Leading Jewish social action charities lead the way for social action in schools

KEY FACTS

Representatives ran an interactive training event for 23 participants from 17 organisations

The Global Citizenship Teachers session aims to inspire teachers to become ambassadors for social action

Pupils can take part by collecting a School Survival Kit for children their own age who often do not even have access to a pencil for school.

On Wednesday 27th February, leading Jewish charities joined forces to launch an unprecedented cross communal initiative to encourage Jewish school and Cheder teachers to increase social action awareness within their schools.

Representatives from World Jewish Relief (WJR), Rene Cassin, Tzedek and the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE), in conjunction with The Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD), ran a first interactive training event for 23 participants from 17 organisations at the BoD’s offices in Bloomsbury Square. The event was run specifically for primary and secondary teacher’s at Jewish schools, as well as Cheder teachers.

Building on the launch of the highly successful ‘Schools for Darfur’ project – an initiative to promote campaigning, advocacy and fundraising techniques in young people – the Global Citizenship Teachers session aims to inspire teachers to become ambassadors for social action. This unique programme aims to provide teachers with the most appropriate tools and relevant information, to make it easier to include social action awareness in their classrooms.

Last week’s event was an opportunity for Jewish social action charities with a global focus to present their expert educational resources and to train teachers how to use them effectively. The teachers were guided through the process of designing and implementing a Global Citizenship Calendar for their schools.

Charlotte Casselson, Outreach Coordinator for WJR, explained the opportunities for schools to get involved in social action activities with WJR. Primarily through its humanitarian aid programme Gifts in Kind, schools can send much needed donations of new and nearly new goods for deprived communities abroad. Pupils can take part, for example, by collecting a ‘School Survival Kit’ for children their own age who often do not even have access to a pencil for school.

Commenting on the event, Charlotte said:

“Teachers have a particularly difficult workload, but they are still keen to inspire their pupils to have a world-wide view. The problem has always been that the resources available are not suitable for the classroom. This programme will remedy that, and provide teachers with practical ideas of how to include social action messages in their classrooms, without demanding too much of their time.”