children to compare different urban and rural places around the world.

Activity 2:

Finding out about people who work in rural Cumbria

Learning objectives  To consider what trades and crafts are associated with rural Cumbria  To introduce skills of research and letter writing Time required 90 minutes – split over several sessions Resources  Activity Resource Sheet – Know - Want to know - Learned 

Activity Resource Sheet – A Letter Asking for Information



Activity Resource Sheet – Rural Trades Survey

What to do The overall activity is broken into two parts. 1. The first activity ‘Know - Want to know - Learned‘ is used as an introductory activity to find out what the pupils already know about trades and crafts associated with rural Cumbria. This will document their present knowledge and what gaps that may exist in that knowledge. It will also provide a structure to progress their learning and to analyse what new information has been learned after some research.  Pupils work in small groups. On the Know - Want to know – Learned grid, pupils write what they think they already know about ‘what trades and crafts are associated with rural Cumbria’. This could be done as a class activity using Post-it notes.  Pupils are then encouraged to think about the gaps in their knowledge by filling out what they want to know in the next column. The facilitator should encourage the children to think widely about food, the countryside and woodland products. At this stage, it doesn’t matter if there are gaps as these will be filled in during the following research activity.  The final part of the grid is completed following the research activity.  Once the research activity has been completed, the pupils will return to the grid and fill in the final column. This will help them confirm the accuracy of what they have learned with their initial thoughts. 2. The pupils research the different trades and crafts associated with rural Cumbria. Working in small groups they construct and write a letter to find out about people who work in rural Cumbria (see Activity Resource Sheet for template). Once completed the pupils take this home and ask for responses to be returned. This is a useful activity as this may provide an initial link with a farmer or rural craftsperson who could be introduced to the class in Topic 3. Alternatively try a web search of ‘Farmers in Cumbria’ etc. on www.yell.com . 19

3. Once information has been returned / gathered, work with the pupils to present this information on a ‘Rural Trades Survey Sheet’. Debriefing / reflection Ask the pupils to consider the different trades and crafts that are associated with rural Cumbria and to think about and discus (with a partner or small groups):  

How do they think these trades and crafts would contrast with those of urban Cumbria? How they think the trades and crafts have changed over time e.g. since the Second World War

Further activities Work with the children to:  

Create a collage of different trades and crafts in both urban and rural Cumbria Generate an alphabetical list of the different types of farming and rural trades

Points to note Rural trades and crafts have a significant impact on the landscape of the Lake District as well as making an important contribution to ensuring the sustainability of wildlife habitats and rural communities.

Activity 3: Thinking about how people working in rural areas are linked to each other and the countryside Learning objectives  Pupils consider how people working in rural areas are linked to each other  Pupils upils understand the importance of sustainable communities Time required 60 minutes Resources  Activity Resource Sheet – Rural Community Links 

Ball of string

What to do This activity follows the P4C methodology – A specific stimulus for this activity is provided below. Please refer to the Philosophy for Children Session Outline for further details of how to facilitate this type of activity. This activity works well if set outside the classroom sitting next to a tree or in woodland. This provide freedom for the children to take on a more realistic role and give them space to interact with each other and move around in. 1. Stimulus (5 minutes) Connecting people: Web of interdependence activity Find a big space outside of the classroom that is suitable for the class to move around freely. 

Discuss as a whole class what being dependent on someone means. Discuss different people we are dependent on and why - think of mother and child. Explain that as a group they are going to form a sustainable community where everyone everything has an important role to play.

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Pupils stand in a circle. Each is given a role card from the ‘Rural Rural Community Links Links’ activity resource sheet – make sure you include the environments environments cards at the end!

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The pupils are given a few minutes to think about how their role in a sustainable community and how they connect to other people and/or the environment. Make sure the children understand their roles and discuss any that they are unsure about. A ball of string is introduced as a thread to link the community together. The activity starts with one pupil introducing their role and holding the end of a ball of string. The rest of the group are given the opportunity to explain how they connect to the he previous role. The one who puts forward the strongest case for their role takes the ball of string and holds the twine. The ball of string is passed from role to role forming a web of community interdependence. Tugging the string will pull on other people people in the group indicating this interdependence. A question is asked – what will happen if we lose a role in the community? Take several roles from the web (including environmental ones) and discuss the consequences. 21

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  

Can you think of any changes that may happen in the community?

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How could these affect the rest of the community?

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Why would it be a bad thing if the wood merchant cut down all the trees?

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What would happen if the butcher didn’t pay the sheep farmer a fair price?

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What would happen to the child of sheep farmer if he/she was forced out of business?

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Does anyone or anything have a more important role to play than any of the others in keeping the community sustainable?

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How can we make sure the community remains sustainable?

