#Eimaste1 aka #WeAre1 in…action!
#Eimaste1 (#WeAre1) is a pioneering six-year curriculum for primary school students. Focused on the interdependence of all life on Earth, it includes themes relating to the environment as well as human and animal welfare. It also seeks to prevent cruelty and abuse through the development of students’ social-emotional intelligence and critical thinking.
The course was created by ACTAsia and has already been implemented in Asia (China) and Pakistan to acclaim, with positive outcomes for students, parents and the schools themselves. Launching a pilot project in Greece, OMÚ began with an introductory seminar attended by over 600 teachers.
To follow, five training sessions took place with the first 60 registrants. During five two-hour weekly sessions, all 5 subject areas of #Eimaste1 were analyzed respectively. Participant numbers unfortunately had to be limited due to the nature of the training sessions, which are heavily focused on interaction and discussion, including group exercises and content analysis. If additional funding can be secured, OMÚ hopes to extend the training further.
The 5 subject areas covered are:
- Web of Life (Palm oil, destruction of habitats, empowerment)
- Sentient Beings (Perceptions, prejudice and bomb rats)
- Care and Respect (Needs and how different cultures treat the elderly)
- Interacting with Others (Bullying – Incidents of violence)
- Emotional Intelligence (and artificial intelligence as part of it)
During the last training session, Dr. William E. Samuels kindly presented his research to-date (both published and unpublished), on the positive impact of Caring for Life Education on student behaviour in China.
The training sessions were a great success, and we received many positive comments and excellent feedback from satisfied teachers who “waited impatiently every Thursday” for our sessions and received certificates of participation at the end. One of the most rewarding comments we received was
“What I have to say as a final comment is that the training course organized was the best I have attended in my 20 years of working as an educator. So current, so comprehensive and so interesting! Congratulations! We look forward to more to come.”
In conclusion, the materials below will be sent to the participants of the 1st training course:
- Curriculum Standard book
- 10 Lesson Plans for Grade 1
We are proud of what we have achieved so far and there is so much more to come! Last but not least, we would like to thank ACTAsia once again for sharing with us the Caring for Life Education materials, VegFund for their continuous support and EEPEK for promoting #Eimaste1 introductory seminar to all their members.
