The Day has partnered with the LEGO Group for an initiative called Build the Change Tuesdays, where the principal of the LEGO Group’s Build the Change concept is brought into the classroom using the news as an anchor. With a focus on discussion and debate ideas, students are encouraged to come up with their own solutions to the issues in the news, using LEGO® bricks or creative materials to build everything from rooftop nature gardens to infrastructure allowing humans to live underwater. These ideas can be submitted to be judged by sustainability experts, where their ideas can make a real change as well as amazing prizes. Build the Change Tuesdays are a free weekly sustainability resource made in collaboration with the LEGO Group and a LEGO competition where students can win £2000 for their school’s biodiversity projects. It brings the creative learning of LEGO building into schools. Learn more below.
STUDENTS SHOULD LEARN ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY, SAY TEACHERS
‘Build the Change Tuesday’ to bring positive green agenda to the classroom
Almost 96% of educators believe it is important their students learn about sustainability.
A survey of 1,115 primary and secondary school teachers, and other educational professionals, carried out by digital newspaper The Day found 95.8% agreed that sustainability education was ‘very’, ‘quite’ or ‘relatively’ important.
None of the teachers felt it was ‘unimportant’.
However, only 34% felt ‘completely confident’ in their ability to teach the subject.
“The teaching of sustainability is complex,” said The Day’s founder and editor Richard Addis.
“It can be seen as overly political, teachers do not want to bring doom and gloom into the classroom and, to be really meaningful, it really needs to be built into a whole-school approach.”
Despite this, 59.4% of teachers believe sustainability should be more broadly embedded into the curriculum.
In a bid to encourage children to have a positive relationship with the environment and to help teachers build solutions into student lessons, The Day has partnered with the LEGO Group’s Social Impact team in a project called Build the Change Tuesday.
This is a weekly resource which helps bring children up to speed on sustainability news, debate the issues and give them the hands-on skills to create innovative solutions.
The survey also revealed a majority of teachers believe children need to be better informed if they are to become ‘agents of change’ but most also thought children are developing the necessary skills to pursue a ‘green’ career path.“We all know children are incredibly creative and have ideas which can change the world,” said David Pallash, Senior Manager – Global Programmes and Partnerships at the LEGO Group.
“We need to give them platforms and opportunities to share them and really inspire change.
“We and The Day have talked to many teachers around the world, and we know sustainability remains a tricky topic to deal with in the classroom. That’s why we hope Build the Change Tuesday, our weekly resource, will help bring some fun and some engaging ways to talk about these complex issues,” he said.
“The resource encourages children to form their own opinions, debate things, try some puzzles and quizzes all around a topical news story. We can’t wait to hear the ideas that come from this partnership.”
Students who want to get really creative can enter the Build the Change Tuesday competition where pupils are charged with designing sustainable habitats via a series of four challenges. The deadline for entries is December 15 where a judging panel of sustainability influencers – including young climate activists – is primed for action.
