When I introduce pupils to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), many of them are shocked. They aren’t aware that there is a plan for the world that countries have committed to.
Many of them have a negative view of the world: they watch and read the news, they learn about climate change and they don’t think there is a lot of hope. I think we are doing a great job discussing these topics in Germany, but we need to allow for our students to have more space to care and actively make an impact on topics they find problematic.
I spend a lot of my school day trying to find the space for my students to discuss these ideas, and trying to influence education structure to allow an active pedagogy of global citizenship to flourish in Germany and internationally.
In my Year 11 drama class, we are working on a play that focuses on some of the most urgent questions that my students have chosen from the list of SDGs. They are very interested in peace and politics. They are spinning around ideas about replacing war with computer games, philosophising on the pros and cons of job losses in the military and imagining a scene in which world leaders battle each other digitally.
Mareike Hachemer is a high school and university teacher for English, German and drama
When I introduce pupils to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), many of them are shocked. They aren’t aware that there is a plan for the world that countries have committed to.
Many of them have a negative view of the world: they watch and read the news, they learn about climate change and they don’t think there is a lot of hope. I think we are doing a great job discussing these topics in Germany, but we need to allow for our students to have more space to care and actively make an impact on topics they find problematic.
I spend a lot of my school day trying to find the space for my students to discuss these ideas, and trying to influence education structure to allow an active pedagogy of global citizenship to flourish in Germany and internationally.
In my Year 11 drama class, we are working on a play focusing on some of the most urgent questions that my students have chosen from the list of SDGs. They are very interested in peace and politics. They have ideas about replacing war with computer games, philosophising on the pros and cons of job losses in the military and imagining a scene in which world leaders battle each other digitally.
Mareike Hachemer is a high school and university teacher for English, German and drama
