Learning from Activities by Meguro UNESCO Association
Motoko Kobayashi, Principal, Meguro Municipal Gohongi Elementary School
I found a small butterbur sprout in the schoolyard after the first snow in two years had melted away. Young sprouts herald the beginning of spring. Next to our lunch room, which faces the yard, is the secretariat office of Meguro UNESCO Association. I am impressed to see the various heartful activities by volunteers in the office, which is not large at all, to carry on nongovernmental UNESCO projects so conscientiously.
With the start of the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development”, UNESO has provided our fifth graders with special classes during integrated study periods. The theme has been: “Let’s think about recycling-oriented society” in line with the project of “Living in Harmony with Earth”. The paper production industry was selected to illustrate what could be achieved. People from a private company visited the school to provide teaching materials and talk about their specialties in a clear and careful way.
Children learned how the paper company engages in forestation, while handling wood pulp and listening to a talk about recycled paper. People from the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan also showed children paper and textbooks from Asian countries. Children fingered these to feel the texture.
Through this study about paper, children could think about the environment and extend the scope of their learning to Asian countries. Two children struggled to tear apart some specially made paper by pulling it as hard as they could, only in vain. Children were also surprised to know that string can be made of paper. I recall as if it were yesterday, the joy of learning that rippled through the class as the children smiled.
Our school has been focusing on the promotion of “Safety Education” for several years following the same keyword “environment”. Safety education is a very important field for children to live a healthy, safe, and happy life.
Thirteen years have passed since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and there is a strong concern about an epicentral earthquake in Tokyo. Last year, we saw a harsh reality of disasters like the growing number of heat waves due to abnormal climate, damage from typhoons and heavy rain, and the calamity from the Niigata Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake.
In addition to natural disasters, there are unending man-caused disasters. With a changing living environment surrounding children, there are mounting obstacles that hinder their healthy growth. We hope to develop the quality and ability with which children can behave safely on their own, contribute to the safety of others in society, and engage willingly in creating a safe “environment” based on the respect for life, i.e. the safety of the lives of people, traffic safety, and safety from a disaster.
UNESCO movements are spreading from one region to another with gatherings of people acting as a bridge. Likewise, the safety of children is protected with the steady support from local people and guardians, thanks to many activities including the creation of a regional safety map, a regional safety patrol, a disaster prevention camp, a regional disaster drill, a traffic safety class, Child Dial 110 House (an emergency shelter for children), and Bowwow Patrol (patrol while walking a dog).
We would like to continue with a school management that functions with society for the happiness of children, by looking towards foreign countries as well and deepening the bond with the region.
