Peer Educators Play Fair
Children at Kirkstall St.Stephens Primary School were the first School Council to trial the “Peer Educators toolkit” on Fairtrade, developed by Leeds Development Education Centre (DEC). The toolkit is designed so children are taught the activities first with their School Council teacher, then go on to become Peer Educators, teaching the activities to the rest of the school.
The toolkits are part of the EC funded ‘Global Fairness: Schools as Agents of Change’ project which empowers children to learn about injustice and take action to make the world a fairer place.
Three toolkits have been developed on the themes of Fairtrade, Garment Workers and Waste.
Hannah Langdana, project coordinator, said “The banana role play game went really well, all the children were morally outraged that the banana worker only receives a 1p of the 30p price of a banana. In fact the children were so shocked that the children playing the role of the supermarket gave them their share of the money saying ‘have this, we don’t need it!’ If only real life was so straightforward!”
Feedback from the children showed the pupils’ enjoyment and learning, with responses such as “I felt happy and thankful for the farmers” and “I have learnt that fair trade is a really big difference to people’s lives”.
Schools are still being invited to trial the toolkits of Fairtrade, Waste and Garment workers, until Christmas. If your school is interested in a free Fairtrade workshop, please contact Hannah@leedsdec.org.uk.
