Nieuws van EarlyBird
Cultivating a Greener Mindset
In gesprek met Harry Waters, keynotespreker op de EarlyBird Good Practice Day 2024
Harry Waters is de keynotespreker op de EarlyBird Good Practice Day op 9 oktober 2024. Als docent en teacher trainer combineert Harry wereldburgerschap en duurzaamheidsthema’s met Engels taalonderwijs. In dit interview lees je over zijn drijfveren en zijn visie op het onderwijs.
“I think global citizenship is not just an educational trend, but something that’s vital to the future of our students and the future of our planet. “
In your teaching, you combine your passions for the environment and for English language teaching. Where do these passions come from? What led you on this path?
My passion for environmentalism started when I was very young. When I was about seven, there was a huge influx of Bangladeshi students that came to my school. It was from one day to the next. Suddenly there were 17 new students who had all come in from Bangladesh. As a seven-year-old, I was trying to understand what had happened and I was really curious. Our classes had expanded massively and there were lots and lots of new people in the school. The food that they ate was really different to what I ate. They spoke a really different language, and we did some different songs in their language.
I remember asking my teacher: Why are they here? I was really curious about what had happened. The teacher explained there was a cyclone in Bangladesh and all of their houses were destroyed.
I didn’t know at the time, but that was the first time I was really exposed to the climate crisis. They were climate refugees. It really made me wake up to the idea that the weather wasn’t just what happened in my backyard. It happened all over the world, and there were these massive events such as cyclones. From there, I took a much bigger interest in the environment.
My passion for English started around the same time. It was my passion for other languages and other people. My school was very culturally diverse, and it was fun learning how to communicate with people who couldn’t communicate in English. Of course, at the age of seven I didn’t think: I want to be an English language teacher (ELT) teacher. I never thought that my career would be in ELT until I left the UK when I was 23 and I started teaching. I didn’t know for the first two or three years that it was what I wanted to do, until I suddenly realised that I was actually really good at it and it was something I really enjoyed doing.
It was around 2012 that I started to merge these two passions and bring environmental issues into my English classes. This made the environmental issues more engaging for the students.
Many schools see it as their task to help students develop as global citizens. What’s your view on this? What makes someone a global citizen?
The responsibility of situations, active participation, ethical understanding and empathy, cultural sensitivity and openness, and awareness of global issues are all very important. I think for me, ethical understanding and empathy are perhaps the most important. This is much easier in a multicultural school, because if you have people from different cultures around you, it’s much easier to empathise with them. You can use the other students to connect to global issues.
We need to encourage our students to have this awareness of global issues. I think it’s very easy to start with celebrations, like Ramadan, Diwali or Lunar New Year, because they’re fun, exciting things to talk about. It’s more difficult to talk about the more difficult global issues like war, the climate crisis, issues of plastic pollution, etc. Children will see these issues on the news. They will hear about it. I’m not saying we need to have our six-year-old students demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, because it may not be exactly appropriate to talk in depth about these issues, but these issues aren’t exclusive to adults. We can help raise their awareness, encouraging a cultural sensitivity and openness to make sure that they understand some of these issues that are happening around the world, and getting them to actively participate.
Learning a foreign language is an important part of becoming a global citizen, because when you learn a foreign language, you start to embrace another culture. I know people will often look at it and think: “Oh well, in English, what culture are you embracing?” Well, you’re becoming one of the billions of people that have English as a second language. It’s not just about “I’m learning English, so now I can go to England, Australia, the United States, etc.” No, you can go almost anywhere and communicate with people everywhere. At international events or conferences, there will be an Italian person speaking to a Brazilian person in English. That way they have the opportunity to share their culture, to share their ideas. And they’re both going through the pain and struggle of learning and speaking that same language, so again it brings empathy.
I think it’s just the way of opening our mind. It opens our minds to other ideas because when you learn about another language, you learn about another culture. For me, learning Spanish leaves me feeling a lot more proud of myself, because I can go into a situation and I’m not that ignorant Englishman who only speaks English and expects everyone to understand me.
What role can primary teachers play in helping students develop as global citizens? Which skills do teachers need in order to do so?
I think it’s vital for teachers to play a role in this. As teachers we are so influential on our students. It’s important that teachers at a school work together on this. It can’t just be one teacher doing it. They need to collaborate and have a clear vision about why they’re doing it.
When you think about what teachers need to teach global citizenship, most teachers already have these skills and ways of teaching, but perhaps they don’t realise it. It’s about stopping and thinking, how do I do this? For example, when you think about cultural awareness and communication skills, teachers already have these skills. But it’s what they communicate that’s important, the way they express ideas and different cultural nuances.
I think for me, the most important competences are empathy and social responsibility. Then teachers can foster that empathy within their students.
Be adaptable and flexible to any new methods that might come in, any new ideas. Be ready to use educational innovation. Use project-based ideas. It’s not about drilling grammar into students anymore, although there can be a time and a place for that. Using project-based learning that focuses on global challenges is such a great way to raise awareness.
On the 9th of October, you’re giving a workshop during our Good Practice Day. Why should teachers join your workshop?
I hope that the workshop will provide teachers with some fresh ideas on how to introduce global citizenship into the classroom, some simple ways to do it. I think this is not just an educational trend, but something that’s vital to the future of our students and the future of our planet. Hopefully this workshop can kickstart some ideas and give teachers a push in the right direction.
Harry Waters is de keynotespreker op onze Good Practice Day, een studiemiddag voor leden van EarlyBird met allerlei praktijkgerichte workshops. Kijk voor meer info en inschrijving op www.earlybirdie.nl/goodpracticeday.
