Mother of Divine Grace National School and DCU celebrate Erasmus 30
By Aoileann Ní Bhroin
Children from Mother of Divine Grace National School on Ballygall Road in Dublin have already got a taste for the Erasmus message. In an initiative aimed at celebrating 30 years of the Erasmus Programme, the NA was delighted to support an Outdoor Education activity led by Dr. Orla Kelly and Dr. Yessim Tunali Flynn from the Institute of Education at Dublin City University.
Over a period of weeks before the summer, trainee teachers visited Mother of Divine Grace National School and worked with pupils and teachers to demonstrate learning assignments using principles employed in outdoor education initiatives.
At the celebration event were (l-r), Gerry O’Sullivan, Erasmus+ NA; Jean Byrne, Outdoor Education Advisor; Eleanor Fahy, School Principal; Dr. Orla Kelly, DCU; Patricia Tutty, Erasmus+ NA; Mary Dunne, Erasmus+ NA; Dr. Yessim Tunali Flynn, DCU.
The project drew from expertise available in Scotland and Sweden and the response from student teachers and pupils was extremely positive. The concept of outdoor education not only embraces elements of environmental studies but also uses the natural environment to support teaching in a wide range of subjects like mathematics where children’s attention can be drawn to, for example, the many places numbers appear in our world like front doors, bus stops, buses, speed limits etc.
The colleagues at DCU will now explore possible opportunities to build international learning periods for trainee teachers in the coming years with a focus on this pedogogy.
