Farmers Helping Farmers will be launching materials on global issues for Island classrooms during the Prince Edward Island Teachers’ Federation convention. The launch will take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 18 at the Valiant Room, Delta Hotel.
Farmers Helping Farmers has been working on these materials since 2004 when it began the application process for a global classroom initiative with the Canadian International Development Agency. These materials were developed by Island school teachers who visited Kenya in March 2006. They have been tested in Island schools and will be incorporated into the school curriculum. These materials are Global Awareness units for Grades 3, 6 and 9, Agriscience 801A, Global Studies 521A and Global Issues 621A.
“Developing an understanding of other people and different cultures has never been more important as a goal of education,” said Dr. Graham Pike, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island. “Today’s students will probably spend much of their lives in multi-ethnic communities and they will encounter diverse beliefs, practices and traditions in their workplaces. As voters, consumers and tourists, their actions and decisions will impact the lives of countless people around the globe. This global education resource will help to prepare Prince Edward Island students to engage constructively in a diverse world and enable them to make more informed decisions. These are the building blocks on which can be constructed a more just, peaceful, and sustainable future for us all.”
This Farmers Helping Farmers project is a partnership with the Prince Edward Island Department of Education, UPEI Faculty of Education, the Teachers’ Federation, the Eastern and Western School Boards, and the Canadian International Development Agency’s Global Classroom Initiative.