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#30GoalsEdu Goal:Explore a Past Reflection

I have been working as an EFL teacher in the public sector for about ten years. I never really taught exactly what I had to teach-that is, the books set by the Ministry-I always liked to supplement them with materials of my own. And still that was not enough. There was constantly this feeling of inadequacy in me. I thought that to have the privilege to be around children every day and just teach them the language was not enough. I had to change something.

 I gave it a lot of thought till I decided that I wanted to teach my students the same things I teach my children. I didn't want to give them solely knowledge. I wanted to teach them values, I wanted to raise their environmental awareness, I wanted to teach them about Human Rights, about Citizenship and Digital Citizenship, about bullying and racism and stereotypes. And many more...

So a couple of years ago, I started having these "special days". A day raising awareness against bullying, a day raising awareness against racism, a day dedicated to environmental awareness, a day about how to use the Internet safely. And every year I try to add days.This year we have dedicated some time on Human Rights and Children Rights and Refugees, working on our project for Teachers4Europe 2016. We have also completed a programme with the British Council on Life Skills, and worked on themes such as citizenship, values, streotypes. Next year I am planning to add a day dedicated on HateSpeech as well.

 And I know now that you can find different ways to teach a language.One of them is to think first as an educator and then as a language teacher. This is what I have chosen to do.

This is my past reflection-about a year ago.

Raising awareness in the English classroom


Comments

  1. Anthi HarouJuly 8, 2016 at 4:54 PM

    Wonderful ideas, Maria!Teaching values should be of primary importance in all school contexts!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maria VlachopoulouNovember 12, 2016 at 6:04 PM

      Thank you so much, Anthi! I believe this with all my heart this is why I am fighting for it!

      Delete
  2. UnknownJuly 8, 2016 at 9:07 PM

    Congratulations!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 18, 2016 at 11:31 PM

    Great reflection! Thank you for sharing. I love your raising awareness days!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maria VlachopoulouNovember 12, 2016 at 6:06 PM

      Thank you so much, Shelly, for all the support and inspiration!

      Delete
  4. DimgkNovember 23, 2016 at 11:05 AM

    Congratulations, Maria!!! Wonderful ideas!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DimgkNovember 23, 2016 at 11:07 AM

      Dimgk=Dimitra Gkouli...Maria, i love your work!!!

      Delete

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