How to teach children how to understand and deal with racism and discrimination

This is an old clip of a teachter who teaches their pupils how discrimination and racism can occur within a class and how easy it actually is to solve it. It yields beautiful images that are to this day still relevant. The payoff at the end is brilliant and a perfect metaphor for what we deal with and face every day in our society. Like "Catcher in the Rye" is to high school students, this is part of your Upworthy required reading.

video walk-through:
1:30: This teacher begins a study that will be talked about for 40 years.
3:00: She re-creates segregation and racism in her classroom.
7:45: Mrs. Elliott flips the entire class on their heads.
10:00 Jane Elliot makes the most profound discovery about us all
11:43: The students learn something that the world is still struggling to.

There are too many great moments to point out. Just watch!

Source: click here

The Current Schooling System, part 3

If schools would treat kids like special individuals and would use the knowledge and technology of today, what would schools look like? What if school would not only focus on the children’s minds and grades but also on creativity? This way of thinking did not go unnoticed, contrary more schools give consideration to it than ever. An example of one school of those schools is ‘De Kampanje’in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, which is a so-called sudbury school. This is a type of education where children are fully responsible for their own lives, learning and future. These sort of schools do not have imposed classes, but they believe that one big space for the all children (ranging in age, grade level, area of interest, skills and talents) will improve the collaboration and the communication between the different groups. In addition there are no imposed curricula and no imposed quizzes. So the children themselves decide what, how, when and with whom they want to do something. I would not say ‘De Kampanje’ is the perfect way and that all schools should be like that, because I do believe that children benefit from a certain degree of structure and regularity, but I do really appreciate the values of the sudbury way of schooling because it is entirely focused on the qualities and skills of children and discovering them independently. 

I am glad lots of schools are trying to find a way to create new education formats and to reinvent education for modern times. I hope these initiatives increase with time, for example by local school authorities who will inspire each other to modernize their schooling system and to focus on the individual child and it’s personal skills. Because let’s be honest: schools are no rivals, but educaters with all the same goal: giving children the opportunity to develop themselves as an independent individual with his or her own qualities and to prepare them for the ‘real world’.

The Current Schooling System, part 2

At the same time schools offer only one way of learning and they try to fit in all these different children into one way of educating them. Students all follow the same lessons which are taught in the same way for everyone. They have become listeners and are barely doers anymore.  If we have to follow one guideline to success, how should we ever be able to develop ourselves, our talents, our confidence and our unique aspects?  Schools need to take responsibility for the colorless education they are giving the children because children have the right to discover and to develop themselves as an individual. This should be made possible by the schools.

It was after high school, when I first heard about ‘the new way of educating’ to improve the current schooling system. Different initiatives are trying to make schools a much more diverse and creative place and are trying to focus on the individual child and its unique qualities. So there was the answer on the questions I had in high school. It was possible! Education can be different, but I just was not in the right place.

More and more initiatives pop up that are in favor of change. For example, the schooling system should be more fixated on the individual child, its talents and its value to society. One of the change makers is Claire Boonstra.  Claire recently decided to switch careers. She worked in the technological app world but she wants to focus fully on the education world now. Her goal in education is to focus on children its value to society instead of pushing them in the way of the outlined path of working your way up in different levels of school and higher positions in businesses, or how Claire calls it: the status ladder. She wants to change education together with interested parties and influential people in education who think the same way. Furthermore, Sir Ken Robinson is an amazingly good international example of an expert who thinks schools should apply more creativity into their schooling programs. Sir Ken Robinson mentions the fact that children learn to accomplish things with their minds and learn to think logical, but not to make mistakes and come up with creative solutions themselves, simply because they are not trained this way.

The Current Schooling System, part 1

As I had not had the best time in high school I often thought to myself: can it not be different around here? People have been studying in the same way for a century right now, in almost the exact same way. Why do teachers teach the way they do? Why do we have to learn geography and not creative writing, yoga or design? And are students really more motivated to learn by forcing them to study in a certain separated level of education? Time has changed, but the schooling system has not which influences the quality of education and the happiness of the children to a great extent.
At schools cliques exist because pupils are all insecure individuals who are all trying to fit into a comfortable group of people that they can relate to. Everyone is different, so lots of different cliques arise. These cliques originate from out the way a school is built up, because schools also divide children into different levels of education . Children are used to being divided in different groups that distinguish them from each other, so it is a natural habit to prosecute in class.
   
On too many schools children are still pigeonholed by each other because of the current normal schooling system. A lot of children cannot cope with the current system because they feel like they do not fit in.  But the fact is that all people are different and unique, so it is actually really illogical that we have such a one-sided system. Luckily more and more people realize this and there are more and more schools who are trying to find the right way to pay attention to all the children individually and make them respect each other and themselves. All children are different and that is how they should be treated.  School could mean so much more than just education only.  Or even better, education and school would get a way broader meaning. Can you imagine?

