There’s nothing better than the start of a new school year for me.  It’s a chance to initiate some fresh ideas and be inspired.  Inspiration can come from a variety of sources, often from those I work alongside like my dear friend Ria.

Ria has been a friend of mine for over 25 years.  Our kids were toddlers together, and as we were close neighbours, they got to play together frequently.

Ria has been a teacher for over 30 years, she’s one of the best.  Highly creative in her approach and passionate about her causes.  A stand out example for me was how she motivated a group of Kerikeri High School students to form a team. They called themselves the RAG (Recycling Action Group).  This was an after school project, where students gathered up all the rubbish around the school and over the course of a few weeks they build an art sculpture utilising the collected rubbish, in the middle of the school thoroughfare.  Nobody announced what was happening, but as the sculpture grew and grew, students became curious about this new formation taking place in the school grounds.  Students across the school were quite shocked to see how much rubbish was accumulated throughout the school day.  It prompted some changes to how students dispose of rubbish and what items are non-recyclable.  The RAG group made short educational films to inform people about the impact rubbish has on the environment.   This was largely a student led project.

Ria’s most recent and highly significant achievement was receiving her Doctorate last year.  Her research and thesis drew attention to the lack of educational focus and resources around the teaching of climate change particularly in high schools.

In Ria’s presentation Climate Change Education, (see below) she highlighted how empowering it would be “if every student left high school with an understanding of mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) adaptation (preparing for the predictable impacts of climate change) and an eye of innovation in the face of climate change.”

Ria poses the question, “How can secondary educators better engage students with sustainability education?”

I’m interested in hearing from teachers within the Manaiakalani network who would like the opportunity to collaborate on something that is meaningful for our students and builds their knowledge base on how they can get engaged in response to climate change.  Leave me a comment or get in touch via email: kerry.boyde-preece@manaiakalani.org

Climate Change Education, Dr Ria Bright from nzaee on Vimeo.