3. Reflection/debrief (5 mins)   

Draw out knowledge and understanding of local and fair trade Consider the implications of unfair trade – on the local community and in the wider world Make links to unfair trade in Southern (less developed) countries

Further activities Work with the children to:   



Create a Wonder Wall of the questions and answers developed in the dialogue. The questions and answers could be depicted as a collage of a sustainable community Make a story that links a five or more roles Role-play different scenarios of local rural communities: o Include typical scenarios such as: the dairy farmer has to give up their business as it no longer makes enough money for them to support their family o Also include less typical scenarios such as: a new disease has attacked and killed half of the trees Give three possible explanations for the child not having enough food to eat

Topic 3: Real-life experiences of local farmers and rural craftspeople Focuses on â&#x20AC;Ś helping pupils get to know a local farmer or rural craftsperson through a real-life experience. In this topic children begin to understand the role that farmers and rural craftspeople play in helping to support sustainable rural communities.

Activities Activity 1:

A day in the life of...

Activity 2:

Presenting the facts!

Activity 3:

Thinking about a day in the life of...

Activity 1:

A day in the life of....

Learning objectives  To enable pupils to understand a typical working day of a farmer or rural craftsperson  To help pupils empathise with the working lifestyle of a farmer or rural craftsperson Time required 60 minutes Resources  Activity Resource Sheet – A Day in the life of Lorna an apprentice Swiller 

Activity Resource Sheet – A Day in the life of a charcoal burner

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Activity Resource Sheet – A day in the life of a dry stone waller

What to do A local farmer or rural craftsperson should be invited into the school. Contact with a local farmer or rural craftsperson may have been made through Topic 2. Alternatively try and arrange a visit to a local farm or craftsperson’s workshop. Links to relevant rural trade associations are provided at the end of this pack. If it is not possible to invite a farmer or rural craftsperson into the school, stories of ‘a day in the life of...’ an apprentice swiller, a charcoal burner, and a dry stone waller are included as activity resource sheets. These should be read with the pupils. As a group, the pupils listen to the invited farmer or rural craftsperson as they share a typical day in their life (or follow the story as the teacher narrates a day in the life of... from one of the resource sheets). This should include aspects of the tasks involved and any relevant links to sustainable communities (look at stories of examples). This activity should take place outside the classroom in a natural environment to provide the pupils with a real-life outdoor experience. The activity will be greatly enhanced by engaging pupils through demonstrations and hands-on activities.

Debriefing / reflection  

Ask the pupils to think of similarities and differences between their own lives and that of the farmer or rural craftsperson. The pupils will have the opportunity to reflect on the real-life activity/experience in the next activity.

Points to note If a farmer or rural craftsperson comes into school, don’t forget to take lots of photos and video the experience for follow up work or other lessons.

Activity 2:

Presenting the facts!

Learning objectives  Pupils develop active listening skills  Pupils select and present key information about the working life of a farmer or rural craftsperson Time required 60 minutes Resources  Previous day in the life of... activity  Pens and paper What to do 1. This activity should follow on from the previous activity (activity 2) ‘a day in the life of... a farmer or rural craftsperson’. 2. Working in small groups pupils are given 15 minutes to discuss the ‘a day in the life of... story and are asked to write down what they consider to be key information - a good way to do this is using a Mind Map or Post-it notes to bring together and to structure all the information. 3. Layout the classroom with the children sitting in a semi-circle with a single hot seat placed facing the group. 4. Pupils are hot-seated and asked to present their key findings/information about ‘a day in the life of the.... farmer or rural craftsperson in just one minute. 5. Other pupils must listen carefully – if they suspect hesitation, deviation or repetition they may challenge the person in the hot seat. If a challenge occurs, timing is stopped for its duration. 6. A facilitator or group of facilitators must decide whether the challenge is valid and justify their decision. 7. If the challenge is deemed to be valid, the pupil in the hot seat is out and must leave the seat. The pupil who made the challenge receives a point and they or another volunteer takes the hot seat to continue the activity . 8. If the challenge is rejected, the pupil continues until another challenge is made or until the minute is up. If the pupil manages to stay in the seat until the end they receive a point. 9. The activity continues until all the key information is been presented. Reflection/debrief  

Discuss with the pupils what strategy if any they used to remember the story. Can they think of any way in which they could work together as a community and help each other remember the information - without having the confrontation of a challenge?

Activity 3:

Thinking about a day in the life of....

Learning objectives  To help pupils reflect on the role of a farmer or rural craftsperson and share their thinking with others  To encourage pupils to justify their stance using clear examples and clarity of thought and expression. Time required 60 minutes Resources  Activity Resource Sheet – Rural News Sheet  Pens and paper or Post-it notes

1. Stimulus (5 minutes) The class is presented with one thought provoking statement relating to farming or rural crafts and sustainable rural communities as a Rural News Sheet news headline, for example: 

Lorna Singleton receives a huge order to export thousands of swill baskets to China!