Mister Bart

(which means: 'Mister. You say you see us as your own children, but why don't you give us pocket money then?')


Mister Bart is a 30 year-old high school teacher in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In October he started to collect all sorts of quotes of his pupils on his own Tumblr blog.  The quotes varied from touching and moving quotes to the most hilarious ones.

To teach and educate

Mister Bart started his blog mainly for himself so he could not forget the great quotes of his pupils. But still, he gives all the credits for the blog to the children.'It is really all about them', he says. 

Mister Bart is often seen as a father figure for the children, but he is clear in setting his boundaries. He is an involved teacher that wants to teach and educate, but he will never become actual friends with his students. This is a wonderful balance that can be an example for many teachers. Mister Bart shows he can have an honest and equivalent connection with youth, which gives him a lot of gratitude and pride in return. 

4 steps & 8 tips to make a qualitative app for children

How do you make a good childrens app? That's the question with which I went to Amsterdam with Thursday, October the 25th. Cinekid and Mijn Kind Online were organizing an expert session about apps for children in the 'KunstENhuis' in Amsterdam. There is a steady increase of children who use mobile applications. How can we encourage the potential and the opportunities of mobile apps for kids in a positive way?

Step 1 The Objective

Eline Kwantes from Dromenkroon speaks of the different steps you need to take to develop an app. Eline showed us  an example of an app she's developing right now, with the KidsVitaal foundation. 'An app always starts with a goal', says Eline Kwantes, 'the goal of the app we are working on is: awareness and behavioral change among children in terms of a healthy lifestyle. 

Stap 2 The idea

A logical way to achieve a healthier lifestyle among children would be banning advertisements of fast food restaurants like MacDonalds or candy manufacturers like Haribo. The commercials of such brands are always very well conceived. But wouldn't it be nice if, instead of prohibiting the fast food commercials, we could make an even better commercial to acclaim healthy food? Wouldn't it be nice to bring vegetables to the attention in a very positive way!

'Groentenmans'

The app 'Groentemans', which basically means greengrocer, that Eline Kwantes is developing with the KidsVitaal Foundation, is based on the children's book ˜De Buitengewone Opmerkelijke Dagboeken van Gregor Groentestein", which means; The extraordinary remarkable journals of Gregor Groentestein". A book about a boy inventor and that transforms his vegetables into living friends.

Stap 3 The budget

Holland is a small country with a grant culture which allows us to realize great initiatives. However, with a small amount of money we can also achieve great things if we use our creative minds. With a limited budget we look for creative solutions that help us to realize great ideas.The app 'Groentenmans' has been lucky enough to have found a great sponsor: The 'Fiep Westendorp Foundation'.

Stap 4 The Strategy

When developing the app Eline Kwantes has worked together with several parties. But the main party is of course the children themselves. The foundation Kids Vitaal visited a group of children and asked them the question: How can we make vegetables exciting? Without telling the children that they already had designed some of the concepts for the app, including a variety of funny characters around the different vegetables, the children started drawing their first ideas.

Miss & Mr. Carrot

The ideas of the children confirmed the suspicions of KidsVitaal and the designs they were working on. Almost all the children had come up with characters like Miss and Mr. Wortel, baby sprouts and so on. Eline says that, by involving the children, she got the right insights to know how to make vegetables as exciting as possible for children. Also she learned that she has to take into account that it is important to ask the same amount of boys as girls about how to make vegetables exciting, because they have very different ideas. 'If you want to reach both girls and boys you do have to take them both into account', says Eline Kwantes. 

Creation, experience, implementation

It is clear that the app must focus on humour, because a serious story about eating vegetables is something no child would want to read. The app should be fun to play with and it should remain challenging. This way children are more concerned with vegetables in their heads and they will think of vegetables in a more positive way. The app 'Groentenmans' starts with the creation: the children can customize a vegetable of their choice. After that a bit experience is added: you can bring your vegetable to life and check out what it does. What it does depends on the accessories you put on your vegetable character. The third aspect of the app is the implementation: here you can read recipies you can cook with the different vegetables. This way KidsVitaal hopes that children will also use the app in the kitchen to cook healthy meals.

Tips in a row

1. Always start with the formulation of an objective.

2. When you focus on humour a usually boring topics (like vegetables) a lot more fun
3. Always involve your target group in developing your app
4. Be creative with the budget you have at your disposal

5. Use the knowledge and expertise of your partners
6. Don't immediately show your own ideas to the target group. First ask them how they would approach the target. 

7. Think of the target group beyond just children and a certain age. There is a huge difference in interests between boys and girls.
Always inform the parents so they what the app is about and what their children can do with it. This way you create awareness and parents can stimulate their kids to use the app. 

Originally I wrote this blog for Jong & Je Wil Wat, I translated it especially for this blog.