The United Nation’s International Day of Education is upon us (January 24 2022). The theme this year is as follows:
“This year’s International Day of Education will be a platform to showcase the most important transformations that have to be nurtured to realize everyone’s fundamental right to education and build a more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful futures. It will generate debate around how to strengthen education as a public endeavor and common good, how to steer the digital transformation, support teachers, safeguard the planet and unlock the potential in every person to contribute to collective well-being and our shared home.”
In order to provide our own communities (in Canada) with ideas for how to recognize this important day, we look towards the UN’s stated goals.
GOAL 1
“How to strengthen education as a public endeavor and common good”
First of all, it’s important for us to all come together to enhance education in our own communities. This can begin at home, by introducing your children to materials that will encourage them to continue to learn outside of the classroom setting. The Plant a Seed & See What Grows Foundation has downloadable games, activity guides, and workbooks to provide your kids with fun, engaging, and educational things to do. View more from our Kid’s Corner. Be sure to share these free tools with your friends, neighbors, and fellow school parents. Beyond your own household, show support for organizations that provide greater access to learning experiences in Canada. We simply cannot depend on traditional schools alone to strengthen education in our cities and towns. It needs to be a community effort!
GOAL 2
“How to steer the digital transformation”
As parents and educators we often walk on eggshells around digital media, knowing that it can just as easily harm our kids as much as it can foster education. How do we ensure the latter? How do we leverage digital transformation so that it works for their physical, emotional, and intellectual health? For starters, introduce them to applications that are fun yet educational. Over the years our Foundation has curated lists of mobile apps to teach kids about important concepts. While there are new ones being released every few months, the following provides a good base:
- 10 Best Health and Education Apps for Kids
- Top Apps to Teach Kids About the Environment and Sustainability
- Best Outdoor Learning Apps
In addition to smartphone/tablet applications, your kids/students probably spend a lot of time streaming programs on TV. While they are certainly entitled to enjoy cinematic escape from time to time, be sure to work the following into your family or classroom programming schedule:
- Popular Children’s Films About Seedds, Plants, and Sustainability
- Gardening and Farming Shows for the Family
Many parents and schools have found it helpful to review how to use digital transformation to promote school and community gardens, which you can get your kids/students involved in.
GOAL 3
“How to support teachers”
We may not have the power to promote teacher salaries in Canada, but we can help provide them with tools to make their jobs easier, and to better engage their students. For instance, our Foundation has launched the Plant a Seed, Read! and Seeds of Inspiration programs across Canada to great success. Through your support, we can continue to create and provision learning tools to support the great work of educators in all corners of the country. Find out how you can help.
GOAL 4
“Safeguard the planet and unlock the potential in every person to contribute to collective well-being and our shared home.”
This last one is a big one that everyone can get behind. And like with all future-forward things, it begins with out kids. It’s our job to hand them the knowledge, skills, and materials to run with it on their own one day. That is sustainability in action! So how can you contribute to safeguarding the planet and unlock the potential of future generations? Allow us to reiterate action items that we have referenced above. The best thing you can do is show support for established organizations that support youth by focusing on how they can work with their environment to foster a better world. Consider the Plant a Seed & See What Grows Foundation. Our funded programs include school and community gardens, and outdoor learning experiences, education bursaries. Learn more about how you can get involved with the Foundation.
Together we can work towards the UN’s goal to realize everyone’s fundamental right to education and build a more sustainable, inclusive, and peaceful future.