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Nobody buys charcoal produced in Furness!

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The trees in Sam’s wood get an awful disease and all the trees die!

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Questions to stimulate dialogue (if needed):  How is the farmer or craftsperson connected to the environment? 

Does it really matter if the environment is damaged?

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Should greater value be put on people than the environment?

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How can people learn to live in harmony with the environment?

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What happens when some people have lots more money or things than others – is this fair?

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How can people learn to live in harmony with each other?

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Why is it important that people support each other in a community?

3. Reflection/debrief (5 mins)     

Discuss with the pupils how the dialogue developed and how this related to the learning outcome(s) How would the pupils feel if the farmer or craftsperson in question lived in the next town or village? How would the pupils feel if the person in question was a close member of their family? Should it make any difference to how you feel if you know the person or not? How can we make a difference to sustainable communities?

Useful background Information Our generationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s big challenges Environmental change - Our environment is changing: as humans increase our ability to control and manipulate natural resources increases and our impact on the world increases with it. This environmental change differs from previous changes in that it is not caused by external environmental events. The cause is the use by human beings of around 25- 50% of all plant-produced energy resources generated by our planet, as well as overconsumption of other natural resources such as fossil fuels, mineral deposits and water. Habitat loss and fragmentation is considered by conservation biologists to be the cause of biodiversity loss. Clearance of native vegetation for agriculture, housing, timber and industry, as well as draining wetlands and flooding valleys to form reservoirs, destroys these habitats and all the life in them. This destruction can cause remaining habitats to become fragmented, too small for many organisms to survive or too far apart for them to flow between. Disappearing rainforests - Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometres of forestâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;an area larger than Greece. Every second we lose 1.5 acres of the rainforests which once covered 14% of Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land surface and which are now a mere 6%. Ancient forests maintain the balance of life on Earth. They house around two-thirds of the world's land-based species of plants and animals. The forests influence day-to-day weather and they also help keep the climate stable over time by storing massive amounts of carbon. Logging and burning forests releases that carbon to the atmosphere and exacerbates changes in our environment. Pollution is poisoning all forms of life, both on land and in the water, and contributing to climate change. Any chemical in the wrong place or at the wrong concentration can be considered a pollutant. Transport, industry, construction, natural resource extraction and power generation all create pollutants. These chemicals directly affect animals and plants, and lead to chemical imbalances in the environment that can ultimately kill individuals, species and habitats. Climate change, brought about by emissions of greenhouse gases when fossil fuels are burnt, is changing the environment in which species live and in turn affecting the abundance and distribution of species around the globe. Climate change will affect the crops we grow in the future, cause a rise in sea levels and problems to many coastal ecosystems. The climate is becoming more unpredictable and extreme devastating events are becoming more frequent. Over exploitation by humans causes massive destruction to natural ecosystems. Exploitation occurs for food (e.g. fish), construction (e.g. trees), industrial products (e.g. animal blubber), the pet trade (e.g. reptiles), fashion (e.g. fur) and traditional medicines (e.g. rhino horn). Selective removal of an individual species can unbalance ecosystems and all other organisms within them. For the majority of humanity, our quality of life is better now than it ever has been in history. But that will change as we use up the planet's natural riches, as species become extinct, as populations continue to grow and as resources become more. 28

Useful Contacts General Westmorland County Agricultural Society - Westmorland County Show – great for a school visit http://www.westmorlandshow.co.uk Rural Crafts Basket Association - General information and list of members http://www.basketassoc.org/register/register.php Coppice Association North West – Promoting coppicing in Cumbrian woodlands including list of members http://www.canw.woodlandrecollections.org/products.php?s=#table Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain – Projects and list of members http://www.dswa.org.uk/cumbria,-northumberland,-durham-g.asp Farming and Food FACE – Helping to educate children and young people about food and farming in a sustainable countryside. http://www.face-online.org.uk/ Food for Life Partnership - The Food for Life Partnership uses food as a way to improve the whole school experience including OFSTED recognised Awards and Resources. Look for What's happening – In your region http://www.foodforlife.org.uk/ Growing Schools - website which has been designed to support teachers and practitioners in using the "outdoor classroom" as a resource across the curriculum for pupils of all ages. http://www.growingschools.org.uk/ Soil Association organic farms - Run special visits, open days and other public activities. Organic farms in the North West: Howbarrow Farm, Cumbria Low Luckens and Whiteholme Farms, Cumbria Low Sizergh Farm, Cumbria Slack House Farm, Cumbria The Croft, Cumbria UK Agriculture – Fantastic educational resource to help widen understanding about the role of agriculture in the countryside. http://www.ukagriculture.com

P4C www.cdec.org.uk